WASHINGTON, D.C.– In Canada, they are already affectionately referring to Andrew Wiggins as “Maple Jordan.”
The 6-7 swing forward from Thornhill, Ontario, who played for Huntington, W. Va. Christian, is a national treasure, the best high school prospect since LeBron James and the future of Canadian basketball, which is attempting to secure a spot in the 2016 Olympic games at Rio.
Wiggins was originally scheduled to play for the junior national team in the U19 World championships in Prague, Czech Republic that stretches through July 7 and then for the senior team in a FIBA World Championship qualifying tournament in Venezuela from Aug. 30 to Sept. 11.
But Wiggins’ plans changed this week, when he opted to take a pass on international participation to enroll on summer school in Lawrence this month to bond with his new teammates and undergo summer workouts for what could be a presumably short lived college career that leads a lucrative NBA contract as the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft.
“In a perfect world, they’d like about nine weeks straight of commitment, something like that,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He doesn’t want to do that. That makes for an awful long year when you spend your whole summer in a competitive deal. It’s what they are talking about and trying to work out.”
Wiggins is the future of Canadian basketball and everything he does for the next 12 months will be geared toward him becoming the first pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
He has already a huge following in Lawrence, where he was besieged by autograph seeking fans, who swarmed the airport when they found out the time his flight landed in Lawrence and then showed up to watch him throw down a thunderous tomahawk dunk over NBA center Cole Aldrich during his first public training session at Allen Field House.
Wiggins will have plenty of chances to represent his country in the future. His decision to choose school over country has marketing written all over it and is representative of a growing trend that has been going on in this country ever since the NBA Players Association put in a one and done rule in 2006. The majority of the best of incoming freshmen are taking the same path. Only one player who was ranked in the ESPN’s final Top 20– 6-8 forward Aaron Gordon of Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif. who signed with Arizona– rose to salute the flag when invitations were sent out for the U19 tryouts in Colorado Springs.
The trend is particularly evident at perennial NCAA tournament contender Kentucky, where John Calipari signed an historic eight-man recruiting class that includes 6-9, 240 pound power forward Julius Randle from Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Tex., 6-10 center Dakari Johnson of Monteverde, Fla. Academy; 6-6 wing James Young from Rochester, Mich. Troy, 6-9 power forward Marcus Lee from Deer Valley, Calif. High and the Harrison twins– guards Andrew and Aaron– from Houston, Tex. Travis, and was ranked No. 1 in the country.
Calipari, who coached the Cats to the national championship in 2012 and looked like he was on the verge of establishing a mini-dynasty at the home of the one and done in the Blue Grass, is coming off an uncharacteristically disappointing season that spiraled downhill after 6-11 freshman Nerlens Noel– a Patrick Ewing shot blocking clone– suffered a season ending knee injury mid-way through the SEC season and ended prematurely with a stunning road loss to a handpicked opponent– Robert Morris– in the first round of the NIT.
Calipari is not about to make the same mistake twice.
He told reporters recently he wanted to keep his best players on campus all summer to prepare for the season. It is the same approach he took in 2011 when four key members of his team — Anthony Davis, Marquis Teague, Michael Gilchrist and Terrence Jones– decided to pass on the opportunity. Kentucky won the national championship that season. This year’s Kentucky team is chasing greatness. There is a chance– a chance– the Cats could become the first team since Indiana’s 1976 national championship team to finish unbeaten.
Randle, Young and Andrew Harrison have already penciled in as lottery picks in the 2014 draft, along with four other freshmen– Wiggins, forward Jabari Parker of Duke, guard Wayne Selden of Kansas and 6-9 1/2 forward Noah Vonleh of Indiana. Their absence this summer has thinned out the talent that both the Canadian and U.S. junior teams may need to successful complete against the best U19 teams in Spain, Croatia, Brazil and Argentina, who will have a complete compliment of players.
