Tshiebwe Confirms He Will Return to WVU for Sophomore Season

After entering his name into the NBA draft three weeks ago, West Virginia big man Oscar Tshiebwe announced on Twitter tonight that he will be returning to WVU in 2020-21 for his sophomore season.

This is my next chapter and I leave everything in God's hands🙏🏾 I do this for the mountaineers💙💛 pic.twitter.com/Py5YHHZvXD

— Big O (@Oscartshiebwe34) April 26, 2020

“I would like to thank the WVU basketball coaching staff, my family and the NBA Advisory Committee for the guidance and the information provided to me during the evaluation period,” Tshiebwe wrote in his Tweet. “As I always mentioned, I would be at WVU for my sophomore season, but I wanted to gain knowledge from the NBA on the process and my standing with the NBA. I was very pleased to receive my evaluation, which was actually higher than my expectations but not at the level that meets my goal.”

Tshiebwe entered his name into the draft, while retaining college eligibility, on April 8 but even then WVU head coach Bob Huggins was confident he would return.

“Oscar went through the process in a systematic and professional manner by exploring his options,” Huggins said in a release. “He was able to gain feedback from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee that will help him in the future. We’re pleased that he will be a Mountaineer next season.”

Tshiebwe cited uncertainty surrounding the NBA combine and draft process due to the spread of COVID-19 as reasons we wanted to return to West Virginia.

“In today’s environment with the uncertainty of individual workouts or having a combine, I do not believe it is in my best interest to enter the 2020 NBA Draft,” Tshiebwe wrote. “We are going for championships next year — the work has already begun.”

Tshiebwe led the Mountaineers in scoring (11.2) and rebounding (9.3) last season, while being named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Freshman Big 12 Team.