WAYNE SIMIEN

SIMIEN, WAYNE ANTHONY JR.

Hometown:  Leavenworth, KS (Leavenworth HS)

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=wayne+simien&btnG=Search+Images

2002:  Lettered.

2003:  Lettered.

2004: Lettered. All-American

Full name: Wayne Anthony Simien, Jr. Favorite Food: Gumbo. Favorite TV Show: Rap City. What's In My CD Player Right Now: L.L. Wayne 500 Degreez. Nickname: Big Dub. Most Interesting Thing I Did Over Summer: Outfished my dad and uncle. After College I Plan On: NBA.

Favorite Hobby Other Than Basketball: Fishing, video games. Superstitions: Putting on jersey a certain way. Favorite Actor/Actress: Al Pacino. I Try To Mold My Game After: Karl Malone. If I Were a Wrestler My Nickname Would Be: The Warden. I Chose My Jersey Number Because: Someone took my original number in high school.

My Favorite Vacation Spot: Table Rock Lake. My Favorite NBA Player: Kenyon Martin. Following Actor Would Play Me In a Movie About My Life: Al Pacino. Thing I Like Most About Coach Williams: Honesty. Best Player I've Ever Faced: Nick Collison. My Non Basketball Pro Athlete: Williams sisters. Favorite Non Basketball Pro Team: Royals/Chiefs.

Highlights: Averaged 8.1 ppg and 5.3 rpg while logging 15.3 minutes … shot 55.3 percent from floor and 73.8 from line … had 27 blocks, tying for fifth place on KU's single season frosh rejections list … had 10 points in career debut vs. Wake Forest … had 17 points vs. Texas … named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Kansas … also was Kansas' Mr. Basketball and a McDonald's All-American. … Sunflower League player of the year, Simien poured in 19.3 points to go with 10 rebounds per game as a senior.

He led the Pioneers to a 17-4 record his senior season. During his junior year, his 16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks helped the Pioneers to a 23-2 mark and state title.

Source:  KU Sports.com

SIMIEN ONE OF KU’S BEST

Wayne Simien achieved the third most statistically productive season at KU since 1984.

 Using a formula developed by Kansas-bred Martin Manley, you add all the good things players accomplish (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks), and then subtract the bad things (missed field goals, missed free throws and turnovers), to derive a Production Score (PS). PS can then be divided by the number of games or minutes played to derive an overall index of how well a player did. 

 This past season, Simien garnered a total score of 24.42, lower only than the scores posted by Danny Manning in 1988 and 1987, respectively. 

By Ken Johnson, 2005

Commentary: Simien reflects Heat's new attitude

Miami ready to win now, and draft pick out of Kansas University proves the point

By Greg Cote - Miami Herald , Sunday, July 3, 2005

Miami — This is the difference one year and one 330-pound centerpiece has made to the Miami Heat. The difference is clear direction. The difference is attitude and imperative.

The difference is reflected in the man sitting here, Wayne Anthony Simien Jr.  A man, indeed: NBA-ready for a win-now mind-set.

The Heat's new first-round pick out of Kansas is 22, for starters, which refreshingly makes him all but a graybeard in this sport's teen-mill draft.  His body looks both athletic-lithe and thick, not seeming to require any fattening or time to finish growing.  His very bearing is one of maturity. He has a degree in sociology. He is a power forward. He is what he is: a college graduate ready to go to work.

What a stunning change in one franchise, in one year.  At the time of the 2004 draft the Heat had not yet made (or thought actually possible) the seismic trade that soon brought Shaquille O'Neal here.  This was a club in flux, unsure where it was headed or who would lead the way. Clearly this was not a championship-contending roster at this time a year ago, and the draft reflected that.

Dorell Wright was 18, the first kid ever drafted right out of high school by Miami. He was baby-faced; you'd card him if he tried to order a glass of milk. I didn't know whether to shake his hand or ask to see his hall pass.  He was skinny enough to slip under a closed door. Evidenced by the fact he would play scant minutes in all of three games as a rookie, Wright was a "someday, maybe" pick, someone for what Pat Riley likes to call "the cupboard."

Wayne Simien is not. Just about everybody who has ever drafted anybody claims to have gotten the one player they truly wanted. That's a given. Just as most every fan, along with Your Friend the Media, claims instant certainty as to whether a pick was superb or scurrilous. Simien, though ... how can you not love this pick?

He seems like an off-the-court saint, a guy who plans to get involved large in the community and charity, and pursue full-time ministry after basketball. Simien is a major-conference player of the year and consensus first-team All-American from a hoops school, a guy who might have been a top-10 choice if old injury concerns weren't draped on him like a shawl. Presuming good health, he is a player the Heat needs now -- or might very soon.

Simien is Udonis Haslem. Only slightly younger. Slightly bigger. And with a better midrange jump shot.  He is the Heat's immediately redeemable insurance policy in case Haslem up and leaves in free agency, a real possibility. Even if Haslem stays, Simien is depth at the position, with more offensive pop.

Either way this is not a "someday, maybe" draft pick, but rather a specific piece to a puzzle the Heat seem pretty close to solving. That is how far one franchise has come in one draft, in one trade, in one year.
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From Wikipedia:

Wayne Anthony Simien, Jr. (born March 9, 1983 in Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Miami Heat of the NBA.

Growing up, Simien was a KU fan due to his proximity to Lawrence. He committed to play for Roy Williams and the University of Kansas as early as the 8th or 9th grade, and was later named to the 2001 McDonald's All-American team. He played for the Leavenworth Pioneers in high school and led the Pioneers to a 6A-State Championship his junior year in high school.

At Kansas, Simien received All-American honors his junior and senior years. He was a Wooden Award finalist both years, and was the Big 12 Player of the Year his senior year. However, his college career ended when Kansas was defeated by 14th-seeded Bucknell in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Simien finished his college career with 110 wins and a 12-4 NCAA Tournament record.

He was selected with the 29th overall selection of the 2005 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat, with whom he won a championship in 2006.

Wayne married his wife, Katie, on July 8, 2006. Wayne could not participate in the Miami Heat's Summer League program because of a salmonella infection.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER:

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/wayne_simien/index.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3955

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/simiewa01.html

http://www.kusports.com/basketball/roster/04-05/bios/simien.html

Simien reviving career in Spain, October 11, 2008

Thriving Overseas, KUSports.com, 1/2/09

Simien retires from pro hoops, 5/1/2009

Higher Court, 5/30/2009