< PreviousKENTUCKY 38 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Unanimous National Player of the Year (Sporting News, Associated Press, United States Basketball Writer’s Association, Na- tional Association of Basketball Coaches, Na- ismith Trophy, Wooden Award) … First player in program history to win all six NCAA-rec- ognized awards … First player in SEC history to win all six in the same season … Unani- mous All-America First-Team honoree by the AP, Sporting News, USBWA and NABC … Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award winner for the nation’s best center … NABC’s Pete Newell Big Man of the Year … SEC Player of the Year … First-Team All-SEC by both the league’s coaches and media … Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist … All-SEC Defen- sive Team as selected by the league’s coach- es … Led the country in rebounding (15.1), offensive rebounds per game (5.3) and de- fensive rebounding percentage (34.6%), also ranked second in offensive rebounding percentage (19.4%) … Snared 515 rebounds on the season, topping any other Division I collegiate player … The mark ranks as the third-most in program history and is one of just three players to tally 500 or more … Be- came a 1,000-point collegiate scorer in the final game of the season … Set a UK sin- gle-season record with 28 double-doubles … Was the first player to average at least 15 points and at least 15 rebounds per game since Drake’s Lewis Lloyd and Alcorn State’s Larry Smith did so in 1979-80 … First ma- jor-conference player to average 15-15 since UCLA’s Bill Walton in 1972-73 … First UK player to tally those numbers since Bob Bur- row in 1954-55 … Finished the season as the only major-conference player averaging at least 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game … Corralled 10 or more rebounds in all but two games … Finished the season with program records of 21 straight double-figure rebound- ing efforts and 16 straight double-doubles … One of only two players (Anthony Davis) in program history since 1978-79 to lead the team in points per game (17.4), rebounds per game (15.1), steals per game (1.8), blocks per game (1.6) and field-goal percentage (60.6%) with a minimum of 130 attempts … Set a Rupp Arena record with 28 rebounds against Western Kentucky … Had more rebounds than the Hilltoppers entire team … It tied for the sixth-most rebounds in UK history and the most for a Wildcat in a regulation-length game in more than 52 years … It was the most in Division I basketball since Kendall Gray from Delaware State had 30 in 2015 … Finished the season responsible for 37.8% of the team’s total rebounds, taking away team rebounds that number jumped to 41.2% … Had 80 rebounds through the first five games OSCAR TSHIEBWE 6-9 n 260 n Sr. n Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic #34 n F Follow OSCAR on Social Media n @Oscartshiebwe34 on Twitter n @oscar_tshiebwe on Instagram of the CongoKENTUCKY of the season which was the most by an SEC player in any five-game span since 2016 … His 56 rebounds to begin the season were the most through a player’s first three ca- reer games in program history dating back to 1956-57 … Was the first UK player with six games of at least 20 points and at least 15 rebounds since Jim Andrews in 1972-73 … Became the first player in program his- tory to tally at least 30 points and snare at least 15 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game when he had 30 points and 16 boards against Saint Peter’s … Also played in a ca- reer-high 43 minutes … Had 27 points and 14 rebounds at Florida … Scored 30 points and had 18 rebounds at Arkansas, becoming the first UK player to achieve those numbers on the road against an SEC foe since Dan Is- sel in 1970 … Had 17 points, 16 boards and three blocks in the come-from-behind win at home vs. LSU … Scored 21 points and added 14 rebounds at home vs. Alabama … Tallied 27 points and 19 rebounds at home against Florida … Produced 17 points, 14 re- bounds and four blocks at Kansas … Had 21 points and 22 rebounds in the overtime win over Mississippi State … Logged 30 points and 13 rebounds at Vanderbilt … Scored 29 points and contributed 17 rebounds vs. Georgia … Posted 13 points and 20 re- bounds in the SEC opener vs. Missouri … Had 14 points and the record-breaking 28 boards against Western Kentucky and com- bined for 48 boards in a two-game stretch … Had three straight games of 20 or more points against Central Michigan, Southern and at Notre Dame … Logged 24 points and 16 boards with three blocks vs. Mount St. Mary’s … Had 14 points and 20 boards in his UK home opener vs. Robert Morris … Scored 17 points and had 20 rebounds in the Champions Classic against Duke … The rebounds were the most in the history of the event and the most ever in a UK debut. 