Newcomer Oscar Tshiebwe embraces all that is UK basketball: ‘I’m in a good place now’
Oscar Tshiebwe recently returned from a monthlong trip to his native Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was the first time the Kentucky basketball player had been home and seen family and friends in six years.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday, he said the trip got “a little bit complicated,” but “I’m glad I made it back.”
Adjustments had to be made.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is in central sub-Saharan Africa. It is the second largest African country with an expanse of 905,567 square miles. That’s about the size of Spain, France, Germany, Sweden and Norway combined.
Tshiebwe is from Lubumbashi, which has a population of 2,478,000, making it the country’s third-largest city. But much has changed in the last six years, including a family move to another city.
Tshiebwe was relatively late to basketball. He was 14 when he started playing.
“When I was growing up, basketball was, like, not popular,” he said. “Soccer was the most popular sport. So, everybody wants to play soccer. Professional soccer players, they make a lot of money. Basketball, nobody knows about it. Nobody is talking about it.”
A friend of one of his brothers pushed him to play basketball. Tshiebwe said he came to love the sport and dream about playing in the NBA. That prompted a move to the United States early in his high school days.
“The first time I stepped in the United States, I did not know anything about college basketball,” he said. “. . . We were watching all the games. . . . Everybody was talking about Kentucky.”
UK became his dream school. “Kentucky is like professional basketball,” he said.
People close to him doubted he could be good enough to play for Kentucky. Something his father, Mbuyi, had told him bolstered his faith.
“There are no impossible things,” he recalled his father saying. “Impossible is an excuse for somebody not to try.”
During his sophomore year, he wondered when an offer from Kentucky would come. He wondered again in his junior year, when UK Coach John Calipari came to one of his games.
Tshiebwe recalled Calipari saying after the game, “I like you, kid.” But still no offer.
In his senior year, a game against a heralded prospect, James Wiseman, took on significance.
“I think this is my great opportunity for Coach Calipari to offer me because I’m playing against this kid who is No. 1 in the country,” he recalled thinking. “For Coach Calipari to give me an offer, I have to kill this kid.”
Tshiebwe said he finished with 26 points and 19 rebounds. Wiseman had 12 points and one rebound. He recalled the message Calipari texted the next morning as “think I like you kid. We’ve got to talk.”
But when it came time to sign a letter of intent, Tshiebwe committed to West Virginia. “I don’t know where my mind was,” he said.
He averaged 11.2 points and 9.3 rebounds as a freshman in 2019-20. He was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 freshman team.
At midseason of 2020-21, Tshiebwe transferred to Kentucky.
“My mom, she was jumping up and down all the time,” he said of the reaction. “. . . Even when I played for West Virginia, I wished I could play for Kentucky. That was my dream school.
”Trying for every single rebound is a basketball mantra for Tshiebwe. “I’ll fight for a lot of rebounds because that’s what I do the best,” he said.
He will wear No. 34 because it was Hakeem Olajuwon’s number.
“He was the Dream,” Tshiebwe said. “He’s the best big man I ever watched. . . . I watched him all the time, and I want to play like him.”
Tshiebwe’s off-court talents include knowing how to ride a bicycle backward. He said it took him three or four years to learn how.
His high school coach put an end to that by saying, “Don’t ever do that again,” Tshiebwe recalled.
He spoke of practicing with the team last season as helpful in terms of learning plays and how UK coaches want him to play.
Tshiebwe shrugged off the great expectations that come with playing for Kentucky.
“I do not have a lot of fears because I call myself a warrior,” he said. “I fight.”
Tshiebwe welcomed the unblinking attention from Kentucky fans. He’s been known for spending time with fans to the point of being late for a team bus.
“You cannot deny to take a picture with fans because they’re always supporting us . . . ,” he said. “We need the fans for us to do good. We need the motivation. . . . If Rupp Arena is full, I feel we are going to do good.
“I’m in a good place now. I’m so thankful.”
