Oscar Tshiebwe tabbed to Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List

The reigning National Player of the Year is looking for a repeat.

On Wednesday night, it was announced on ESPN2 that Kentucky men’s basketball senior center Oscar Tshiebwe has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List. Tshiebwe was the unanimous National Player of the Year during the 2021-22 season, collecting the Wooden Award in the process.

Through 12 games (10 starts) played in the 2022-23 season, the 6-foot-9 big man is averaging 16.8 points and 13.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 61.1 percent from the field.

#OscarWorthy …

Big O named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List. pic.twitter.com/N2gI9GVqgj

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 4, 2023

Tshiebwe’s numbers this season are only slightly behind what he was able to accomplish in 2021-22, although he’s actually shooting a better percentage so far in 2022-23. The Democratic Republic of the Congo native sat out Kentucky’s first two games due to a minor knee injury that required preseason surgery and then came off the bench in his first two appearances before moving back into the full-time starting role. He’s up to eight double-doubles on the season.

Over his last three games, Tshiebwe has been especially dominant against Missouri, Louisville, and LSU. The 23-year-old averaged 22.0 points, 16.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting an insane 76.7 percent from the floor during that span. His campaign for back-to-back national player of the year trophies is officially underway following Wednesday’s news.

Below is the entire Top 25 Watch List.

John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List

Armando Bacot (F/C) – North Carolina
Marcus Carr (G) – Texas
Antoine Davis (G) – Detroit Mercy
Kendric Davis (G) – Memphis
Gradey Dick (G) – Kansas
Hunter Dickson (C) – Michigan
Zach Edey (C) – Purdue
Kyle Filipowski (C) – Duke
Adam Flagler (G) – Baylor
Keyonte George (G) – Baylor
Trayce Jackson-Davis (F) – Indiana
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (G/F) – UCLA
Caleb Love (G) – North Carolina
Mike Miles Jr. (G) – TCU
Brandon Miller (F) – Alabama
Kris Murray (F) – Iowa
Adama Sanogo (F) – UConn
Marcus Sasser (G) – Houston
Terquavion Smith (G) – NC State
Drew Timme (F) – Gonzaga
Oscar Tshiebwe (F) – Kentucky
Azuolas Tubelis (F) – Arizona
Jordan Walker (G) – UAB
Jalen Wilson (F) – Kansas
Isaiah Wong (G) – Miami (FL)

The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced during the Elite Eight of the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2023 John R. Wooden Award will be named following the conclusion of the postseason in April.

Tshiebwe recognized for 1,000th career college rebound

Just a few games ago, Tshiebwe recorded his 1,000th career college rebound in the midst of Kentucky’s loss to Missouri on Dec. 28. During Tuesday’s win over LSU, he was recognized for that acoomplishment prior to tipoff with a commemorative basketball in front of the Rupp Arena home crowd. He is now up to 1,047 career rebounds, with 415 (39.6 percent) of them coming on the offensive glass.

Tshiebwe has also scored 1,224 points throughout his college career. He spent 1.5 seasons at West Virginia before transferring to UK in Jan. 2021.

791 of Tshiebwe’s career points and 682 of his rebounds have come while playing in Lexington. According to bigbluehistory.net, only four players in Kentucky MBB basketball history have recorded at least 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds while playing for the Wildcats: Dan Issel, Frank Ramsey, Cliff Hagan, and Johnny Cox. If Tshiebwe keeps up the pace he’s currently on this season, he will have a decent shot at joining that club.