Oscar Tshiebwe and his Rise to Greatness

Oscar Tshiebwe is transforming into a legitimate force before our eyes

Greatness can be a tricky thing.  

It's something that can and should be acknowledged at every turn and, yet, it is something that seems to further magnify when taken lightly and spoken of only in quiet, reverent tones. In pursuit of it, be it in basketball or the professional world or in life, it can't be rushed; it must be left to gestate and mature organically. In the microcosm that is college basketball, Oscar Tshiebwe's sudden and apparent rise serves as an appropriate case study on this very subject. 

After arriving in Morgantown with arguably the greatest amount of fanfare in the history of the program, it seems as though the five-star rating that the native of Congo brandished as an incoming freshman was and still is entirely warranted. Through 10 games in his first season as a college athlete, Tshiebwe is playing at a ferocious clip: 12.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg, and a 59% field goal percentage. He currently sits atop the Big 12 in offensive rebounds and offensive rebound percentage and places second in total rebounds, total rebounds per game and player efficiency rating. On a national scale, Tshiebwe is ninth in total offensive rebounds.

To be less than a dozen games into his collegiate career and averaging essentially a double-double is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. To be doing so while having only a few years of experience playing the sport under his belt is another thing entirely. That fact, as added onus, makes Tshiebwe's sudden presence as a frontcourt force in arguably the nation's toughest conference something that West Virginia fans would be wise to beam over. 

Just parsing through the numbers over the last decade, you'd have to go back to Kevin Jones' senior year in 2011-2012 to find a member of the West Virginia frontcourt that averaged a double-double for the duration of the season (Jones finished with 19.9 ppg/10.9 rebounds per game). If the season were to end today, Thsiebwe's points and rebound totals for the year would place third behind Chris Brooks (12.6 ppg in 1988) and second behind Warren Baker (11.2 rpg in 1974), respectively. 

Call it what it is: historic. 

Of course, one could pin an asterisk on his current stat line considering Big 12 conference play has yet to commence and West Virginia's best wins up to this point are against 8-3 Pitt and 10-1 Northern Iowa. Of course, this is also a season where, barely halfway through December, there have already been nearly half a dozen teams that have cycled in and out of the top-ranked spot nationally. It's been chaotic across the board and West Virginia, despite several close calls and a narrow loss on the road to St. John's, has looked largely resurgent after a forgettable 2018-2019 run. 

Additionally, Thsiebwe isn't running a one-man show in the frontcourt. The spotlight near the glass is often a co-op fueled in part by 6'10" sophomore Derek Culver. Culver, currently the Big 12's leading rebounder, is having a stellar season in his own right and forms the other half of a lane-based war machine that has so far accounted for 133 points and 192 rebounds through 10 games. No one would be surprised if Culver was dominating the headlines for West Virginia as he labors to build on a freshman year where he averaged 11.5 ppg. Despite his current heroics, it can be argued that Culver is playing second chair to a freshman phenom who is as raw as he is kinetically charged. 

Perhaps the greatest point of emphasis in this early chapter of Thsiebwe's budding career at West Virginia hinges less on what he is doing than what he isn't. 

There's no argument that when "Big O" gets the ball in the post, the likelihood that he's going to get a good shot off is high. His TSP (True Shooting Percentage, which takes into account two-point, three-point and free throws made), is currently .610 percent, good for second on the team. The vast majority of his points this season have come from high-percentage looks off of dunks, put backs and shots from three to five feet out from the basket. True big man territory. 

Beyond his ability to leap and put an enviable dusting of touch on his hook shot, Tshiebwe's offensive game is not even close to being considered well-rounded. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find any film of him creating shots near the high post of off the dribble. As natural an athlete, as he is, Tshiebwe has hours and hours of lab work to put in before his game is refined to the point where he can be considered a multiple threat in the half-court offense. 

Make no mistake, that assessment isn't meant to be disparaging.  Quite the contrary, actually- it's the best piece of news about his game. Tshiebwe has a ceiling that's as high and - very realistically - higher than any big man that's ever played at West Virginia. Barely 20 years old, the former McDonald's All-American already stands 6'9" and boasts a shredded 258-pound frame that has ample room to grow. If Bob Huggins can continue to push his prized greenhorn to become a threat further and further from the basket and develop at least some type of repertoire as a passer from the post to go along with already-gaudy athletic bona fides, Tshiebwe won't just claim a spot in the West Virginia records book- he'll crash the All-American award shows and beyond.

All of this begs one question: How good, truly, is Oscar Tshiebwe? For those of you who remain dubious, the answer will soon arrive. A week from Sunday, West Virginia will travel to Cleveland to take on a top-five Ohio State team. Following its brush with the Buckeyes, West Virginia will get all it can handle in linking up with Kansas and Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to open up conference play. Tshiebwe will get up close and personal with two of the conference's premier frontcourt players in Tech's Chris Clarke and Kansas' human wall in Udoka Azubuike. With Thsiebwe now earning glowing reviews from the national press, there won't be one opponent remaining on West Virginia's schedule that won't be primed to fire its biggest and best shot at the young man down low. Between Kansas, Texas Tech, Baylor and the rest of a conference that is somehow solid from top to bottom, there is no respite. To put it another way, the trial by fire is en route.  

Assuming the gaudy numbers hold and the solid play continues, who and what can deter anyone from arriving at the conclusion that Oscar Tshiebwe is legit? It's as good a time as any to feel good about West Virginia basketball. Bob Huggins has his team back in the top-25 rankings, recruiting is as fertile as its ever been and there's a Congo-born superstar-in-the-making smiling a mile wide as he bounds from one baseline to the other. After a season that was plagued by everything from dismissals to transfers and just doomed on-court play, the upcoming turn into 2020 has a whole different feel about it. 

At the center of it all (pun intended), is Tshiebwe. From just outside his five-star orbit, there's no shrinking or diminishing insight. So far, all no. 34 has done is rise to meet challenge after challenge and help push West Virginia back into the national conversation. There's no cocksure or firing off on social media, just incessant energy and steady rise up the statistical leader boards. Of all the hallmarks of greatness, perhaps its the ease with which everything appears to be happening. Perhaps Tshiebwe isn't chasing greatness at all, merely glancing at it in the periphery as he stays focused on the bigger, ultimately more important goal of making this season a special one for West Virginia. If he's enjoying the ride as much as he seems to be, then perhaps we should too.