Unbearable?

Hardly.

“It’s going great,” Leavenworth center Wayne Simien said of his senior campaign. “We’re 7-0 right now. I’m trying to do the best I can, enjoying high school for now. I’m anxious to get down to Lawrence next year, but I’m taking it one game at a time.”

The 6-foot-9 Simien, one of five incoming Jayhawks, averaged 23.8 points per game in his last four games as the No. 1-ranked Pioneers won their Citizens National Bank Invitational last month and opened the Sunflower League with two victories.

On Friday night, the silky-smooth center scored a game-high 17 points with eight rebounds and four blocked shots in just over a half at home against Free State in front of a packed house. The Pioneers made 10 of their first 13 shots including a powerful dunk and dunk-turned-three-point-play over two Firebirds by Simien in building an early 23-4 lead.

“We were just trying to come out with confidence because everybody’s out to get us this year and anybody’s capable of beating us,” said Simien, who was Leavenworth’s leading scorer (16.5 ppg) and rebounder (9.7 rpg) during the Pioneers’ 1999-2000 state championship season.

“We just wanted to come out and make sure that we set the tempo of the game. Fortunately we did and it turned out good for us.”

Leavenworth pushed its advantage to 40-18 by halftime and coasted to a 70-40 victory. Most of the Leavenworth starters, including Simien, were long gone halfway through the third quarter. Simien, who finished 8-of-10 shooting and was 1-for-1 from the free-throw line, also showed Friday night that he’s more than a one-trick pony.

In addition to his two early dunks and later a putback slam, Simien also hit a nifty fade-away jumper against a triple-team, hit a medium-range baseline jumper, hit a short jumper and had a tipin off a miss by a teammate.

“You ask the kid to do something,” Leavenworth coach Larry Hogan explained, “and he just busts his butt to do it the best he can whether that’s passing, dribbling, catching, shooting, rebounding, hitting the weights.

“He just shows what kids can accomplish if they do what their coaches ask them to do.”

As impressive as he was on the offensive end, though, Simien was even more dominating on defense. In fact, he helped shutdown Free State’s leading scorer, 6-7 sophomore center Keith Wooden. The Firebird, who had been averaging 13.8 ppg going into the game, was held to a career-low two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

“Without question, this is the best he’s looked,” FSHS coach Jack Schreiner said of Simien, who has scored 66 points in five career games against the Firebirds. “Keith is pretty good, and he man-handled him. It was like he (Keith) wasn’t even out there. But it’s the best thing in the world for Keith Wooden. This will make him a better player.

“You don’t get better unless you play against better people.”

Simien’s coach, for one, hasn’t been surprised by his senior standout’s improvement.

“Well, I like to think that the players in my program get better every year,” Hogan said. “We’ve been working hard with Wayne for a long time especially the last three or four years honing different skills.”

It’s those skills that will take Simien to the next level in the fall KU’s Allen Fieldhouse.

“I’ll be nervous playing in front of the home crowd, being one of the only players from Kansas on the roster,” said Simien, who has been to a couple games this season, the most recent being against Southwest Missouri State at the Sprint Shootout. “That will make it extra special for me.”

Simien’s next game against a Lawrence team will be Jan. 30 against Lawrence High at Leavenworth.