Team U.S.A. has traditionally dominated international competition in the 16, 17 and 18 year old age groups. This year was no exception. It was almost too easy for the United States in the FIBA Americas U16 championship for Men this month in Uruguay. One of the most talented American grass roots teams in recent history blew out all of its over matched opponents, beating Argentina, 94-48, in the gold medal game to qualify for the World championships next year, most likely in Dubai.
If nothing else, the presence of prodigies like 6-9 forward Ivan Rabb of Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland, Calif. guard Malik Newman of Jackson, Miss. Calloway, 6-9 shot blocker Thomas Bryant of Bishop Kearney in Rochester, N.Y. and 6-9 Diamond Stone of White Fish Beach, Wis. Dominican is growing evidence that USA Basketball– which has now won the U16 worlds three straight times– has become the ultimate destination for all of the best young players in this country.
But as players get older, their devotion to a cause in this country begins to stray and many talk about playing in the league and using college as a pit stop.
“At 19, most of the better players from other countries are pros,” Gordon said. “They’ve played against men in the club system and they have experience in the international game. They practice together as a team for several months. Our team has maybe 10 days to prepare.” The Americans have won the gold medal in U19 worlds only once since 1991 and twice in 26 years, losing to 79-74 to Russia in the 2011 quarterfinals in a game where they gave up 17 threes en route to a fifth place finish in Latvia. The roster on that team was average at best with no future lottery picks and only one pure shooter, Doron Lamb of Connecticut.
The summer’s team is better, with established college stars like 6-8 sophomore forward Montrezl Harrell from Louisville’s national championship team, Oklahoma State sophomore guard Marcus Smart and Duke sophomore guard Rasheen Suliamon. Six members on the 16 man roster played for the U18 team that won a gold medal last year at its qualifying event. Coach Billy Donovan, who favors an up tempo style that has been successful in the past internationally, also has two high school prodigies on the roster– 6-10 senior center Jahlil Okafor from Whitney Young High in Chicago who was selected the MVP of last summer’s 18-and-under gold medal team in the FIBA Americas tournament and is generally considered the best high school prospect in the country; and 6-6 senior forward Justise Winslow of St. John’s High in Houston.
And there is Gordon, the versatile 6-8 MVP of the McDonald’s game with a freakish vertical leap and a work habit that involves extra shooting for a half hour after each practice. Gordon can’t think of anywhere he’d rather be. “The ball has taken me all over the world and I get a chance to work on the game with college coaches,” he said. “I’ve won gold medals paying for US teams the last two years and now I’m going after a third.”
He has sadly become the exception rather than the rule.
Dick Weiss is a sportswriter and sports columnist who has covered college football and college and professional basketball for the Philadelphia Daiily News and the New York Daily News for 40 years. He has also co-written seven books with Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Dick Vitale and authored a tribute book on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
During his career, Weiss has received the Curt Gowdy award for outstanding contributions to basketball from the Naismith Hall of Fame and the Burt McGrane award for outstanding contributions to college football from the Football Writers Association and the College Football Hall of Fame. He has also received the Lew Klein award, given to alumni from Temple University who make significant contributions in the field of journalism.
Weiss is the past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association and the Football Writers’ Association. He was the youngest writer to be inducted into the College Basketball Writers’ Hall of Fame, was the first recipient of the Big East Media award and has been honored by the New York Metropolitan Coaches Association with the NIT media award.
Weiss, who graduated from Temple with a degree in journalism, has covered more Final Fours– 42– than any active writer. He has covered 30 national championship games in college football and 18 NBA championship series. He has served on the nominating committee for the Naismith Hall of Fame on two different occasions and currently serves as a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel to select members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City. He has also voted for the Heisman Trophy for the past 30 years and well as the Wooden Award and several other major college awards.
He is currently covering top college events for the Daily News as well as writing columns for Basketball Times, George Raveling’s basketball web site and Mike Flynn’s Blue Star Media, which has given him a chance to expand his horizons by covering USA Basketball teams at all levels in world championship competition.
