Oscar Tshiebwe returns to Lexington following visa issue

Oscar Tshiebwe is officially back with the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team after a prolonged stay with his family in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to The Athletic reporter Kyle Tucker, Tshiebwe had a visa issue that led to him spending an extra three weeks in Congo, but he’s thankfully now back in Lexington. Tucker reports that Tshiebwe left in early May for the first trip home to visit his mother since moving to America in 2015, then had the visa issue that led to Tshiebwe returning to Kentucky just this week after originally planning to be back at the end of May.

Tshiebwe was recruited heavily by UK when he was a high school prospect. He was a four-star player, the 32nd ranked player in the country, and the 8th-ranked center in 2019, according to 247 Sports. He opted for West Virginia and Bob Huggins over Kentucky and John Calipari.

The Congo native had a strong freshman season averaging 11.2 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. He initially opted for the NBA Draft after the season was over but decided to return to WVU for a second season.

Those freshman numbers dipped his sophomore season as he averaged 8.5 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game in only 10 games played. He opted to transfer out of the program after sitting out for personal reasons not even halfway through the season.

Oscar is viewed as one of the top transfers in the country and clocked in at No. 17 on David Cobb’s latest transfer portal ranking list. Tshiebwe is more of the traditional, physical big that John Calipari seems to prefer. Big men that like to float around the perimeter like Skal Labissiere and Olivier Sarr tend to not do as well in Cal’s system, and that was very apparent last season.

Tshiebwe is part of a loaded frontcourt that includes Keion Brooks, Daimion Collins, Lance Ware, and Jacob Toppin.

Welcome back Oscar and we can’t wait to see you on the court!

And be sure to read Tucker’s full piece for more insight into the whole situation.

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