Oscar Tshiebwe using St. Peter's loss as motivation in year two

At various points this past season, Kentucky appeared to be a clear national title threat. The Wildcats had shooting, scoring, playmaking, rebounding, defense and depth, a complete roster from top to bottom.

Then the injury bug hit, followed by inefficient shooting and a lack of defensive consistency. The team that once fired on all cylinders began to sputter, failing to recover down the stretch. Kentucky lost in the SEC Tournament semifinals before suffering an embarrassing first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament to 15-seed St. Peter’s.

The five weeks since have been frustrating, specifically watching two teams Kentucky beat by a combined 47 points compete for a national championship. Of those two, Kansas passed Kentucky in all-time wins, while North Carolina moved past the Wildcats in all-time NCAA Tournament wins.

Today, though, Oscar Tshiebwe turned that disappointment into future optimism, announcing his return to Kentucky for his senior season. Rather than closing the book on his college career, the 6-foot-9 center decided to keep adding pages in hopes of creating a new ending to his story. The loss to St. Peter’s was a crushing blow, yes, but he’s using it as motivation going into his second year in Lexington.

“It did affect us, that’s not how I wanted it to end, like that. For me, it’s the best motivation,” Tshiebwe told ESPN following his announcement. “It’s the best motivation.”

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Tshiebwe saw how it all crumbled late. He then saw what it took to win a title, attending the Final Four in New Orleans to receive the Naismith Player of the Year award. Coming back for year two as a Wildcat, he’s ready to do whatever it takes to finish the job this time around.

“Now I know how things are like,” Tshiebwe said. “Next time — I’m never going to want to go through the same thing. I want to make sure my team is ready, my teammates are ready, so we can finish and not let that thing happen again.”

Tshiebwe finished his junior campaign averaging a team-best 17.4 points and a nation-leading 15.1 rebounds per game. He earned consensus National Player of the Year honors, sweeping all six of the major awards to close out the year. Now, the superstar center is returning to help lead Kentucky to the Final Four.