Another outlet names Oscar Tshiebwe No. 1 returning player in CBB
Just two days ago, Andy Katz of NCAA March Madness unveiled his top 5 returning players for the upcoming 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. To the surprise of very few, Kentucky’s reigning unanimous National Player of the Year, Oscar Tshiebwe, came in ranked No. 1 on the list.
On Sunday, the 6-foot-9 center received the top spot from another major outlet.
The Field of 68 dropped their own top 5 returning men’s college basketball players for next season with Tshiebwe also coming in ranked No. 1. The rising Wildcat senior rewrote the Kentucky history books last season, averaging 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 60.6 percent shooting from the field. Tshiebwe comes in ranked ahead of Gonzaga’s Drew Timme (2nd), North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (3rd), Houston’s Marcus Sasser (4th), and Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson (5th).
Tshiebwe, who swept all six major national player of the year awards last season, announced his return to Kentucky back in April. He becomes the first national player of the year in college basketball to return to school since Tyler Hansbrough came back to North Carolina in 2008.
He was the first player to average at least 15 points and 15 rebounds per game since Drake’s Lewis Lloyd and Alcorn State’s Larry Smith each accomplished the feat in 1979-80. He’s also the first major conference player to average at least 16.0 points and at least 15.0 rebounds in a season since Bill Walton at UCLA in 1972-73. Bob Burrow is the last Wildcat to hit those marks, averaging 19.1 points and 17.7 rebounds per contest in 1954-55.
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Tshiebwe totaled 515 rebounds last season, pulling down at least 10 boards in all but two games as a junior. He finished the year with 21 straight games with double-digit rebounds and 16 straight double-doubles to end the year. The 6-foot-9 center totaled 28 double-doubles this year, a new Kentucky single-season record.
He’s also just the fourth player since 1975 to record 500+ points and 500+ rebounds in a season, joining Kenneth Faried (Morehead State, 2010-11), Blake Griffin (Oklahoma, 2008-09), and Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston, 1983-84).
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