Andrew Wiggins awaits award fate

By Gary Bedore     Jul 15, 2013

Kansas University freshman basketball sensation Andrew Wiggins arrived in Los Angeles on Monday for tonight’s Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards ceremony in Hollywood.

Wiggins, who was named boys basketball player of the year after averaging 23.4 points and 11.2 rebounds a game his senior season at Huntington (W.Va.) Prep, is a finalist with baseball player of the year Clint Frazier (Loganville, Ga., High), football player of the year Max Browne (Skyline, Wash., High), cross country runner of the year Edward Cheserek (St. Benedict Prep, Newark, N.J.), soccer player of the year Christian Roldan (El Rancho High, Pico Rivera, Calif.) and track athlete of the year Trayvon Bromell (Gibbs High, St. Petersburg, Fla).

The athletes’ first big event of the week was bowling Monday night at Lucky Strike in Hollywood.

Browne, who is headed to USC, passed for 4,526 yards and 49 touchdowns his senior season.

Bromell, who signed with Baylor, has the fastest 100-meter time of any U.S. high school runner in history (9.99).

Cheserek, who is headed to Oregon, is two-time winner of the Foot Locker National CC championships.

Frazier, a first-round pick of the Cleveland Indians, has signed and begun his pro career. The outfielder hit .485 with 17 home runs and 45 RBIs his senior year.

Roldan, who is attending the University of Washington, had 54 goals his senior campaign.

Wiggins received his national basketball player of the award from former NBA great Alonzo Mourning during a surprise visit to Huntington Prep last spring.

“Zo walked in, and, yeah, I stopped yawning,” Wiggins told USA Today. “I really owe thanks to my teammates and coaches and this whole community that’s made me feel so welcome over the past two years.

“This is big for Canada, and it’s big for me. This award definitely stands out,” the Toronto native added.

The male and female athletes of the year also will attend the ESPY Awards on Wednesday in L.A.

Block party: Former KU center Jeff Withey had five points, three blocked shots and three rebounds in New Orleans’ 66-62 NBA summer-league vitory over Cleveland on Monday in Las Vegas. He was 2-for-2 from the field while playing 15 minutes.

Withey had two straight rejections of 6-6 guard Carrick Felix, the ball bounding from the paint almost all the way to midcourt after the second block.

“He got his own rebound. I knew what was coming. I don’t know how to explain it, I can picture it happening before it actually happens,” Withey told BourbonStreetShots.com.

“Coach (Monty) Williams is all into defense. That’s perfect for me, all I do is play defense,” 7-footer Withey added. “I think me and Anthony (Davis, second-year pro out of Kentucky) can go well together. I’m not going to make any assumptions, just go to work every day.”

Morris twins excel: Former KU forwards Markieff and Marcus Morris scored 22 and 18 points respectively in the Phoenix Suns’ 91-89 victory over Minnesota. Markieff had six boards and Marcus four.

Marcus Morris hit the game-winning jumper. He accepted an inbounds pass from P.J. Tucker, dribbled past the three-point line, then went up for a deep jumper in front of the Suns’ own bench for the swish.

“I told ’em (teammates) earlier I’ve been hitting a lot of clutch shots in practice,” Marcus Morris told brightsideofthesun.com. “I’m happy ‘H’ gave me the ball and I was able to put it in,” he added, apparently referring to Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek, who drew up the play for Marcus.

Eight points for Johnson: Former KU guard Elijah Johnson scored eight points off 3-of-6 shooting with three assists, three steals and three turnovers while playing 16 minutes in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 77-65 loss to the L.A. Lakers. Former KU guard Josh Selby had two points off 1-of-6 shooting with three turnovers against one assist in 11 minutes for the Lakers.

McLemore goes 4-of-12: Former KU guard Ben McLemore had 14 points off 4-of-12 shooting with four rebounds, four turnovers and no assists while playing 32 minutes in Sacramento’s 80-66 loss to Golden State. He was 1-of-7 from three.

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