NCAA Basketball: Top 20 pending “covid year” player decisions to watch
2. Oscar Tshiebwe – Kentucky Wildcats
2022-23 season stats: 16.5 ppg and 13.7 rpg
Tshiebwe is a former National Player of the Year that came back and was able to get Kentucky back to the NCAA Tournament. He once again put up huge numbers and was a nation leader in rebounding. He had a 37-point and 24-rebound performance against Georgia and went for 21 points and 20 rebounds versus Vanderbilt. He even had 25 rebounds in the Round of 64 win over Providence.
The Wildcats can survive without Tshiebwe at center if he went pro. Top-5 center prospect Aaron Bradshaw is joining the team this offseason, while Ugonna Onyenso is around and in line for more minutes. Still, when you have someone that can pull down 15 rebounds easily and dominate the paint like Tshiebwe can, it’s hard not to want to have him back for one more year.
1. Isaiah Wong – Miami Hurricanes
2022-23 season stats: 16.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.2 apg
The attention last offseason was to transfers, Nijel Pack and Norchad Omier. In the end, it was Wong that won ACC Player of the Year and led Miami to an ACC regular-season title. The scoring guard had a number of big games both in the regular and postseason.
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Wong had 36 points in the win over Cornell, along with 27 points on 4/6 shooting from three-point range in the Round of 32 win over Indiana, paving the path to the program’s first Final Four appearance. While Pack can come back, the Hurricanes can be another national title contender if they can have both elite guards for another season.