Wildcat Star Oscar Tshiebwe to Play Senior Season at Kentucky After Prayer: ‘I’m Praying for My Team, My Coaches’
By Movieguide® Staff
Although Kentucky’s All-American player Oscar Tshiebwe could have elected to play in the NBA after his career Junior season with the Wildcats, he decided to stay in college for his senior year after praying to God.
A college basketball All-American who claimed numerous player of the year honors last season says he decided to return for his senior year after fasting and praying to God.
The 6-foot-9 Naismith player of the year award-winner confessed that in the past, he has not relied on God and “ended up not making good choices.”
However, with one of the biggest decisions ahead of him at the end of his Junior season, Tshiebwe chose to rely on God and the Holy Spirit by “fasting and praying.”
“My dad told me that God has given us the Spirit – the Holy Spirit – who lives within us,” he told the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “If we ask anything according to His Word, He’s going to help us. The Holy Spirit will guide us, will give us good directions. So I remembered that, and I said, ‘Let me pray about this.’ I prayed. I asked God, ‘Speak to me.’… God said: I’m not done with you in this place. … If God is not done with you, that means He’s still got a work to do with you.
“… When you submit everything to God, that means you trust Him,” Tshiebwe added. “You believe He is going to help you. And the one thing about that is He’s not gonna lead you the wrong way.
“I’m very excited to see where God is gonna take us, and I’m praying for my team, my teammates, my coaches – everybody,” Tshiebwe said. “And I always share the Word of God with them. I always invite them to wherever I go preach [in area churches] so they can hear the message, too.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Tshiebwe’s historic season last year:
The Kentucky Wildcats’ season came to an end after they were upset by the 15th ranked St. Peters on March 17.
Despite the loss, Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe earned The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year.
The 6-foot-9 forward won 46 of 60 votes from AP Top 25 voters for his elite rebounding numbers in his first season with the Wildcats.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo native grabbed the most rebounds of any Kentucky Wildcat player in history at their home court, Rupp Arena. Tshiebwe became one of two Wildcat players to earn the award, the first being NBA all-star Anthony Davis.
“It is amazing to be join somebody like Anthony Davis,” Tshiebwe said. “And that gives me confidence and gives me more help for my future, too, for what I’m trying to do and what I’m trying to accomplish. I’m just putting God first because God knows what I need, and he has great plans for me.”
Tshiebwe said that rebounding became a focus when he came to the states to play basketball, and in the 2021-2022 season, he averaged 15.1 a game.
“First of all, it’s the position,” Tshiebwe explained. “You have to place yourself where you don’t need to work too hard for the basketball just to come in your hands. You’ve got to read it. … If somebody’s shooting this angle, probably 75% it’s going that way because the ball’s coming in this way, 25% it’s coming this way. You have to know that.”
Tshiebwe also won the SEC Conference Player of the Year Award and The Naismith Trophy for his performance this year.
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