Kentucky basketball: God led Oscar Tshiebwe to join his ‘dream school’

Oscar Tshiebwe began his college basketball career at West Virginia but felt led by God to transfer to play for Kentucky basketball.

Oscar Tshiebwe thought he’d be one-and-done at West Virginia before entering the NBA Draft. Those plans changed in a big way. After a promising freshman season with the Mountaineers that saw him average 11.2 points and 9.3 rebounds, his numbers and playing time diminished as a sophomore and his NBA future was in peril.

After dropping out of ESPN’s top 100 draft prospects, Tshiebwe needed a change. He left West Virginia and sought a new program to rejuvenate his college basketball career and rehab his NBA Draft future.

Enter Kentucky who earned his commitment last January amid a lost season for John Calipari’s Wildcats. In many ways, it could have been the biggest win for Kentucky basketball last season.

God led Oscar Tshiebwe to join Kentucky basketball

For Tshiebwe, the Congo native, explains God led him to Kentucky, which he calls his dream school.

“I wanted to be one-and-done and go straight (to the NBA) from high school,” Tshiebwe said. “I chose West Virginia over Kentucky and went to West Virginia, but Kentucky was my school, my favorite school, my dream school since my freshman year in high school. I ended up choosing West Virginia but look what God did. He sent me to the place I always prayed for to be. So, I’m so happy to be here, and I know I wanted to be one-and-done since my freshman year, but the way God does things differently than how we do things, we just have to find his way.”

His transition will be made easier by the fact he was able to practice with the team after transferring. The basketball newcomer still has a lot to learn about the game and the finer points of being an effective big man, like his post moves and improving on his jump shot, but he’s encouraged to be in a new environment with a new coach.

“It was a great experience for me. It was great,” he said “Like at practice was absolutely different from where I came from. Practice last year, there was a lot of stuff for me to work on to be ready for this team next year. So, that was great for me to see those things. So, now I’m working on the things to be ready for next year’s team.”

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