Oscar Tshiebwe Details Reasons for Leaving WVU
Wednesday afternoon, former West Virginia big man Oscar Tshiebwe met with the media for the first time since transferring over to Kentucky. Tshiebwe was asked several questions about why he chose Kentucky, what his journey has been like over the last two years, and why things didn't work out at WVU.
The first thing Tshiebwe mentioned was how West Virginia's playing style was making things difficult for both him and the rest of his teammates to be effective on the offensive end.
"The system we were playing would really close it up [the paint] but he [Derek Culver] was good - we would dominate everybody we would go against. But as I see Kentucky, the way we play here is way different than how West Virginia plays. They play one in, four out. That gives you a lot of opportunities to go one on one, it gives you a lot of opportunities to kick the ball outside if you get double-teamed. That is a great system and I feel like I'm in the right place."
Interestingly enough, West Virginia moved to a four out, one in offense after Tshiebwe's departure. Head coach Bob Huggins could have used Tshiebwe in that style of offense but when you have a player the caliber of Derek Culver, you have to keep him on the floor.
Aside from the way he was being utilized at WVU, Tshiebwe opened up about his struggles of not enjoying his time in the program and didn't feel like himself anymore.
"I wanted to be a one and done. I chose West Virginia over Kentucky but Kentucky was my school, my favorite school since my freshman year of high school but I ended up choosing West Virginia. I'm so happy to be here and I know I wanted to be a one and done but the way God does things and how we do things are different so we just have to follow His way. I felt like I was not happy anymore and everything was not good. I was not laughing, I was not enjoying my time anymore. I prayed about this situation a lot because I wanted God to help me. Most people thought that I was going to ruin my life but you can't listen to what people say and only listen to what God is saying in your life.
"Sometimes you choose a place and you get there and it's not working. It's not like you don't like the people, you don't like the place. Like for me, I truly believe in God because God is making most of the decisions in my life because I pray for it and I listen to what God is telling me to do and I make my decision."
Despite things not working out between Tshiebwe and WVU, it seems like this change was needed for both parties. West Virginia was able to switch up its offense and became lethal from beyond the three-point line. Tshiebwe's departure will also allow Isaiah Cottrell to learn under Derek Culver for one more year before taking over his spot in the starting lineup. As for Tshiebwe, it's the best situation for him. Kentucky is where he wanted to go all along and he was not happy in Morgantown. Now, he has a chance to get back to his old self and develop his game to get back on the NBA radar.
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