2020-21 Transferred to Kentucky midseason … Inel- igible to play the rest of the season due to NCAA transfer rules but practiced with the team beginning in February … Appeared in 10 games at West Virginia and averaged 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game … Recorded a pair of double-doubles … Reg- istered 12 points and 15 boards against Northeastern in his final game at West Vir- ginia … Recorded 14 points and nine re- bounds vs. top-ranked Gonzaga … Posted 11 points and 16 rebounds against VCU. 2019-20 (at West Virginia) Freshman: Averaged 11.2 points and 9.3 re- bounds per game in 31 starts as a freshman … Named to the All-Big 12 Conference Sec- ond Team … Unanimous Big 12 All-Fresh- man Team selection and also made the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team … Selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 8 First Team and the USBWA Dis- trict II Team … Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team … Also earned Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll and the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll team honors … Led the Moun- taineers in scoring and rebounding … Team- high 19 games in double-digit scoring and team-best 10 double-doubles … First in the Big 12 in offensive rebounds per game with 4.1 and second in overall rebounding … Registered 13 double-figure efforts on the boards … Led the nation in offensive re- bounding percentage at 19.0% … Earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week three times … Had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds in a win over No. 4 Baylor to end the regular season … Also posted 11 points and 12 rebounds vs. the top-ranked Bears a month earlier … Double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds vs. Iowa State … Also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards vs. Texas at home … 17 rebounds and four blocks in a win over No. 22 Texas Tech … Logged a 17-point, 17-rebound game at No. 3 Kansas … Scored 19 points vs. Youngstown State … Back-to-back double-doubles vs. Nich- olls State (15 points and 11 rebounds) and Austin Peay (14 points and 10 boards) … Monster game against Wichita State with 19 points and a career-high 18 rebounds … Selected as the MVP of the Cancun Chal- lenge, including a season-high 21 points against Boston … Went for 20 points and 17 rebounds in just his second career game at Pitt. High School A McDonald’s All American … Posted a double-double in that game with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes … Also named to the Nike Hoop Summit World Team … Ranked a five-star recruit and a top-25 senior … Led Kennedy Catholic High School to a 27-3 record and a 6A state title as a senior … Averaged 23.2 points per game his senior season … Tallied 1,480 ca- reer points … Named the Gatorade Penn- sylvania Boys Basketball Player of the Year … USA Today Pennsylvania All-State First Team selection … Guided Kennedy Catho- lic to the Class 1A PIAA state championship as a junior … Scored in double figures in every game during his junior campaign … Averaged 21.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game for his AAU squad the ITPS Wildcats. Personal Born Nov. 27 in Lubumbashi, Democrat- ic Republic of the Congo … Parents are Mbuyi and Kaya Rosalie Tshiebwe … Has five siblings with three brothers, Bevi, Den- phin and Debaba, and two sisters, Cenina and Maggie … Major is communication … Nickname is “Big O” … Has a 7-foot-5 wingspan … Hidden talent is the ability to ride a bike backwards … Lists his parents as his greatest influence … His favorite food is Fufu (Congolese food) … He meditates and listens to music pregame … Favorite mov- ies are the Rush Hour trilogy … Off-the- court hobbies include playing video games and listening to music … Chose No. 34 because Hakeem Olajuwon is his favorite frontcourt player of all-time … Lists Kobe Bryant as his all-time favorite player and Kevin Durant as his favorite current player … Chose Kentucky over NC State, Miami (Fla.) and Illinois and originally considered UK out of high school. @UKSportsNetwork 39KENTUCKY 40 @KentuckyMBB High School A consensus five-star prospect … Ranked as the No. 7 overall player by Rivals … Ranked No. 8 overall by 247Sports and 20th by ESPN … Averaged 19.9 points, 7.4 boards and 6.1 assists per game as a senior at Richardson … 2022 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and The Dallas Morning News’ Player of the Year … Repeated as the District’s MVP … Was a McDonald’s All American and a selection to the Jordan Brand Classic … Averaged 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals in the 2021 Nike EYBL … Shot 51.2% from the field and 37% from 3-point range and