Oscar Tshiebwe was not selected in the NBA Draft. Could he have returned to Kentucky?

When 58 picks passed and Oscar Tshiebwe’s name wasn’t among those called, there was clearly a contingent of Kentucky fans thinking it could mean a return to UK for college basketball’s former national player of the year.

So, could Tshiebwe, who was not selected in the NBA Draft on Thursday night but has one more year of NCAA eligibility left, have actually come back to Lexington for another season of college?

No. Simple as that.

The confusion over Tshiebwe’s situation appears to stem from a 2018 recommendation made by the Commission on College Basketball that would allow players to return to school if they went through the proper NBA Draft protocols, participated in the NBA Combine, stayed in the draft but ultimately did not get selected.

Tshiebwe checked all of those boxes.

The problem is that recommendation by the NCAA-sanctioned commission necessitated a rule change at the NBA level to become a reality. That rule change, which would have required agreement between the league and the NBA’s players association, never happened, and so players like Tshiebwe, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, UConn’s Adama Sanogo and others who went undrafted Thursday night will instead be considered NBA free agents.

The NCAA confirmed to the Herald-Leader on Friday that “if a college athlete does not withdraw from the NBA draft, he is not eligible to return to college even if he goes undrafted.” Tshiebwe’s time as a college basketball player officially ended May 31, when he chose to stay in this year’s NBA Draft.

On Friday afternoon, Tshiebwe agreed to a two-way contract with the Indiana Pacers.

The spirit of the recommendation by the Commission on College Basketball five years ago was also clearly focused on allowing early-entry players as much opportunity as possible to earn their college degrees.

“It is easy to say that young players should know that they will not be drafted and that they ‘make their own beds’ when they fail to withdraw from the draft,” the Commission wrote in its report. “But, this kind of misjudgment is widespread, and the penalty for it should not be so high, if we are serious about the value and importance of college. The quality and value of the college experience increases with the amount of time a student-athlete spends on campus. With the completion of each academic year, a student will face a lower hurdle to earning a degree. Student-athletes who are wrong about their professional prospects should retain the opportunity to work toward the degree they were promised.”

Tshiebwe graduated from the University of Kentucky in May and has already spent four years in college. His fifth season of eligibility would have come as a result of playing during the 2020-21 season, which the NCAA decided was drastically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an extra season of eligibility for all players that were in college during that time frame.

Tshiebwe was one of four Kentucky basketball players to remain in this year’s NBA Draft. Freshman guard Cason Wallace was selected No. 10 overall and traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and freshman forward Chris Livingston was chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 58 pick, the final selection in the 2023 draft.

Tshiebwe and Toppin, who has also graduated from UK, were not picked and immediately became NBA free agents. Toppin signed a two-way contract with the New York Knicks immediately after the draft.

The Wildcats’ roster could use some more help in the frontcourt before the 2023-24 season.

As it stands, returning center Ugonna Onyenso, who played sparingly as a freshman, is the only healthy post player on the team. Five-star recruit Aaron Bradshaw — a 7-footer and potential NBA lottery pick — is dealing with a foot injury and expected to be sidelined for at least much of the preseason. The Cats could still add 7-footer Somto Cyril, who recently visited Lexington and is working toward a reclassification from 2024 to 2023, which would allow him to play next season. The academic work necessary for reclassification is not expected to be complete for several more weeks, and it’s not yet clear whether Cyril will announce a commitment before that happens.

UK will also be squarely in the mix for former West Virginia forward Tre Mitchell, a 6-9 senior who entered the NCAA transfer portal earlier this week and could provide a jolt of experience and proven production to Kentucky’s frontcourt. Mitchell averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season. He is already scheduled to visit Lexington this weekend, his first recruiting trip since entering the portal.

Tshiebwe led the Cats in scoring and was tops in the nation in rebounding in each of the past two seasons. He was college basketball’s national player of the year in 2021-22 and earned second-team All-America honors this past season.

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