Andrew Wiggins Headed to Kansas for Summer School

#1 high school basketball player and Kansas recruit Andrew Wiggins announced his plans to attend summer school at KU, foregoing an opportunity to play basketball this summer for the FIBU U19 Canadian Team.  In a situation reminiscent of his signing day, Wiggins gave little advance notice of his intentions, surprising Kansas Coach Bill Self with the decision to head for Lawrence.  While Coach Self might wish for clearer lines of communication with this freshman star that values his privacy so very much, he can’t complain too much—Self has been pleasantly surprised twice in a row now by the soft-spoken Wiggins.

Andrew Wiggins’ decision to attend summer school in Lawrence gives him the opportunity to bond with his future teammates at KU, a situation that will only make his time with the Jayhawks basketball team go more smoothly.  For Wiggins to be the leader Bill Self likely expects him to become, it is important for him to be with his teammates and bond with them.  The media will look at him as someone different and special, but his fellow Jayhawks need to see him first as one of the guys.  Only then will he truly be a leader on the court.  Former Jayhawk forward Xavier Henry stayed in Oklahoma the summer before his only season on Mt. Oread.  There might have been no cause and effect whatsoever, but Henry always seemed an outsider, ostensibly “doing what the team wanted him to” instead of taking the responsibility that comes with being one of the team’s best player—at least from this outsider’s perspective.  Andrew Wiggins has already proven himself a better teammate by taking a different path than Henry did. 

Wiggins will also have a chance to become acclimated with the city of Lawrence, the KU campus and the community.  He will be able to take a little more time getting used to his new environment, so far removed from his home in Ontario, Canada.  Most significant for KU fans, every minute spent with the other players working on their games and getting comfortable with each other will be to KU’s and Wiggins’ mutual advantage.  His decision mirrors those made by several members of the University of Kentucky’s star-studded freshman class, and Self must be relieved to have the same opportunities for his players to work together that UK’s freshmen will enjoy.  These early pickup games help determine who is the team’s Alpha Dog, who will vie for minutes when the season opens, and who will be a good teammate and who might not be.  Summer pickup games don’t decide anything, but they lay the groundwork for decisions Coach Self will have to make when practice begins in October.  It is encouraging to see that Andrew Wiggins is thinking of what will make his first (and likely only) season at the University of Kansas as successful as it can be.  In a college career measured in months, there is no time to waste.

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!