Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe, last season’s consensus National Player of the Year, will undergo a “minor” knee procedure, according to coach John Calipari.
Calipari offered few details on Tshiebwe’s injury, which he posted about on Twitter.
“I have good news and bad news,” Calipari wrote in the first of two tweets. “Good news is Oscar had an unbelievable performance at Pro Day and the scouts loved what they saw. He came back to develop his game and become a more complete player and that’s exactly what he displayed Saturday night. They loved it.
“Bad news is I kept him out of practice Sat. with knee stuff. He refused to sit out Pro Day and balled out. I made him sit out Mon. 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!”
Tshiebwe, a 6-foot-9 Congo native, filled his trophy cabinet last spring, sweeping the Wooden Award, Naismith Player of the Year, NABC National Player of the Year and Pete Newell Big Man of the Year. The former West Virginia transfer tallied 28 double-doubles en route to averaging 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds, leading the nation in the latter category.
While Calipari didn’t offer a timeline for Tshiebwe’s return, Tshiebwe has just under one month until the season officially gets underway.
Kentucky, ranked No. 4 in ESPN’s final Way-Too-Early Top 25, opens its season against Howard on Nov. 7. The Wildcats then face Duquesne on Nov. 11 before heading to Indianapolis for the Champions Classic on Nov. 15 against Michigan State.