Oscar Tshiebwe recruiting update, roundtable, and predictions

Five-star center Oscar Tshiebwe is set to make his college decision on Saturday.

There’s a lot to be said about the 6-10, 2019 big man out of Pennsylvania, but one thing remains constant, and that’s his work ethic.

The effort you see Oscar play with is unmatched in many of his opponents. He’s more of an old-fashioned big man that looks to over power you with his 250-pound frame.

Tshiebwe is extremely aggressive on the boards. When watching his high school tape, he plays with a similar aggression to DeMarcus Cousins. When he has the ball, you better be ready for some contact.

With a decision on the horizon, Tshiebwe is down to the Kentucky Wildcats, West Virginia Mountaineers, Illinois Fighting Illini and Baylor Bears.

Right now, it looks like more of a two-man race between West Virginia and Kentucky, with West Virginia in the lead.

If he were to join Kentucky, that would make 2019’s class extremely versatile, tallying four recruits. With a few big-name recruits still yet to decide like Vernon Carey Jr. and James Wiseman, the 2019 class could be even more loaded than the 2018 class.

Oscar is set to make his decision on October 20th around noon:

Take a look at A Sea of Blue’s staff predictions below.

James Streble

There was a time when it was almost a lock that Oscar Tshiebwe would be a Kentucky Wildcat. But after a visit in Lexington may not have gone as well as we had hoped, the West Virginia Mountaineers are now the heavy favorites. The 247 Crystal Ball has WVU landing Oscar with a 91% chance.

We may never know why things didn’t click with Tshiebwe but now John Calipari has one less big man prospect for 2019. Isaiah Stewart is trending toward Michigan State, Aidan Igiehon is trending toward UofL, and James Wiseman is up in the air: Calipari may be running out of options.

I think Tshiebwe ends up at WVU, and I think Cal is going to have to put on the full-court press on for James Wiseman.

Prediction: West Virginia

Ian Teasley

Oscar T was at one point very high on UK’s list as a big man. He put the Wildcats in his final four despite not having an offer yet. Since then, Kentucky has offered him but they have been softening their recruitment on him and going all in on guys like James Wiseman, Vernon Carey, Isaiah Stewart, and Matthew Hurt. If Oscar T were making his decision two months ago, I would have picked Kentucky.

Prediction: West Virginia

Sam Gillenwater

On Saturday, Oscar Tshiebwe will commit to either West Virginia, Kentucky, Baylor, Illinois, or Clemson. The #32 player and #9 center in the Class of 2019 based on ESPN’s rankings, Oscar is a high energy player that mostly finishes around and at the basket while blocking shots on defense. At 6-8, though, Tshiebwe is slightly undersized for the center position.

Watching Oscar’s tape and having watched West Virginia last year (especially during their game against Kentucky), I see multiple similarities between he and Sagaba Konate. Wherever he goes, he’s going to fill that same role of the Energizer Bunny on both ends. I think, though, he does it at the same school as Konate in Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers.

With Kentucky’s loaded frontcourt this season and other players still looking for next season, I see Tshiebwe playing it safe by taking his talents elsewhere. He would help, but there are plenty of top big-men targets still in mind for Kentucky.

Prediction: West Virginia

Aaron Gershon

Another five-star prospect means another day where Kentucky fans will be locked to their phones checking for updates on where center Oscar Tshiebwe will commit to this Saturday. This time however it likely won’t be a happy ending for Cats fans. 247 Sports give West Virginia a 91% chance to land Tshiebwe. The other 9% is all Kentucky however with no indications that this prediction is inaccurate it’s hard to go against the Mountaineers. The Cats have yet to land a center for 2019. If they don’t get Tshiebwe they need to be sure to land either five-star center James Wisemen or fellow five-star center Vernon Casey

Prediction: Tshiebwe takes the country roads home to West Virginia.

Jamie Boggs

Oscar’s recruitment has certainly been an interesting one. He had a great summer, and Kentucky got in late on him. He only received an offer from John Calipari a little over a month ago. When Kentucky did get involved, though, many assumed he was destined for Lexington.

Within the last two weeks, something has changed significantly in his relationship with Kentucky. The communication seems to have gone cold, and 91% of 247 Sports Crystal Ball predictions are for West Virginia, who has been the favorite to land Tshiebwe since early on.

I know we have been surprised before, but Kentucky is certainly not trending for Oscar this week. With his announcement coming this weekend, I think it is highly doubtful that he becomes a Wildcat.

Prediction: West Virginia

Adam Haste

The 6-9, 250-pound center, Oscar Tshiebwe is making his college decision Saturday, and it is going to come down to either West Virginia or Kentucky. While most indicators point to WVU it would be nice to land the Kennedy Catholic star.

If he happens to pick Kentucky, coach Cal and the staff would be getting a very strong and tough post player who would be one of the hardest workers on the floor. He would be joining a class that already has a lot of talent committed, and with Kentucky most likely going to lose a lot of big men from this team, Oscar would be a great replacement.

Unfortunately, majority of the experts believe that Oscar will end up at WVU, and I am going to have to agree with them, but I will never count Cal out until he is out.

Prediction: West Virginia