Kansas Basketball: 15 greatest scorers in Jayhawks history
By Brian Rauf
Greatest scorers in Kansas basketball history: 11. Wayne Simien
The next big man to dominate in the interior after Drew Gooden, Wayne Simien was a monster in the post.
The 6-foot-9, 255-pounder had solid numbers as a freshman playing behind Gooden (8.1 points in 15.3 minutes per game) but appeared to take a step forward as a sophomore. For a time, he was the No. 3 option on that 2002-03 team behind Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich before a shoulder injury effectively sidelined him for the rest of the season.
When he came back as a junior, the team was his – and Simien performed.
He averaged 17.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and was named a Third-Team All-American after leading Kansas to the Elite Eight. And, while his senior season was the only time his Jayhawks failed to make it that far, he was individually dominant
Simien averaged 20.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game with a power game few could match, earning Big 12 Player of the Year and consensus First-Team All-America honors in 2005. Kansas went on to retire his No. 23 jersey. He currently ranks 13th on the all-time scoring list with 1,593 points.
Simien was drafted in the first round by the Miami Heat and spent two seasons with the team, winning an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006 before falling out of the league.