Andrew Wiggins lifts game to live up to hype

ST. LOUIS - When Andrew Wiggins appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and a photograph of the freshman posing in a photo-shopped portrait lacing up his sneakers alongside former Kansas great Wilt Chamberlain accompanied the featured article, Jayhawks coach Bill Self wondered about the impact of the shot.

Wiggins' name was well known before he even signed with Kansas let alone played a game for the Jayhawks. The nation's consensus No. 1 high school recruit was expected to be one of the top - if not the best - college players in the nation.

They hype was unavoidable, Self knew. What he didn't know was how Wiggins would handle it.

'I thought it was totally unfair to Andrew, but not unfair from anybody trying to hurt him, just there is no way you can be that,' he said of the Chamberlain photo comparison. 'But I thought it would help prepare him for the pressures that (were) going to be before him because if he didn't get hit between the eyes early on, he wouldn't have been prepared over the course of the season.'

Wiggins has handled the spotlight better than Self expected.

It's focused even more on Wiggins now as the second-seeded Jayhawks prepare for their third-round NCAA tournament game Sunday against 10th-seeded Stanford at Scottrade Center.

Soft-spoken and succinct, Wiggins comes across as self-assured and relaxed.

'It was a lot,' he said of the earlier attention this season. 'But I kind of got used to it after the first months it happened. It was not hard because I didn't pay all that much attention to it.'

On the court - where it matters, of course - Wiggins has made progress this season. The fact he wasn't an immediate take-over player created some doubt about him among fans in the regular season when Duke freshman Jabari Parker was grabbing headlines and teammate Joel Embiid was considered the Jayhawks' top newcomer.

A preseason All-American, only the second freshman to make the list, finished on the second team. Wiggins was hesitant to stand out among teammates, wanting to 'fit in,' Self said.

'Looking back now, I think it has gone at the perfect pace. You know, there's no way he could have lived up to the hype, so if he would have put pressure on himself to think 'I have to score, I have to do this, I have to do that,' it would not have been good for him nor good for us. Instead, he has kept a very even-keel approach.'

At the same time, Self said, Wiggins has a 'flare for the moment.'

That has been quite obvious recently.

Without Embiid, who has missed the last five games and is out indefinitely with a back injury, Wiggins has been expected to fulfill a more aggressive role. Averaging 17.4 points per game on the season, he has delivered even more lately with a 28-point average the last four games.

'He has matured in that he has become a little bit more of an alpha dog or assassin-type guy than he was before,' Self said.

Said Wiggins: 'My mentality, my aggressiveness has improved a lot.'

After a slow start against Eastern Kentucky in the second-round victory Friday, ultimately scoring 19 points and stunning the crowd with alley-oop dunks, Wiggins said he needs to assert himself better against Stanford. Self pointed out Eastern Kentucky's game plan was to deny him the ball.

'I just have to pick up my game,' said Wiggins, who is considered potentially the No. 1 overall pick of the NBA draft.

To advance through the tournament, Wiggins must do so.

'He knows that for us to have a chance to fare well and make a run, a good run,' Self said, 'he has to be much more aggressive and have an impact on more possessions.'

Twitter @sryantribune

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