For Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, decision on what to do next is complicated

It seems likely that Oscar Tshiebwe has played his final game for the Kentucky Wildcats.

When speaking with reporters Sunday in a subdued UK locker room after the Cats fell to Kansas State 75-69 in the NCAA Tournament round of 32, Tshiebwe often used past tense when referring to his college career.

“My dream was to do something great,” Tshiebwe said of his time at Kentucky. “Two years in a row, it did not happen.”

Kentucky Coach John Calipari told reporters after the loss to KSU that his “guess” was that all six of UK’s seniors — each of whom has an additional season of college eligibility available due to the NCAA’s “free COVID year” which was offered to all athletes who were enrolled in 2020-21 — would leave.

“That’s my guess, but I have not talked to them all,” Calipari said.

For Tshiebwe, the decision on what to do next is more complicated than for most.

College basketball’s unanimous national player of the year in 2021-22 and a consensus Second Team All-America choice in 2022-23, Tshiebwe (16.5 ppg, 13.7 rpg this season) is one of the most-decorated players in men’s college hoops this decade.

Yet the 6-foot-9, 255-pound product of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, appears to have slight odds of hearing his name called in the 2023 NBA Draft.

In today’s NBA, the preferred style of basketball — with emphasis on outside shooting and pick-and-roll actions — has moved against a rebound-first forward prospect such as Tshiebwe.

As the NBA game has evolved, the role for a non-shooting big is as a rim-running, alley-oop dunk option on offense and a shot-blocking rim protector on defense. Tshiebwe’s skills and physical traits do not fit those tasks.

Out of five 2023 NBA mock drafts that I checked Thursday morning, only one, USA Today’s, had Tshiebwe being drafted — and that was in the second round as the No. 49 overall pick. Only first-round selections receive guaranteed NBA contracts.

At nbadraftroom.com, they listed Tshiebwe as the 76th-best prospect available in 2023 for what is typically a 60-player draft. “Oscar is a force as a rebounder but doesn’t bring much on the offensive end,” was the accompanying analysis.

With the draft looking a long shot, Tshiebwe would seem to be in close to the same position in which he and other college post players with games that are not ideal fits for the current NBA — such as North Carolina’s Armando Bacot and Gonzaga’s Drew Timme — found themselves last year.

That is, weighing whether the money available to them in college hoops thanks to name, image and likeness opportunities makes staying in school a more attractive option than playing professionally overseas.