was tabbed the Circuit’s Most Valuable Player of Nike EYBL Session I … Also earned All-Peach Jam honors … Led the NBPA Top 100 Camp in assists (5.0) and steals (3.0) per game while posting 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds … Topped 1,000 career points during his junior season … Earned District Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore … Tabbed the Newcomer of the Year as a freshman … Graduated with honors … Was a member of the Student-Athlete Leadership Team … Volunteered locally as a youth tutor and basketball coach … Also competed in football, soccer, basketball and track. Personal Born Nov. 7 … Parents are Kimberly and Mike Wallace … Has a brother, Keaton who played college basketball at UT Arlington … He lists his brother as his life’s greatest influence … Major is communication/exploratory studies ... Away from the court he likes to watch Net- flix … SpongeBob SquarePants is his favorite TV show … Dunked for the first time in eighth grade … Lists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as his favorite former Wildcat and LeBron James as his all-time favorite player … Superpower he would most like to have is teleportation … Likes chicken and shrimp alfredo … Can play the saxophone and piano … Picked Kentucky over Tennessee, Texas and UT Arlington. 6-4 n 193 n Fr. n Dallas #22 n G CASON WALLACE Follow CASON on Social Media n @wallace_cason on Twitter n @cason.wallace on Instagram Hello Garage 100 percent polyaspartic garage flooring is formulated to last as long as you own your home — which is why it’s backed by an industry-leading lifetime warranty. Your Ticket to the Final Floor For a free estimate, vist HelloGarage.com or call 1.888.59.GARAGE.KENTUCKY 42 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Named to the 2021-22 SEC Community Ser- vice Team … Appeared in 28 games in his second season with the Wildcats … Missed three due to injury … Registered career highs in points (42), blocks (11) and field- goal percentage (66.7%) … Led the team in blocks in four games … Played a season-high 16 minutes and snared six rebounds in the SEC Tournament semifinals vs. Tennessee … Tied his career high with a pair of steals, while also adding three rebounds in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals against Vanderbilt … Had four points and a season-high seven rebounds in the home win over Florida … Tallied four points and four rebounds in 10 highly effective minutes at Kansas … Had two points and four boards in the overtime win over Mississippi State … Scored two points and snatched five boards in the win over High Point … Had five points and three boards in the SEC opener against Missouri … Scored four points against North Florida. 2020-21 Key reserve for the Wildcats who added physicality and quality rebounding … Ap- peared in 21 games and made three starts … Scored 41 points, hauled in 63 rebounds, totaled 11 blocks, corralled six steals and dished out eight assists … Led the team in rebounds in two games and in blocks twice … Also paced the team in steals once … Produced a pair of double-figure rebound- ing efforts … Grabbed four rebounds in the Southeastern Conference Tournament game against Mississippi State … Played 29 minutes and recorded a career-high eight points, 10 rebounds and a career-high three blocks at No. 18/17 Missouri … To- taled seven points and a pair of rebounds in the win over LSU … Scored four points, had four rebounds and logged a block, a steal and an assist in the loss at Auburn … Notched four points, a career-high 13 re- bounds and a career-best four assists in the double-overtime win at Mississippi State … Posted four points, four rebounds and a blocked shot at Louisville … Breakout game came against No. 22/21 North Carolina with four points, seven rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes of action … Scored his first career point with a free throw against Georgia Tech … Had five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in his collegiate debut against Morehead State. High School Led high school team to a 29-1 record his senior season … Averaged 11.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks for a team that won its final 25 games LANCE WARE 6-9 n 235 n Jr. n Camden, N.J. #55 n F Follow LANCE on Social Media n @lanceware12 on Twitter n @lance.ware on InstagramKENTUCKY … Squad claimed the South Jersey, Group 2 championship and the No. 1 spot in the final NJ.com Top 50 rankings … Named the NJ.com Player of the Year and was a NJ.com All-State First Team selection … Averaged 11.