Four-star center Oscar Tshiebwe has trimmed his list to eight, and Kentucky made the cut.
Tshiebwe’s list includes the Wildcats, West Virginia Mountaineers, Kansas Jayhawks and Virginia Cavaliers among others.
Tshiebwe is a 6-9, 230-pound big man from Hermitage, Pennsylvania, where he plays at Kennedy Catholic. He’s ranked the No. 56 player and the No. 12 center in the 247 Sports Composite.
Tshiebwe currently has 14 offers, including one from the SEC foe Ole Miss Rebels, and another from fellow blue-blood Kansas. Duke has shown interest, but like Kentucky, the Blue Devils have not yet offered.
West Virginia is currently the favorite in his crystal ball, with 10 predictions having been logged. However, as is the case with most recruitments, if Kentucky gets more involved that’s likely to change.
The interest in Tshiebwe appears to be rising quickly for John Calipari. Kentucky watched Tshiebwe play during the July live period, and they must have liked what they saw. Whether or not he’ll get a scholarship offer or visit Kentucky is still unknown.
But it’s not surprising that Calipari is impressed. Tshiebwe has a lot of athleticism for his size, and he’s a very intense dunker. His size and skill set remind me a little bit of Julius Randle.
While competing at the Adidas Summer Championships in California, Tshiebwe dominated Kentucky target James Wiseman, which helped spark Calipari’s interest.
Evan Daniels went as far as to call Tshiebwe one of the top recruits in the month of July:
You could make a case that Oscar Tshiebwe had as good of a summer as anyone. At the adidas Summer Championships, Tshiebwe was dominant. His motor ran non-stop and he impacted the game with his activity level, physical play and rebounding. Tshiebwe consistently ran the court, dunked everything in the paint and was an enforcer around the basket. Arguably his best game was against James Wiseman and Hoop City, where he scored 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting and reeled in 13 rebounds. Tshiebwe is ranked No. 56 in the 247Sports Composite and No. 72 in the Top247. Expect a big rise when rankings are updated.
You can check out some of his recent highlights below:
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