MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — For the first time since joining the Big 12, West Virginia tops the conference’s preseason list for Freshman of the Year.
Five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American Oscar Tshiebwe was honored Wednesday with the preseason honor.
Sophomore forward Derek Culver was named honorable mention to the preseason all-Big 12 team.
WVU joined the Big 12 in 2012. Since then, only former standout Juwan Staten has earned a preseason honor when he was the Big 12’s preseason Player of the Year in 2014.
As for Tshiebwe, his recruiting credentials are among the highest since Bob Huggins took over the program in 2007.
The 6-foot-9 forward is ranked the No. 26 overall recruit by Rivals.com and No. 48 by ESPN.
He is just the second McDonald’s All-American to enroll at WVU as a freshman, following Chris Brooks in 1986.
In the annual Gold-Blue Debut, Tshiebwe finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds in his first college action.
“The thing about Oscar is he really wants to be good,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said after the event. “Oscar is not adverse to getting practice tape and he’ll get this tape and learn from it without someone having to coach him through it.”
The Big 12’s preseason coaches’ poll will be released Thursday.
Kansas center Udoka Azubuike was named the Big 12 preseason Player of the Year. Azubuike missed most of last season with a wrist injury, but has averaged 11.5 points and 6.4 rebounds over his first three seasons.
Joining Azubuike on the all-Big 12 preseason team were Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton, Baylor’s Tristan Clark, Kansas’ Devon Dotson and TCU’s Desmond Bane.
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