Morgantown, West Virginia – Oscar Tshiebwe, the talented sophomore forward for the Mountaineers, has had a very difficult time regaining the form he had last season as a freshman.
While Tshiebwe is still nearly averaging a double-double per game – 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds while shooting 52.3% from the field – he just doesn’t look like the Oscar Tshiebwe that he’s capable of being.
Tshiebwe, a All Big 12 Conference Second Team member, led the Mountaineers in scoring (11.2 points) and rebounds (9.3) last season. While the numbers aren’t that much different, Tshiebwe has just looked off most of time through the first ten games of this season.
He’s clearly gained weight, does not run the floor the same way, does not attack the rim or chase down rebounds like he did last season, and he looks lost defensively.
Tshiebwe is coming off his best game of the season, however. In a win over Northeastern, Tshiebwe had 12 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 66.7% from the field.
And then it appears that he’s disappeared from social media and potentially the team. Tshiebwe has scrubbed all mentions of West Virginia from his Instagram and Twitter accounts. All the pictures have been removed and he no longer lists himself as a member of the West Virginia basketball team.
In addition, there are unsubstantiated rumors floating around social media that he’s in Miami working with a trainer and that he’s missed all of the team’s practices since the Mountaineers’ win on Tuesday.
It’s unclear whether he’s taking a break from the team, or has left the team, or is still a part of the team, but the rumors are out there that he’s gone. Those rumors combined with him taking down everything West Virginia related on his social media accounts does not look great.
However, if I had to guess, he will be back with the team for the Mountaineers’ upcoming game at Oklahoma on Saturday. But who really knows right now?
Bob Huggins meets with the media tomorrow morning so we should know more then. Stay tuned to The Voice of Motown for more on this developing story.
