Kansas University’s rabid men’s basketball fans have read a lot of words and seen some film clips of the Jayhawk newcomers.
But most KU faithful have yet to see Wayne Simien, Aaron Miles, Keith Langford, Michael Lee or Jeff Hawkins play in person.
That will change at the 2001 Late Night With Roy Williams.
The fab five will be featured performers during Williams’ 14th-annual midnight scrimmage at Allen Fieldhouse.
What the fans will see is four guards and a huge power forward.
The big guy is 6-foot-9, 250-pound Simien of Leavenworth High who is expected to bring an inside presence to KU’s lineup.
The little guys the point guards are Miles, 6-1 of Portland, Ore., and Jeff Hawkins, 5-11 of Kansas City. Mid-sized guards Lee, 6-3 of Portland and Langford, 6-4 of Crowley, Texas, complete the class.
All but Hawkins are on basketball scholarship. Hawkins, who has an academic grant, will red-shirt this season, then receive an athletic scholarship the following four years.
Here’s a look at KU’s freshman basketball class.
Aaron Miles, 6-1, Portland (Ore.) Jefferson High: Miles averaged 20.4 points and 7.0 assists as a senior and won the Morgan Wooten Award as the country’s top high school scholar-athlete.
Miles, who has been compared to former Jayhawk Academic All-American Jacque Vaughn, tabbed KU over Arizona and Oregon.
“He is a magnificent prospect,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “He is very gifted. He can shoot, defend, dribble, is a leader, the all-around point guard we are looking for.”
Miles impressed during pre-season pickup games with his desire to run the offense and lead the show.
“Aaron is the kind of guy you want on your team, a real leader,” KU senior Jeff Boschee said. “For him to come in as a freshman and tell some of the upperclassmen what to do, that’s the kind of guy you want. He reminds me a little of Jacque Vaughn in that aspect.”
“Aaron is a winner,” Williams said.
Michael Lee, 6-3, Portland, Ore. Jefferson High: A tight end, Lee was one of the top football players in Oregon, but chose to cast his lot with college hoops after averaging 19.7 points a game last season.
Williams is happy about that.
“Michael Lee is 6-2, some say 6-3. I don’t know if he’s that big. He’s a very good shooter and defender,” Williams said. “He’s another quality kid.
“We lost our original two targets at big guard Daniel Ewing (Duke) and Alan Anderson (Michigan State) and I said to our staff, ‘Tell me if somebody has a better total package than Michael does.’ Nobody could come up with anybody.”
“I like to get up on people and play defense,” Lee said. “I will bring energy to the team.”
Of his buddy, Miles, he said: “We’re best friends. We’ve been best friends since we were 6 or 7. A lot of times I know exactly what he’s going to do. When we play on opposing teams (in pick-up games) I know what he’s thinking. Sometimes I’ll steal the ball because I know where he’s going to throw it. He is a great point guard.”
Lee chose KU over Oregon, Nevada, Santa Clara and Cal-Santa Barbara.
“Mike is a good defender, strong and can shoot it, too,” said KU junior guard Kirk Hinrich.
Keith Langford, 6-4, North Crowley High, Crowley, Texas: Langford, who averaged 25.7 points and 8.6 boards last season, picked KU over Cincinnati and Oklahoma.
“He’s a very good shooter, an all-around player,” Williams said of Langford, who verbally committed to Ole Miss in the summer, then re-opened his recruiting.
“I would not get involved with his recruitment until he said he would not be involved with Ole Miss. Coach (Neil) Dougherty saw him in September when he scored 46 and missed three shots. I saw him and he did not have a good game at all and still fell in love with him. He knows how to play the game.
“One or two dribbles, then he takes the shot. He’s a good shooter out to the three-point line and a good athlete.”
A lefty, Langford patterns himself after Jalen Rose, formerly of Michigan and now with the Indiana Pacers.
“Actually, my strength is going to the bucket,” Langford said. “I hit from the outside, too. Coach (Roy) Williams … he is like he wants me to come in and play hard. There’s no guarantee of starting or anything, but there’s an opportunity for me to earn a spot. It’s exactly what I wanted, an opportunity.”
Wayne Simien, 6-9, Leavenworth High: Simien, who averaged 19.3 points and 10 boards last season, committed to KU a long time ago late in his junior year of high school.
“It’s a life-long dream. That is what I would call it,” Simien said. “I’ve always wanted to go to KU. It feels good to be part of the family.”
Simien has been a fixture at KU home games the past two seasons, sitting behind the KU bench on unofficial recruiting visits.
“Wayne is a great youngster,” Williams said. “He’s the kind of player who will be very good defensively and rebound. He can score on the offensive end, but doesn’t have to do it to help the team win.
“He’s a youngster I’ve known since seventh grade. He attended our basketball camp every year. He kept growing and getting bigger and better. He’ll be able to do some things at this level.”
Simien said he followed the Jayhawks as a youth but really became hooked, “when Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz played there. They were great players and KU always had such good teams under coach Williams.
“I’ve gotten to know some of the players. I decided to play for the best coach in the country and play with the best players.”
Of Simien, KU’s Nick Collison said: “He’s probably the strongest guy on the team already. He has the tools. It will take him a while to get the mental side of it down, like all freshmen.
“He’s got to play to his strengths, rebound and take it to the bucket hard every time.”
Simien had surgery to repair a torn right shoulder ligament last spring, but he’s completely healed.
Jeff Hawkins, 5-11, KC Sumner: Hawkins was a consensus all-state pick after averaging 19.6 points, 4.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 steals for 19-7 Sumner Academy.
He elected to walk on at KU despite receiving overtures from UCLA, Portland and others.
“I’m pretty confident I will be able to contribute at KU. I can’t wait,” Hawkins said.
As a red-shirt, he can practice, but not play in games.
“I think I need to get a little quicker. I’ll work on my defense a lot more, watch a lot of tapes and everything. I want to be a defensive guy,” Hawkins said, noting he figures to benefit from guarding incoming frosh point guard Miles at practice, plus junior Kirk Hinrich.
“I will try to work him real hard,” he said of Miles. “Just because he’s one of the top point guards, I won’t lie down.
“I want to push him and him to push me. The good thing is he’ll be there with me. Playing against one of the top point guards … he can only get me better.”
“Jeff is an outstanding shooter and very quick,” Boschee said of Hawkins. “He’s going to be very good.”
