LEXINGTON, Ky. — Reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe will undergo a “minor” medical procedure after missing two Kentucky basketball practice sessions in recent days.
UK coach John Calipari tweeted Tuesday afternoon that Tshiebwe missed the Wildcats’ practice on Saturday with a knee issue. The senior big man returned to the court Sunday evening for the program’s annual Pro Day showcase in front of NBA scouts — and he was one of the standout performers at that event — but Calipari said he made Tshiebwe sit out Monday’s practice, which also had NBA personnel in attendance.
“He refused to sit out Pro Day and balled out,” Calipari tweeted. “I made him sit out Monday and get examined as a precaution. He’s going to have a minor 15-minute procedure to clean some things up. Not a big deal, but no dancing at Madness!”
Big Blue Madness is scheduled for Friday night in Rupp Arena.
Tshiebwe — a 6-foot-9, 260-pound post player — averaged 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds per game for the Wildcats last season. He played 31.9 minutes per game and started all 34 games for Kentucky on his way to sweeping the national player of the year awards. Tshiebwe wore a sleeve on his right knee during Kentucky’s Pro Day on Sunday, though he played the entirety of both scrimmage sessions and did not look hobbled during the practice session, which lasted more than two hours.
Obviously, he’ll be an integral part of a UK team that is expected to be ranked in the top five nationally when the Associated Press Top 25 poll is released later this month. ESPN projects Kentucky as one of the four No. 1 seeds for the 2023 NCAA Tournament in its preseason Bracketology.
The Wildcats will play their Blue-White Game in Pikeville on Oct. 22 and have two exhibition games scheduled before the regular-season opener against Howard University on Nov. 7. The first major opponent on UK’s schedule is Michigan State in the Champions Classic on Nov. 15. Five days after that, Kentucky travels to play Gonzaga in Spokane.
Tshiebwe is also slated to represent Kentucky at SEC media days next week in Birmingham, along with point guard Sahvir Wheeler. It’s not yet clear whether he will make that trip.
Calipari delivered the information on Tshiebwe’s setback in a good news/bad news post. The bad news was the injury itself.
“Good news is Oscar had an unbelievable performance at Pro Day and the scouts loved what they saw,” the UK coach tweeted. “He came back to develop his game and become a more complete player and that’s exactly what he displayed Sunday night. They loved it.”
ESPN projected Tshiebwe as the No. 39 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft in its latest preseason mock draft, which was posted last week.
