Five-star center Oscar Tshiebwe commits to West Virginia over Kentucky, Baylor and Illinois

Class of 2019 standout picked the Mountaineers over a slew of other high-major offers

By Kyle Boone

Oct 20, 2018 at 4:59 pm ET • 1 min read

Class of 2019 center prospect Oscar Tshiebwe, a five-star recruit pegged by 247Sports as a top-10 player nationally at his position, committed Saturday to West Virginia.

Tshiebwe, who stands at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, picked Bob Huggins' program over Kentucky, Baylor, Illinois, and others.

Though Kentucky made a strong push after a late-cycle offer along with Baylor and even Kansas, Tshiebwe stuck with West Virginia -- the program that first extended him a scholarship offer back in 2016. The WVU staff's persistency with him ultimately paid big dividends, giving the program its highest-ever ranked commitment.

Tshiebwe joins three-star guard prospect Miles McBride as the second pledge of West Virginia's 2019 recruiting class and gives the Mountaineers the 36th-ranked class nationally in the cycle.