Yep, you read that headline right. Oscar Tshiebwe, who is undoubtedly one of the best rebounders in the history of college basketball, was “half-blind” during his time in Lexington.
During Tshiebwe’s two seasons at Kentucky, he was consistently the best player on the team (and one of the best overall players in the nation, if not the best), and he earned a lot accolades and hardware to show for it:
- 2x All-American (1st team 2021-22, 2nd team 2022-23)
- 2x NCAA season rebound leader
- 2x First team All-SEC
- SEC All-Defensive Team
- 2022 SEC Player of the Year
- 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award winner (given to best men’s collegiate center)
- 2022 National College Player of the Year
On top of all that, Tshiebwe put up numbers that will be near the top of the UK record books for years and years to come. Think of all the Kentucky greats. Tshiebwe’s name will forever be up there with names like Cotton Nash, Cliff Hagan, Sam Bowie, and Dan Issel.
Tshiebwe is 6th all-time in UK history in total rebounds with 952. Atop that list is Dan Issel with 1,072. If Tshiebwe had stayed for another season (Issel played three years at UK), he would have been on pace for 1,428 career rebounds. That would have beaten Issel’s career total by 356 rebounds. And that’s while being “half-blind”. Phew.
Now, just imagine if Tshiebwe’s vision wasn’t impaired at Kentucky. Who knows what kind of numbers he could have put up…
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