Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Although his announcement came as a surprise to some, Kansas was the best fit for Andrew Wiggins.
Make no mistake about it: Wiggins clearly has the talent to play at the next level. A 6-foot-8 small forward with incredible range and explosiveness, Wiggins can play just about anywhere on the floor and will cause match-up headaches for opposing coaches — college or pro.
Since many scouts and analysts have likened him to LeBron James as a high school player, it’s tough to envision him staying in school for more than one year when he could make millions in the NBA.
With that in mind, Wiggins needed to choose a school where he could get the most out of his lone year of collegiate experience, and Kansas offers him more than any of the other schools on the list.
For starters, playing for Bill Self gives Wiggins more exposure than he would have had anywhere else. Sure, Kentucky is a program that’s rich with basketball history, but it plays in the SEC, where it’s clearly second-fiddle to a football program that has won the last seven national championships.
Similarly, while North Carolina and Florida State both enjoyed fine seasons last year, everyone’s talking about whether these schools will go to a BCS bowl this fall, rather than the odds of a another deep tournament run in the spring.
Things are very different at Kansas, where the basketball team dominates the local media coverage. Whether the football team goes undefeated or continues to finish near the bottom of the Big 12, that will not change anytime soon.
The second — and most important — reason to pick the Jayhawks is that it gives Wiggins the best chance to play for a national championship. With only one bite at the apple, it’s imperative that he put himself in position to make it to the Final Four this season. Remember, KU went deeper into the 2013 Big Dance than any of the other four schools on the list.
And although they’ll lose plenty of talent from that squad, the Jayhawks have signed arguably the best recruiting class in the nation, placing them in prime position to play for it all this year.
With more exposure and an optimal chance to cut down the nets next spring, how could Wiggins have chosen to go anywhere else?
is a writer for Rant Sports and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and/or Google+
