LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After UK's win Saturday night, 13-year-old Langsten Ratcliff scored a victory of his own.
Originally from Missouri, Ratcliff didn't get a chance to meet his favorite player Oscar Tshiebwe after their game against the Tigers in December.
So, like the star forward, he took another shot.
He traveled over 500 miles to Lexington for UK's game against Texas A&M for a second chance.
This time UK staff were able to arrange a meeting between the two.
"It was incredible. It was the greatest thing I could ever do," Ratcliff recounted.
Ratcliff, like Tshiebwe, also plays the forward position and was born in the Congo.
During their meeting, Tshiebwe greeted him in a Congolese native language Lingala.
"He talked about god and said just to keep working and to always put effort in everything," Ratcliff said.
It's the same knowledge that big 'O' himself says got him to where he is today.
"It's what God wants us to do. And I encourage that boy and say, keep up the good work. I told him when I first came to America, I didn't know how to play basketball I did two years now playing basketball because I was so bad. I was sitting on the last person on the bench, but I could not stop believing myself and it worked out," Tshiebwe said.
