Oscar Tshiebwe of WVU (photo by Dale Sparks)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU sophomore striker Oscar Tshiebwe has stepped down and will not return to the Mountaineer basketball program for personal reasons. Coach Bob Huggins made the announcement on Friday morning.
“Oscar has our full support and we certainly wish him the best during this time,” said Huggins.
Tshiebwe is in his second season with the Mountaineers. He has averaged 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in 10 games this season.
Oscar was one of the highest profile recruits to enter the WVU program in recent years and he burst onto the scene in his freshman season a year ago. The native of Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and graduated from HS graduated from Catholic Kennedy (PA), led the Mountaineers in scoring (11.2 points) and in recovery (9.3) as a freshman.
The depth of the WVU court suffered a blow earlier this week, when freshman Isaiah Cottrell was lost this season with an injury to his Achilles tendon suffered in the northeastern game.
Tshiebwe comes from one of his best performances of the season. He scored 12 points and had 15 rebounds against the Northeast.
“I had a very good conversation with Coach Huggins,” said Tshiebwe after Tuesday’s victory. “He said, ‘You don’t have to think. Make a move. If you can do it, you can do it. If you lose, you will lose. Just make a move and play hard. ‘I don’t think I’ve been playing as hard as I always do. “
Bob Huggins has a conference call scheduled for 11:30 and this story will be updated next.