LAWRENCE, Kan. — On Monday afternoon, with his parents and his brother Mitch by his side, Andrew Wiggins announced that his freshman season would be his only one as a Kansas Jayhawk. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year announced in a news conference inside Allen Fieldhouse that he will declare for the 2014 NBA Draft.
Wiggins has been atop mock draft boards since his arrival in Lawrence last summer as the No. 1 recruit in the country, making Monday’s announcement fairly anti-climactic.
His historical freshman campaign was capped by All-America honors from five different outlets, membership on the elite USBWA Freshman All-America Team and now concludes with the decision to forgo his last three collegiate seasons to take his talents to the professional stage.
“This wasn’t an easy decision for me,” Wiggins said at his news conference. “College goes by so fast. I can see why people stay all four years.”
The Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, native is predicted to go as high as No. 1, potentially making him the highest-drafted Jayhawk since KU legend Danny Manning was selected No. 1 in 1988.
Wiggins set the Kansas freshman single-season scoring record with 597 points in 2013-14, making him the second-straight Jayhawk to surpass Manning’s record-setting rookie mark in 1985.
Former standout guard Ben McLemore broke Manning’s mark with 589 points in 2012-13 before being selected seventh overall in last season’s NBA Draft, one of 16 draftees in the Self era.
Andrew Wiggins 2013-14 Accolades
• John R. Wooden All-American Team
• NABC All-America Second Team
• USBWA All-America Freshman Team
• Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team
• NABC All-District 8 First Team
• USBWA All-America Second Team
• SI.com All-America Second Team
• USBWA All-District VI
- Sporting News All-America Second Team
• Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (3.9.14)
• Big 12 Freshman of the Year (Big 12, AP)
• All-Big 12 First Team (unanimous selection, Big 12, AP)
• Big 12 All-Newcomer Team
• Wooden Award Final Ballot (1 of 15)
• Wayman Tisdale Award Finalist by USBWA (1 of 6)
• Oscar Robertson Trophy Finalist List by USBWA (1 of 15)
• Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Candidate (1 of 30)
• Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week (1.28.14)
• Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (1.27.14)
• Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (11.18.13)
