KU Basketball: Wayne Selden is finally finding his way in the NBA

After a couple games in the NBA Summer League, former KU Basketball guard Wayne Selden has finally found his groove in the NBA. With a two-year deal and great performances, Selden is trending upwards.

The college basketball world has changed so much. Two to three year players are now being replaced with one year superstars. Coaches like John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski are founders of the one and done era that seems to be sweeping the game. It seems like the Kansas Jayhawks do not follow the same rules that these teams write though.

While the Jayhawks do certainly participate in the recruitment of these one and done superstars, Bill Self seems to have a knack for developing four year players. Wayne Selden is a prime example of this. When teams like Kentucky and Duke promote immediate NBA success after one year of college, Kansas makes stellar four year players.

The best feeling is when these four years really show what they learned from Self. To better express my point, the stats and performance of Wayne Selden show it all. For his summer league appearances, Selden has been nothing but a bright spot for the Memphis Grizzlies. He gave Josh Jackson a sample of his success in Las Vegas with a little put back slam.

So far, Selden has played four games in the summer leagues. He has led Memphis to an impressive offseason showing, and in my opinion, Selden gets better with every game. In his first game, Selden racked up 28 points, shot four of six from three-point land and played 30 minutes against the Washington Wizards per ESPN.com.

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In the game directly following that, Selden dropped 21 points, shot two of five for three-pointers and played 29 minutes against the Sacramento Kings via the same source. If you continually look at summer league stats, you will see that Selden keeps performing better and better from there. So much better that he may not be far from a starting role.

Of course, KU basketball fans know Selden is no stranger to greatness on the court. In his four-year career, Selden impressed and developed every year. No doubt that some of that can be traced back to the people he learned from. Perry Ellis and Frank Mason come to mind when you think about great four-year players.

One thing is for sure: The kind of play that Wayne Selden is putting up definitely has fond memories in Lawrence. One of the greatest memories Selden ever gifted KU fans happened in the Big 12 Tournament. A memory that the talking heads at ESPN still talk about during the summer league games.

I am guessing Uncle Anthony still talks about it too.

As of now, Selden is looking at a sure position in the NBA. Memphis has already inked him to a two-year deal, and right now that deal may be expanded. At least, as soon as Selden can carry over his performance to the regular season. It is great to see Selden excel as a professional player in the NBA, but no matter what, he will always be a Jayhawk. Rock Chalk!