Wiggins Will Be Taking His Talents to Lawrence

For once, everyone in the sports world will be able to go to sleep knowing where Andrew Wiggins will play his likely one year of college basketball. In a small ceremony at West Virginia’s Huntington Prep, Wiggins announced his decision to take his talents to Lawrence.

Wiggins, the nation’s top ranked senior, has elected to join Bill Self’s young squad next season. The Jayhawks are losing their entire starting lineup to graduation and the NBA. The 6’7” Wiggins will join other top freshmen, Joel Embid, Wayne Selden, Conner Frankamp, and Brannen Greene to form a recruiting class second to only John Calipari’s star studded crew from Lexington.  After being awarded a one seed and a premature end to their season in a not so Sweet 16 heartbreaker at the hands of Michigan, the addition of Wiggins has ensured yet another Big 12 Championship banner will be hung in the Allen Fieldhouse and potentially another one seed.

Considered to be the best prospect since Lebron James, Wiggins has definitely met his hype, if not surpassed it, along with his skill.  It seems like Wiggins can do basically everything from everywhere on the hardwood.  Along with their mutual lanky body, this versatility of perimeter shots, rebounding, and overall explosiveness has drawn Wiggins comparisons to Kevin Durant.  Like Durant, Wiggins is also a player that can take over a team and carry them,  like Durant did with Texas and thus far in the NBA Playoffs without Russel Westbrook.

Another player Wiggins has also been involved with in a lot of comparisons is Jabari Parker. Parker, ranked second in the 2013 class, chose to attend Duke this past December and has often been debated as possibly better than Wiggins. If this rivalry extends into the NBA,  it, may start to resemble something similar to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Going into decision day, Wiggins had narrowed his list of potential programs down to four: Kansas; Kentucky; North Carolina; and the predicted favorite, Florida State. Wiggins succeeded in keeping the decision secretive, not allowing any information to leak outside of an exclusive inner circle of family, friends, and coaches.  For weeks, fans and writers could only make predictions without any substantial evidence.

Wiggins turned down some opportunities not too many other recruits often see. The Ontario born Wiggins neglected to be the lone star and backbone of the entire FSU. He also turned down a chance to playing under one of the league’s best coaches in Roy Williams at Chapel Hill. The biggest thing Wiggins turned down may have been completing a recruiting class better than Michigan’s Fab 5 at Kentucky.  

By electing to become a Jayhawk, Wiggins was able to put together all of these plus sides, as he will be playing for the great Bill Self, as well as being part of the nation’s second best recruiting class, but also the focal point on a team that has lost all their starters.  The one thing Wiggins cannot recreate at Kansas is the family legacy he would have had as a Seminole, with both his parents, Mitchell and Marita being standout athletes at FSU.

The biggest part of this decision was Wiggins turning down Calipari and the star studded Wildcats. Along with losing Parker to Duke, Cal has now failed to land the nation’s top two players, despite forming one of the single greatest freshman classes ever. By inking Wiggins, the Jayhawks have made a huge jump to the top of college basketball. Heading into the season, Kansas is starting 1-0 versus Kentucky. The next meeting may be next year’s National Title Game…

Where Will Andrew Wiggins Land?

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With the May 15^th deadline approaching, college basketball still does not know where the nation’s top recruit, Andrew Wiggins, will play next year. Wiggins has been named the number one player in his class, as well as being titled as the best high school hoops star since Lebron James tore apart Ohio basketball with St. Vincent-St. Mary at the turn of the century.

Wiggins is from Canada, but attends the prodigious Huntington Prep of West Virginia. At 6’7’’, Wiggins is known for his versatility and athleticism, not to mention his unmatched dunking ability. Wearing #22, Wiggins has become popular on YouTube for his jaw dropping highlights and slams. One of Wiggins’s most well known slams came in the McDonald’s All-American Dunk Contest when he did a between the legs reverse 360 dunk.

As of now, Wiggins has narrowed his list down to four schools, Kansas, UNC, Florida State, and Kentucky. Wiggins is the type of player who could enter any program and take them through the season and into the Final Four.

RantSports.com names Kentucky as the long shot in landing Wiggins, but enrolling in Lexington would give him the best chance at winning a national title. With their stellar recruiting class already with six McDonald’s All Americans, Kentucky has already formed one of the best recruiting classes of all time. The addition of Wiggins would end all discussion, as the Wildcats could complete the first undefeated season since Indiana in 1975-1976.

Both of Wiggins’s parents were star athletes at Florida State and this connection may be the only reason the Seminoles are still a possibility. Wiggins could revitalize the whole program, bringing a new power to the ACC. The best part of Wiggins going to Florida State would be that if he was to win, he would have done it on his own, increasing his draft stock if that is even possible.

 The negative of this would be that if FSU experiences another mediocre season, teams looking to draft him in the top 5 of the NBA Draft might question is leadership and overall effectiveness. If Wiggins was to stay in college for all four years, Florida State would be the best destination, because he could help build a program.

UNC and Kansas may be the favorites for Wiggins, mostly because they provide the best of both worlds. Like Kentucky, both programs have a strong class coming in to back up Wiggins. It would not be all up to Wiggins to win games. However, Wiggins would be the star and in the spotlight as the leader like at Florida State. To win a championship, it takes a team, not just a standout player that comes once every few years. But also to win a championship, there needs to be court chemistry and established roles, as Kentucky might flop like other super teams.

Personally, I would love to see Wiggins play in Chapel Hill. By joining the Tar Heels, the Duke/UNC rivalry would reach a new level from the Wiggins/Jabari Parker matchup. Wiggins had passed Parker as ESPN’s top 2013 players this past summer when he announced his reclassification, skipping his junior year of high school. Parker is right up there with Wiggins and in the NBA, these two players will develop a rivalry similar to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Just an example of how good Parker is, he became the only freshman in his high school’s history to play varsity and Derrick Rose attended that school.