Tshiebwe wins Wooden Award, sweeps player of the year honors
Oscar Tshiebwe became UK's first unanimous national player of the year winner on Tuesday when he was honored with the Wooden Award. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
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Oscar Tshiebwe added one final accolade to his historic junior season at Kentucky on Tuesday when he was named the Wooden Award winner.
The honor game Tshiebwe a sweep of all six national player of the year awards, making him the first player in UK basketball history to accomplish the feat. He was also named player of the year by The Sporting News, the NABC, the Associated Press, USBWA, and the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
Since 1977 when all six outlets were represented in every season, 28 players have swept the honors. Tshiebwe is the second player coached by John Calipari to do it, joining Marcus Camby of UMass in 1996.
Tshiebwe, who averaged a team-high 17.4 points and led the nation at 15.1 rebounds per game, became the first player in SEC history to win all six awards in the same season.
The 6-foot-9, 255-pound center/forward is the first player to average at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in a season since Drake's Lewis Llyod and Alcorn State's Larry Smith each accomplished the feat during the 1979-80 season. The last major conference player to average at least 16 and 15 was Bill Walton at UCLA in 1972-73.
Tshiebwe was also a strong presence on the defensive end of the floor, averaging 1.6 blocked shots and 1.8 steals per game.
The native of the Democratic Republic of The Congo broke the Rupp Arena record with 28 rebounds in a win over Western Kentucky, breaking Shaquille O'Neal's previous mark of 21. He followed that game with 20 rebounds against Missouri, giving him 48 boards over a two-game span, the most recorded by a Division I player in the last 25 seasons.
Tshiebwe capped the season with 16 consecutive double-doubles and posted 28 for the season, a new UK single-season record.
Anthony Davis is the only other Wooden Award winner in UK program history. He claimed the honor in 2012 after helping lead the Wildcats to their eighth national championship. Davis nearly swept the honors during his freshman season, but the NABC named Michigan State's Draymond Green its national player of the year.
