The End Results of the Oscar Tshiebwe Rebounding Record Chase

Oscar Tshiebwe had one of the best rebounding seasons in the history of college basketball. Unfortunately, Kentucky’s early NCAA Tournament exit prevented him from having definitively the best rebounding season in the history of Kentucky basketball.

The former McDonald’s All-American and West Virginia big man grabbed 515 rebounds in his first season at Kentucky. It’s the most rebounds in a season by a Wildcat since 1952. Tshiebwe ranks third all-time, only slightly trailing Cliff Hagan (528) and Bill Spivey (567).

Even though he could not complete his rebounding record chase, Tshiebwe did finish his season with two impressive statistical milestones. Oscar concluded his 2022 season averaging 17.4 points and 15.2 rebounds per game. He’s the first college basketball player to average 15 and 15 since 1980. The last high-major conference player with comparable numbers was UCLA’s Bill Walton in 1973. The last Wildcat to do it was Bob Burrow in 1955, who averaged 19.1 points and 17.7 rebounds per game.

Oscar Tshiebwe earned Consensus First Team All-American honors. He’s the 21st player in program history to receive the honor and sixth in the Calipari era. The frontrunner for Naismith Player of the Year, Tshiebwe could share the same fate as Denzel Valentine, the Michigan State Spartan who won player of the year honors after his team was upset in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

The big man was not the only Wildcat chasing UK single-season records. Sahvir Wheeler averaged 6.87 assists per game, ranking No. 3 nationally. The point guard from Houston finished with 207 assists, the fourth-best single-season mark in school history, trailing Tyler Ulis (246), John Wall (241) and Roger Harden (232).