Wiggins' Watch From NC - Announcement Tuesday

Andrew Wiggins expected to make decision Tuesday

By Andrew Carter
acarter@newsobserver.com
Posted: Monday, May. 13, 2013

RALEIGH - Growing up in a small town outside of Kinston, Mitchell Wiggins once dreamed of playing for Dean Smith and North Carolina.

Now, about 30 years later, Wiggins' son, considered the best high school basketball player in the Class of 2013, has his pick of high-profile schools.

Andrew Wiggins, a 6-foot-7 forward at Huntington (W.Va.) Prep, will announce Tuesday whether he will play at North Carolina, or at one of the three other schools he is considering: Florida State, Kansas and Kentucky.

His decision will come at approximately 12:15 p.m. during a private ceremony at his school, according to Rob Fulford, his coach at Huntington Prep. Wiggins' signing ceremony won't happen in front of cameras or at a news conference.

“Just classmates, family and friends,” Fulford wrote Sunday night on Twitter.

The understated ceremony isn't a surprise to those who know Wiggins, or to those who have followed his recruitment. He hasn't sought the spotlight and has avoided media attention and interviews.

As a result, Wiggins hasn't offered many clues – or any clue, really – about which school might be his favorite.

“I've gotten a real kick out of listening to people talk with authority on this subject, because over the course of the last few months I've just kind of sat back and watched and was able to find out who's full of it and who's not,” said Dave Telep, an ESPN.com college basketball recruiting analyst. “Because anybody who spoke on this with authority really had no idea what they were talking about.”

Telep has closely covered his recruitment from the beginning, and even he admitted Monday he didn't have an idea which school Wiggins might be favoring. Telep ranked Florida State, where Wiggins' parents met, as the slight favorite – followed by Kansas, UNC and Kentucky.

Speculation has had different schools leading at different points. Florida State, though, has appeared to emerge as the favorite during recent weeks. Mitchell Wiggins played basketball there during the early 1980s, back when the Seminoles competed in the Metro Conference.

Before his time at FSU, the elder Wiggins spent one season at Clemson. During his rookie season in the NBA, Mitchell Wiggins spoke of a game during his junior season at North Lenoir High, and how he had played well in front of Smith, who hadn't yet won the first of his two national championships at UNC.

“Dean Smith came and saw me play and I think I had 38 points that night,” Wiggins said in a newspaper story published in January 1984. “He never came down and saw me after the game. Later on I found out he didn't think I was good enough to play for him.”

No snubs for his son

His son hasn't endured the same kind of snubs. Originally a member of the class of 2014, Andrew Wiggins, who grew up in Ontario, Canada, reclassified and immediately became one of the most sought-after prospects in the class of 2013.

An inordinate amount of hype has followed Wiggins, who has been lauded as one of the best prospects in years. Regardless of which school he selects, he's likely to enter his freshman season as a preseason All-American.

At Kentucky, he would join a recruiting class that's already considered to be among the best ever. At UNC and Kansas, Wiggins' arrival could elevate those teams to national championship contenders. At Florida State, Wiggins might be able to play more of a leading role than anywhere else on his list.

“Everybody has different uses for this guy next year,” Telep said. “At North Carolina, Kansas and Florida State, he kind of becomes their instant face of the program, for lack of a better term.

“At Kentucky, he becomes part of the most heavily-covered soap opera in maybe college basketball history next year.

“Everybody has different uses and different impacts. The bottom line is guys like Andrew Wiggins don't walk onto your campus every year.”

Wiggins' decision will end a long wait. College basketball's spring signing period began on April 17, and it will end Wednesday.

Consensus among family elusive

Part of the reason Wiggins has delayed his decision, Telep said, is that he and members of his family might have had a difficult time reaching a consensus. Wiggins is also a “people pleaser” who hasn't been looking forward to saying no to college coaches, Telep said.

“I just don't think he wanted to ever have to make these calls” to say no, Telep said. “And I think those few things have really driven why it's taken so long.”

Speculation has surrounded Wiggins throughout his recruitment. So have questions. Fulford had some fun with the spectacle of it all Monday, when he changed his profile picture on Facebook to a black background with words, in white, that read, “I don't know where Andrew Wiggins is going.”

For one final day, it was true. The wait will end Tuesday, in a small ceremony that represents a contrast to the hype that has swirled around Wiggins for months.

I'm a little disappointed and a little shocked. Although I tried not to get my hopes up I kinda thought it was between us and FSU.
I wish the kid well. He really couldn't go wrong with his choice but I think Kansas will be really tough to handle with Wiggins, Seldon, and Ellis. It could make for a heck of a final four or national championship game.

OK fine.............What a waste of time for UK. Hell, Cal was the last one he spoke to. He scrapped visits with the others.
I smell an attention hog here, who may be a tad bit full of himself and a little scared that he couldn't compete with the studs UK has in its stable.
The last thing we needed was another player that would sulk and priss about having to play as a teamate or lose playing time to superior talent. (Archie )
If this is the case we can thank our returning freshmen fo that.
Good luck as a Jayhawk Andrew.
I'll be thinking about you when we cut down the big net.
Love
Mule

It's tough to believe that your team will be better off when you miss out on the No. 1 overall recruit. But that's exactly the case for Kentucky basketball when Andrew Wiggins decided to take his talents to Kansas.

Sure, Wiggins is a can't-miss prospect. But remember, the Wildcats already have eight McDonald's All-Americans on their roster coupled with a returning starter in Willie Cauley-Stein.

If Wiggins was to commit to Kentucky, it would create a logjam for minutes, especially on the wing for either Alex Poythress or James Young.

Wiggins decision to wear Kansas' blue, as opposed to Kentucky's blue, will allow Poythress the chance to finally flourish in the system. He won't be buried on the bench behind the No. 1 recruit, and unlike last year, he will be able to play with a plethora of talent around him.

This isn't to say Poythress is a better player than Wiggins, but let's not forget that people had high expectations for him last year. The Sporting News named the Clarksville, Tenn. native a second-team preseason All-America last year.

Perhaps, most importantly, the remaining scholarship will provide depth to the point guard position, which is the one position Kentucky was arguably the thinnest at heading into the Wiggins decision with only freshmen Andrew Harrison and Dominique Hawkins on scholarship.

The remaining scholarship should now bring back fan-favorite Jarrod Polson to be a backup to Harrison and mentor to Hawkins for a year.

Polson recently graduated from the University of Kentucky, but he has a year of eligibility left.

Polson being able to mentor Hawkins won't provide the gratification in 2013-14 that Andrew Wiggins would have, but down the road, it will pay off to have that year of learning for Hawkins, who could very well turn into the next Darius Miller at Kentucky.

The other positive of Wiggins not committing to Kentucky provides the Wildcats is team chemistry. The six incoming All-Americans have all had a chance to bond with each other at various showcase events as teammates. Sure, Wiggins played in those games too, but he wasn't 'one of them as a Kentucky commit.

The players now know their roles heading into the 2013-14 season. The media is expected to be intense for this team, but without the No. 1 recruit, it's possible the media will be directed more toward Lawrence, Kansas to follow Wiggins.

And for Big Blue Nation, if the Wildcats don't win the 2014 title, look at the bright side—There is an excuse now in not having the best player in the class.

I don't know why everyone keeps mentioning Poythress in the starting line up for next year. If he is going to sniff any playing time he will have to make a huge change in his attitude and effort. Except for a few games, he was useless. No hustle, no heart, and couldn't seem to play for more than a few minutes at a time.
If he doesn't change and ends up beating out Young for a starting position then I'll be sorely disappointed in Young.