Andrew Wiggins arrives in Lawrence, will begin summer school this week

By Gary Bedore     Jun 15, 2013

McDonald's East All-American's Andrew Wiggins looks up during the first half of the McDonald's All-American boys basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 3, 2013.

The buzz started late Saturday morning when Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self told his Parent/Child campers that prize freshman forward Andrew Wiggins of Toronto was en route to KC International Airport.

Just a few hours later — right on schedule — the country’s No. 1-rated recruiting prospect in the Class of 2013 was on KU’s campus, as confirmed to the Journal-World by Self.

And so begins the career of the 6-foot-7 Wiggins, who will attend summer school classes Monday and immediately begin working out with the 2013-14 Jayhawk team.

“Feels good to be out here in Kansas!” Wiggins said on Twitter at 6:30 p.m., Saturday.

Wiggins, who spent a couple weeks in Toronto after graduation ceremonies at Huntington (W.Va.) Prep School, was anxious to get to Lawrence and begin workouts, Self said. Wiggins a week ago said he would not be competing with Canada’s Under-19 national team, instead coming to Lawrence for summer school.

“I think there’s a false perception out there. The good ones want to be coached,” Self said Friday on 810 WHB radio. “The ones not quite as good think they’ve got it figured out. The great ones want to be coached or they wouldn’t be great. A few things separate the good from great and those things are the intangibles.”

Self has been asked many times what player Wiggins might be compared to.

“I don’t think Tracy (McGrady) is really fair. I don’t know if he scores the ball like Tracy,” Self said. “Dominique (Wilkins) I don’t think … he is not as powerful as Dominique. There may be some similarities there. LeBron (James) is definitely a bad (comparison). This kid weighs 200 pounds and we’re comparing him to a 260-pound monster. That’s not fair.

“I think he’s just going to be him. That’s all he has to do is come in here and just want to fit in. I think the expectations will be so high but I think we might as well embrace them and not run from them. The bottom line is he could be as talented as anybody and average 13 points a game because he can do so many things. I don’t know how it’s going to play out. I know he’s excited about being with his teammates. He deflects praise to others which is a cool thing to see. He just wants to be part of a team and win. His attitude has been remarkable as far as that goes.”

Anrio Adams to Ohio: Former KU guard Anrio Adams has decided to transfer to Ohio University, Adams said in a text message to the Journal-World on Saturday. Adams, a 6-3 guard from Seattle, averaged 3.5 minutes a game in 24 games his freshman season. He scored 27 points off 10-of-25 shooting. He made two of five threes and five of 13 free throws. Last week, he was talking about a transfer to UNLV that never materialized.

Juco target: Kadeem Allen, a 6-3 freshman shooting guard from Hutchinson Community College, is being recruited by KU, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Kansas State and others, ESPN.com reports. Allen averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game his frosh season at Hutch. He’s originally from Wilmington, N.C.

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42753Andrew Wiggins arrives in Lawrence, will begin summer school this week