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game during the Nike Elite Youth Bas- ketball League in 2019 … Also performed well at the Peach Jam finals in 2019, av- eraging 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game … Selected to the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic … Four-star pros- pect ranked as high as No. 36 in the class by Rivals. Personal Born Feb. 8 in Edgewater Park, New Jersey … Parents are Monique Ripka and Stephen Ware … Has two siblings, Shataya and Ste- fon … Major is communication … Chose Kentucky over Michigan, Ohio State, Provi- dence and Miami … Lists his parents as his life’s greatest influences … Chose No. 55 because it is unique … Favorite show on Netflix is All-American … Listens to Drake before games … Lists Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as his favorite former UK player … His most memorable moment as a basketball player is going 29-1 his final season of high school … Enjoys playing Call of Duty when he’s not playing basketball. @UKSportsNetwork 43KENTUCKY 44 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Appeared in nine games in 2021-22 … Had three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals … Picked up a steal against High Point … Had an assist vs. Western Kentucky … Snared a rebound vs. Central Michigan … Had a rebound and a steal against North Flor- ida … Registered a rebound against Mount St. Mary’s. 2020-21 Joined the team as a walk-on … Made one appearance, logging two minutes in Ken- tucky’s dominating regular-season finale vic- tory over South Carolina. High School Appeared in all 26 games for Kingsway Re- gional during his senior season … Averaged 8.7 points per game … Notched 11 dou- ble-figure scoring efforts and knocked down multiple 3-pointers in 12 games … Scored a season-high 19 points on six made 3s with four assists against Woodstown … Also post- ed 16 points, five rebounds and four assists at Clearview and recorded 15 points, six boards and five dimes vs. Cumberland … Dished out four or more assists in 14 games … Produced three or more steals in 10 games … Helped advance Kingsway to the 2020 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 4 Championship field of 64. Personal Born Feb. 3 in Camden, New Jersey … Mother is Syreeta Brittingham … Stepfather is Dajuan Wagner, former Memphis star who played for John Calipari … Has two siblings, Dayonni and Dajuan Jr. … Major is communication … Off the court talent includes juggling … Lists his parents as the two people who have influ- enced him the most … When he’s not playing basketball he’s watching it … Listens to NBA YoungBoy, Polo G and Lil Durk pregame … Chicken is his favorite food … Lists Kemba Walker as his favorite NBA player and Tyler Ulis as his favorite former UK player. KAREEM WATKINS 5-8 n 175 n Jr. n Camden, N.J. #25 n G Follow KAREEM on Social Media n @reemwat on InstagramKENTUCKY 46 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Bob Cousy Award finalist for the nation’s best point guard … All-SEC Second Team by both the league’s coaches and the media … Third in the nation and first in the SEC for the sec- ond straight season with an average of 6.9 assists per game … Finished with 207 assists on the season which is the fourth most in a single season in UK history … That mark was also a career high … Was second in the SEC with a 2.27 assist-to-turnover ratio … Totaled 12 games with at least eight assists and had five or more in 12 of the final 13 games of the season … Scored in double figures in 16 outings … Totaled a pair of double-doubles in the points-assists variety … Had a career low in turnovers … Shot 78% from the free- throw line, the best mark of his career … Produced 28 games with at least three assists and led the team in that category 25 times … Started 29 of the 30 games he played … Missed four games due to injury … Averaged 10.1 points, 6.9 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game … Had 11 points and a team-high six assists in the NCAA Tourna- ment … Logged 10 points and six rebounds against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals … Produced eight points and 11 assists in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals win against Vanderbilt … Scored 13 points, had five assists and two steals in the win at Florida … Logged 16 points and seven assists in the win over Ole Miss … Had 14 points and five assists at Arkansas after missing two games with an injury … Had 11 assists and four rebounds in the win at South Carolina … Totaled seven points, eight assists and three rebounds in the win at Kansas … Scored 15 points and chipped in with six assists in the overtime win over Mississippi State … Was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points at Auburn … Had 21 points, eight assists and two steals following a two-game absence due to injury in the historic win over Tennes- see at home … Logged 11 points and nine assists in the SEC regular-season opener vs. Missouri … Scored a season-high 26 points to couple with eight assists and a season-best four steals in the win over North Carolina … Was named the SEC Player of the Week and the NCAA March Madness National Player of the Week following the performance … Tallied 12 points and a career-high 14 assists in the win over North Florida for his second double-double … Logged 16 points and 10 assists in his season debut against Duke in the Champions Classic. 