Kansas sophomore forward Wayne Simien had the chance to spend some quality time with three teammates this summer, and KU opponents may face the consequences this season.
Simien, Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and Nick Collison spent time as counselors at the Nike Camp in Indianapolis, tutoring high school players and plotting for the 2002-2003 season.
“It gave us a chance to get our heads together over the summer,” Simien said, “and talk about things for the upcoming season and give everyone else a taste of what we’ll be giving them this year.”
The four Jayhawks gave the other counselors – including Arizona’s Jason Gardner and Connecticut’s Emeka Okafor – a taste of what’s coming this season in pick-up games while in Indianapolis.
“We all played really well,” Simien said. “Everyone was calling it the Jayhawk mini-camp because we were playing so well. The last day they put us all on the same team and we ran the table.”
After averaging just 15.3 minutes a game last year, Simien should benefit from that extra competition when he replaces Drew Gooden in the starting lineup.
“The expectations are going to be high,” Simien said, “but I’m just going to go out there and try to play my game and not try to replace him, but just play to the best of my ability.”
Simien’s ability differs from his predecessor’s by being focused more on banging in the post and not improvising up top.
“They’re both very good, obviously,” senior forward Nick Collison said, “but Wayne’s a little more of an inside presence. With Wayne, you have a better idea of where he’s going to be, which is pretty much always posting up strong and hard.”
That’s not to say there aren’t similarities between Gooden and Simien.
“Wayne and Drew are different types of players,” point guard Aaron Miles said, “but both are going to play as hard as they can play and they’ll both run the floor, so it ain’t going to be that big of a difference.”
Simien says he isn’t looking to bring anything different to the team than Gooden, that he would work on doing the same things did last year, just from a new role as a starter.
Simien should double his minutes on the floor and boost his averages of 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. To that end, Simien paid special attention to his conditioning in the offseason.
“I just continued to work hard all summer,” he said. “I went to a lot of camps, worked out and did a lot of things individually. I’m carrying a lot more weight this season because I’m going to play a lot more minutes. People are saying we might not be as deep, and if that happens I wanted to come in as physically prepared as I could.”
Simien is also healthy this season after missing the first five games of last season after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He doesn’t expect the knee to be a problem this year.
“I came here last season feeling pretty good at 100 percent,” Simien said, “and it’s something that unfortunately happened, but it didn’t bother me all season and it hasn’t given me any problems this year. I feel good. I’m feeling in the best shape of my life.”
Consistency was also an issue Simien worked on during the offseason. He scored in double digits in 13 games last season, including six of his first seven games. After those games, though, he had just three back-to-back games of 10 points or more.
“Last year I would have a real good game and then a couple games down the road you might not notice I was out there,” Simien said. “I’m just trying to work on that, going back to the fundamentals and small things.”
Focusing on the small things may keep Simien from being overwhelmed by his starting role, but he is antsy for the expanded playing time.
“It’s just going to be a different role that I’m going to have to play,” he said. “I’m going to have to be one of the main focal points of the team. It’s something that I’m looking forward to, but I’m a little nervous.”
