West Virginia F Oscar Tshiebwe to Sit out Season Due to Personal Reasons

The West Virginia men's basketball team will be without one of its starters for the rest of the year with forward Oscar Tshiebwe stepping away from the program for personal reasons, per Jeff Borzello of ESPN.

Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins said Friday there was no chance he returns this season, and it didn't catch him by surprise, via Anjelica Trinone of Gold and Blue Nation.

"Oscar has our full support, and we certainly wish him the best during this time," Huggins said.

The sophomore is averaging 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in 10 games to begin the 2020-21 season.

Tshiebwe was even better as a freshman, averaging 11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game while leading the team in all three categories. He was selected to the Big 12 All-Freshman team and was named second-team all-conference.

The production was enough for him to consider declaring for the 2020 NBA draft, but he withdrew his name and returned to school.

The Congo native has seen a smaller role this season, ranking fifth on the team in scoring.

It has worked for West Virginia, which is currently ranked ninth in the country and is 8-2 going into Saturday's game against Oklahoma. Missing Tshiebwe is significant, however, with depth becoming an even bigger factor after losing highly touted freshman Isaiah Cottrell to a torn Achilles.

Derek Culver will take on a bigger role in the post with Gabe Osabuohien potentially getting more playing time.