2020-21 (at Georgia) An All-Southeastern Conference Second Team selection by both the coaches and the Associated Press … Started all 26 games … SAHVIR WHEELER 5-9 n 180 n Sr. n Houston #2 n G Follow SAHVIR on Social Media n @sahvir on Twitter n @sahvir on InstagramKENTUCKYKENTUCKY Averaged 14.0 points, 7.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game … Led the team in points, assists and steals per game (1.7) … Set Georgia’s single-season assists record with 193 assists … It bettered the previous mark of 169 set by Pertha Robinson in 1995 … Led the league in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio … He ranked fifth nationally in assists per game … Became just the fourth player in the 2000s to lead the league in both assists per game and as- sist-to-turnover ratio … Recorded 22 dou- ble-figure scoring games … Posted the pro- gram’s first-ever triple-double with 14 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds against LSU … Tallied eight double-doubles … Dished out an SEC Tournament record 13 assists against Missouri … Recorded 18 points and 10 as- sists against Alabama in the regular-season finale … Totaled a career-high 27 points along with a career-best five steals at Florida … Posted 10 points and 10 assists at home against the Gators … Notched 18 points and nine assists at Ole Miss … Logged 21 points and 10 assists at LSU … Began the season with three straight double-doubles … Had 21 points and 10 assists against Jacksonville … Scored 17 points and passed out 10 as- sists vs. North Georgia … Opened the sea- son with 12 points and 12 assists against Florida A&M. 2019-20 (at Georgia) Appeared in all 31 games as a freshman at Georgia … Made 17 starts … Set Georgia’s freshman assists record with 139 dimes, topping the old mark of 133 set by Litteri- al Green in 1989 … Averaged 9.0 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game … 11 double-figure scoring games … Ranked 87th nationally in assists per game and also sixth among freshmen … Fourth in the SEC in assists per game … Earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 23 … Sunk a halfcourt buzzer-beater in the SEC Tour- nament, which was the No. 1 moment on Sportscenter’s Top 10 plays … Had a sea- son-high 24 points in an overtime loss to Alabama … Logged 16 points at Florida … Had a pair of layups at the end of both over- times against SMU … Scored with four sec- onds remaining in the first overtime period to tie the game and then scored again with 1.9 seconds to go in the second overtime to secure the win vs. SMU … Posted nine points and eight assists in that win over the Mustangs … Scored 19 points in the season opener against Western Carolina, equaling the third-most points ever scored by a fresh- man in program history … It trailed only Dominique Wilkins (26) and Anthony Ed- wards (24). High School Two-time state champion at Houston Chris- tian High School in Houston … High school squad combined to go 61-13 in 2018 and 2019 … All-time steals and assists lead- er … School record holder for points in a game (47), assists (18) and 3s (10) … Se- lected as the co-MVP of the 2019 Big Baller Brand All-America Game, where he posted 34 points and dished out eight assists … Named the Houston Private School MVP by the Houston Chronicle … Four-time All- State selection … Three-time team MVP … Was a four-star recruit … Ranked the No. 78 player by ESPN, No. 88 by Rivals and No. 93 by 247Sports in his signing class. Personal Born Jan. 17 in New York … Pursuing a degree in communication … Parents are Teddy and Jacqueline Wheeler … Has five siblings, Sage, Montana, Lincoln, Lola and Liv … An uncle, Bernard Wheeler, played basketball at the University at Buffalo … Chose his jersey number because it was the first number he received in any sport … Fa- vorite movies are The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises … Pregame superstitious include taking a shower before leaving for the arena and listening to music … His fa- vorite food is chicken wings … Lists Kobe Bryant as his favorite basketball player … His dad has been his life’s greatest influ- ence … Dunked for the first time at age 17 at the Houston Christian High School prac- tice gym … Chose Kentucky over Kansas, Oklahoma State and LSU. @UKSportsNetwork 47Next >