Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe spent an entire season relentlessly chasing and pulling down seemingly every rebound that came his way — and plenty that didn’t, too.
“I want to be the greatest rebounder I can be,” Tshiebwe said.
The 6-foot-9, 255-pound junior put up better rebounding numbers than anybody in Division I in decades. And it’s a big reason why he is The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year.
Tshiebwe was the clear choice for the award announced Friday, receiving 46 of 60 votes from AP Top 25 voters. Johnny Davis, a 6-5 sophomore who averaged 19.7 points and led Wisconsin to a share of the Big Ten regular-season title, was second with 10 votes. Iowa sophomore Keegan Murray (three) and Illinois big man Kofi Cockburn (one) also earned votes.