Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe Prayed and Fasted Before Returning: ‘Submit Everything to God’

A college basketball All-American who claimed numerous player of the year honors last season says he decided to return for his senior year after fasting and praying to God.

Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe could have placed his name in the NBA draft after a dominating junior season that saw him win the Associated Press, Wooden and Naismith player of the year awards.

But the 6-foot-9 Congo native, who averaged 17 points and 15 rebounds, surprised the sports world by opting for one more year in college.

The Wildcats (2-0) are ranked No. 4 in the latest Associated Press poll.

Tshiebwe told the Sports Spectrum Podcast that “every time” he has listened to the advice of people, “I’ve always ended up not making good choices.” Tshiebwe chose to listen to the Holy Spirit.

“Fasting and praying,” he said, helped him make the right decision.

“My dad told me that God has given us the Spirit – the Holy Spirit – who lives within us. If we ask anything according to His Word, He’s going to help us,” Tshiebwe said. “The Holy Spirit will guide us, will give us good directions. So I remembered that, and I said, ‘Let me pray about this.’ I prayed. I asked God, ‘Speak to me.’… God said: I’m not done with you in this place. … If God is not done with you, that means He’s still got a work to do with you.

“… When you submit everything to God, that means you trust Him,” Tshiebwe said. “You believe He is going to help you. And the one thing about that is He’s not gonna lead you the wrong way.”

Tshiebwe was the first consensus national player of the year in the storied history of Kentucky basketball, according to ASeaofBlue.com, a Wildcat sports website.

His bold faith derives from his father, he said. When people tell Tshiebwe that he has nothing more to accomplish in basketball, he said he tells them, “I can do more than people could imagine with the power of God.”

“I’m very excited to see where God is gonna take us, and I’m praying for my team, my teammates, my coaches – everybody,” Tshiebwe said. “And I always share the Word of God with them. I always invite them to wherever I go preach [in area churches] so they can hear the message, too.”

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Andy Lyons/Staff

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

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