Oscar Tshiebwe one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award

Oscar Tshiebwe is one step closer to winning National Player of the Year. The 15 finalists for the Wooden Award were announced during College GameDay this morning and, not surprisingly, Oscar was one of them.

2022 Wooden Award Finalists

• Ochai Agbaji (Kansas)
• Paolo Banchero (Duke)
• Kofi Cockburn (Illinois)
• Johnny Davis (Wisconsin)
• Collin Gillespie (Villanova)
• Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga)
• Jaden Ivey (Purdue)
• Johnny Juzang (UCLA)
• Walker Kessler (Auburn)
• E.J. Liddell (Ohio State)
• Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona)
• Keegan Murray (Iowa)
• Jabari Smith (Auburn)
• Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
• Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)

.@Oscartshiebwe34 – Wooden Award Finalist 💪

📝 https://t.co/l2uQfAiU33 pic.twitter.com/ZnFc37oC57

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 5, 2022

From here, a panel of nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players. Voting will take place from March 14-21, and voters take into consideration a player’s entire season of play, as well as the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The finalists for the 2022 Wooden Award will be announced on March 30. Anthony Davis is the only Wooden Award winner in Kentucky Basketball history, taking home the honor in 2012 after helping lead the Cats to the eighth national championship in program history.

Oscar’s case for National POY

Yesterday, Oscar was named one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the nation’s top center (you can help him win it by voting here). He is also a finalist for National Defensive Player of the Year and on the watch list for the Naismith Trophy and Lute Olsen Award.

Oscar continues to lead the country in rebounds per game (15.3) and offensive rebounds per game (5.4). He’s second in the country in double-doubles (24) and tied for Julius Randle for second on UK’s single-season list behind Dan Issel, who had 25. Oscar has pulled down 10+ boards in 17 consecutive games, the longest streak by a major conference player since Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan in 1996-97.

Oscar’s 460 rebounds this season rank third on Kentucky’s all-time list behind Bill Spivey (567) and Cliff Hagan (528). Kentucky has ten potential games left (at Florida, three in the SEC Tournament, six in the NCAA Tournament). To tie Spivey’s record, Oscar will need to average…

• 3 games: 35.7 rebounds per game
• 4 games: 26.8 rebounds per game
• 5 games: 21.4 rebounds per game
• 6 games: 17.8 rebounds per game
• 7 games: 15.3 rebounds per game
• 8 games: 13.4 rebounds per game
• 9 games: 11.9 rebounds per game
• 10 games: 10.7 rebounds per game

On the offensive end, Oscar leads Kentucky in scoring with 16.9 points per game. He’s scored in double figures in 12 straight games, the best such streak since Immanuel Quickley’s 20 games in the 2019-20 season. He is looking to become the first Division I player to average at least 15.0 points and at least 15.0 rebounds per game since Drake’s Lewis Lloyd and Alcorn State’s Larry Smith each did during the 1979-80 season, and the first Wildcat to do it since Bob Burrow tallied 19.1 points and 17.7 rebounds per game in 1954-55.

Crown him.