Report: Oscar Tshiebwe Expected to Make Season Debut Against Michigan State

Kentucky may return a monumental piece to its rotation against the Spartans.

The No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats may welcome back the reigning National Player of the Year to the hardwood tonight. 

Oscar Tshiebwe is expected to make his season debut tonight in the Champions Classic against Michigan State, according to Stadium's Jeff Goodman: 

Barring a last-minute change, Kentucky big man and last year’s National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe expected to make his season debut tonight against Michigan State at the Champions Classic, source told @Stadium. Decision hasn’t been made yet whether he will start or not.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) November 15, 2022

Tshiebwe did not participate in Big Blue Madness, the Blue-White Scrimmage, either of UK's exhibitions or the first two games of the regular season. On Oct. 11, Head coach John Calipari announced via Twitter that Tshiebwe was set to undergo a "minor 15-minute" procedure on his knee to "clean some things up."

In the lead-up to the regular season, it was thought that Tshiebwe would sit out the preseason and perhaps a game or two, but that there would be no long term impact from the knee injury.

Following the win over Duquesne last Friday, Calipari was unsure if the Cats would welcome their star big man to the rotation this Tuesday in Indianapolis.

"I don't know yet," he said. "(Tshiebwe)'s got to go through some workouts and if it swells or does stuff, we're just going to have to wait. That surgery, he's ahead of schedule, but, you know, you’ve got to be able to stop and turn and, you know, it's not ligament or anything like that. But there was an operation where they went inside that area where it will still be sore for a minute."

When speaking to reporters on Monday, Calipari again had no concrete announcement on whether or not Tshiebwe would play against the Spartans:

"He's supposed to practice today, so we'll have a better idea," he said. "He's been doing that the conditioning stuff, just hadn't been on that court and that's totally different. My guess would be he plays three or four minutes at a stretch, If he plays."

Before the win against Duquesne on Nov. 11, men's basketball color commentator Jack Givens said on the UK Pre-Game Radio Show that Tshiebwe was "at least a week away, simply because he hasn't done any contact."

Calipari noted that he's unsure if the NPOY will be physically ready to play on Tuesday, even if he's itching to get out on the court and make his season debut:

"He's just gonna have to get through that and make sure there's no swelling. From what I'm hearing, he doesn't have the lift yet. Knowing him he wants to play, but I can't tell you right now."

Everyone will have their answer in a matter of hours, as Kentucky and Michigan State are set to open the Champions Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 7 p.m. EST tonight. 

Wildcats Today will have injury updates on Tshiebwe, as well as live game coverage from Indy as the No. 4 Cats look to remain undefeated.