After going undrafted, Kentucky basketball’s Oscar Tshiebwe agrees to deal with Pacers

A day after not being selected in the 2023 draft, Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe found an NBA opportunity with the Indiana Pacers.

The 2021-22 national player of the year and an All-America selection this past season agreed to a two-way contract, NBA insider Shams Charania reported Friday.

That followed a night in which Cason Wallace (first round, 10th overall) and Chris Livingston (second round, 58th overall) were draft selections. Jacob Toppin, who also went undrafted, agreed to a two-way contract with the New York Knicks.

In the NBA, two-way contracts allow developing players to simultaneously be rostered by an NBA team and its G League affiliate.

Tshiebwe, who came to Lexington as a transfer two and a half years ago, will go down as one of the most impressive UK players during John Calipari’s tenure as the Wildcats’ head coach.

A McDonald’s All-American recruit, Tshiebwe — originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo — considered Kentucky out of high school but ultimately signed with West Virginia, emerging as an instant-impact player for the Mountaineers as a freshman. Following an uneven start to his sophomore campaign, Tshiebwe decided to transfer at the semester break and ended up at UK, where he sat out the remainder of the 2020-21 season before blossoming into a star during his first full year with the Wildcats.

Tshiebwe averaged 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds per game as a junior, sweeping the major national player of the year honors for the 2021-22 season and leading Kentucky to a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, though the Cats were upset in the first round by 15-seeded Saint Peter’s.

The 6-foot-9 post player was projected as a second-round NBA Draft pick after that season, but he chose to return to Kentucky, and — despite suffering a knee injury that required surgery a few weeks before the start of the 2022-23 season — averaged 16.5 points and 13.7 rebounds, earning consensus second-team All-America honors.

Tshiebwe led the Wildcats in scoring in both of his seasons with Kentucky, and he led the nation in rebounding each of the past two years. His NBA Draft stock took a hit in year two at UK, however, with his defensive ability called into question and lingering doubts about how his game fits with the current direction of the league solidifying over time.

“I’m praying everything can go well. I’m praying that a team can get me,” Tshiebwe told the Herald-Leader at the NBA combine. He later talked glowingly about his time at Kentucky and his continued appreciation for Calipari and the UK fan base, but Tshiebwe, who will turn 24 years old in November, also said he was eager to get started on a professional career.

“This is my dream,” he said at the combine. “My dream is to play in the NBA.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2023 at 4:07 PM.