West Virginia Basketball: Mountaineers the favorite to land 2019 big man Oscar Tshiebwe

Four-star recruit Oscar Tshiebwe recently cut his college list down to four finalists though West Virginia Basketball is still the favorite.

2019  consensus top-50 recruit Oscar Tshiebwe narrowed his college wish list down to four schools on Aug. 26. With West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and Baylor being the four programs that made Tshiebwe’s final cut. He has set the dates for his official visits.

It is a little surprising that Tshiebwe trimmed his list down so fast considering that he named his top-eight schools on July 31. Virginia, Ole Miss, Kansas and Georgetown were also previously on that list.

Tshiebwe saw his recruiting stock rise after an impressive summer campaign. The 6-foot-9 power forward more than held his own against some of the top AAU competition while playing for ITPS Wildcats (Pittsburgh) in the Adidas Gauntlet circuit. As a result, 247Sports elevated Tshiebwe over 50 spots to No. 19 in their rankings.

Here is what Brian Snow of 247Sports said about Tshiebwe.

"“Tshiebwe’s combination of athleticism, toughness, motor, and strength make him one of the toughest one-on-one matchups in the class. In fact, when going up against the best of the best in the 2019 class, Tshiebwe seemed to always come out on top, and really excelled during June and July.There was no better example of this than at the adidas Summer Championships when Tshiebwe went head to head with No. 1 overall prospect James Wiseman, and not only did Tshiebwe hold his own, but he basically dominated the game. His motor and toughness are always there, and because of that the top players in the country know that facing Tshiebwe will make things very difficult on him every time they match up”"

Tshiebwe averaged 21.3 points, on 61% shooting, along with 11.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks during the Adidas Gauntlet series.

Tshiebwe saw the same kind of meteoric rise in his Rivals rankings. Prior to March 1, Rivals did not even have the DR Congo native ranked, now he is ranked 45th. ESPN has the Kennedy Catholic (PA) product at No. 32 in their rankings.

West Virginia is currently considered the favorite to land Tshiebwe. The Mountaineers have shown considerable interest in him since offering a scholarship back in 2016 per The Smoking Musket.

There are a couple of other things working in WVU’s favor. The Dominion Post reported that Tshiebwe has visited Morgantown on a number of occasions. And Tshiebwe is currently staying with the same family in Hermitage that hosted former Kennedy Catholic star and current Mountaineers’ starting center Sagabe Konate.

WVU currently does not have any scholarships left for the 2019 campaign after securing a commitment from 6-foot point guard Miles McBride. However, things can change so that should not necessarily be a deterrent for any projected prospect to commit to the program. The Mountaineers are also reportedly interested in Lester Quinones, Kobe Brown and Chol Marial.

While WVU is the favorites, by no means are the Mountaineers are a slam dunk. As it seems that Kentucky is gaining a lot of steam in their pursuit of Tschiebwe despite not yet offering him a scholarship.

According to  Jeremy Chisenhall of SB Nation, UK coach John Calipari started showing real interest after watching him during the live period in late July. Kentucky has yet to offer a scholarship, but it is widely believed if they do, he will accept.

Kentucky is different from other programs as the Wildcats roster goes through huge turnover each year. As it stands right now, UK only has one scholarship available of 2019. The Wildcats are in the mix for several top high school senior prospects.

It appears that Illinois and Baylor are safety nets for the big man. Tshiebwe visited the Bears on Aug. 31. He is slated to visit Illinois on Sept. 7 followed by a trip to Lexington on Sept. 28. Morgantown will be his last stop and it is slated for Oct. 5.