Oscar Tshiebwe named Third Team All-American by The Sporting News

MrsTylerKSR

Award Season is here, and even though Oscar Tshiebwe won’t win any national player of the year trophies this go around, he’s still in line for some accolades. This morning, Oscar was named Third Team All-American by The Sporting News, making him Kentucky’s first two-time All-American since Tayshaun Prince (2001, 2002). Last year, Oscar was a consensus First-Team All-American and National Player of the Year.

Oscar leads Kentucky in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (13.1) for the second straight season. He is the only player in the country averaging at least 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. The senior center leads the SEC in double-doubles with 18 and has six 20-point, 15-rebound contests this season after seven a season ago. He has 13 of the 55 such contests by SEC players in the last 10 seasons.

In just 63 games for Kentucky, Tshiebwe ranks eighth in program history with 894 rebounds. He has registered a double-double in 46 of those 63 games, ranking third in program history behind Dan Issel (64) and Cotton Nash (48). He became the 61st player in program history to tally more than 1,000 points in a career and currently ranks 52nd overall with 1,065. Only two Wildcats (Rex Chapman – 1,073 and Bill Spivey – 1,213) have tallied more in just two seasons with the Cats.

This probably won’t be the only postseason honor Oscar brings in this spring. The Sporting News is one of the four “major” NCAA-recognized All-America teams that the NCAA uses for its consensus All-America teams. The other three are the Associated Press, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Those honors will be released in the coming weeks.

Kentucky Basketball All-Americans in the John Calipari Era

In the John Calipari Era at Kentucky, Oscar is the 12th player and the first to win multiple All-America distinctions by one of the four major organizations (The Sporting News, AP, USBWA, NABC).