What Bill Self learned from Andrew Wiggins

Over the course of the next 6 months, a lot of criticism will be poured upon both Bill Self and Andrew Wiggins. One will be criticized for being beaten, again, by a double-digit lower seed in the NCAA Championship Tournament. The other for ending his amateur career with a tentative performance, shooting only 6 field goals in a game where his teammates (and Coach Self) desperately pleaded for him to take the reins. With the introduction of Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre at October’s Late Night in The Phog, all sins will be forgiven, and Jayhawk Nation will fall at the feet of Coach Self, en route to his 11th consecutive Big 12 Conference Championship. Even before that, on June 26th, the young phenom from Ontario will grace the stage in New York, introduced as one of the very first men chosen to fulfill his dreams and become a millionaire playing a game. Yet, while the criticisms will subside, lessons will have been learned by these two men, and the greater lesson may have been taught by Wiggs, to Coach.

The hang-up with being a National Championship-winning college coach at a blueblood program is that the expectations never lessen. After 11 seasons, no one needs to explain this to Coach Self. No one needs to explain that this is not a curse, but a blessing. With all of the criticisms, with all of the expectations, come great, great rewards, not the least of which is that there isn’t a recruited athlete out there who might not choose Kansas. Walking into the home of a high school athlete as the head coach at KU puts you on a plane enjoyed by very few of your peers. Having said all of that, I don’t believe that anyone was more surprised that Andrew chose to come to Kansas than Bill Self. On May 14th, 2013, the number 1 recruit of his class, announced with zero media presence, that he was going to take his talents high above the golden valley. Young Wiggs had kept this choice completely to himself and the decision to go to Lawrence was a big shock. "There hasn't been a ton of communication between the college coaches and Andrew," his high school coach said. "I think they'd all probably tell you they don't really know where they stand." Interviews with Self on May 14th confirmed that Self had no idea.

Even more, Self had to not expect that such a thing would happen. Glitzy, celebrity recruits don’t come to KU. He had missed on Julius Randle, he had missed on Aaron Gordon, and he had missed on Jabari Parker. Yes, he had secured Wayne Selden, Jr., but Wayne fit the Self-era mold better; an understated hungry kid, if a McDonald’s All-American can be such a thing. B.Rush, Selby, and B-Mac were big-time recruits, big-time gets for Coach Self and his staff. But all of them had eligibility issues, and the fanfare and hoopla associated with them was never in the same universe as that of Maple freaking Jordan.

When Andrew descended upon Mount Oread, so did the national sports media, and the celebrity paparazzi, as well. No sooner was Andrew under Self’s tutelage then Gentlemen’s Quarterly showed up to do a spread, and before the kid have even played in his 1st college game, SI put him on the cover. There’s fanfare, and then there is 21st Century star-fucking, and America was gonzo over Andrew Wiggins. It became pretty clear, pretty quickly, that the teenage Wiggins was not prepared for, not comfortable with, and not feeling the celebrity attention poured upon him. The young man did his best, but, this was not something that he was prepared to do.

Coordinately, this was a new experience for Self. The sports media has always found a 2nd home at Allen Fieldhouse. College Gameday and Sports Illustrated covers were nothing new for Coach. But, Wiggs was the product of the biggest hype machine since LeBron James. In the Twitter age, this hype transcends sports and the sports media. Self’s aw shucks Okie mannerisms can translate well to Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale, because basketball is basketball, but schmoozing with GQ photogs was far out of his comfort zone. Coach Self discovered quickly that this was not helpful for the team or the young man. Very early in the process, Coach squashed the myth-building of Maple Jordan. This is where the learning began. For both men.

“He’s a terrific talent, but an even better kid.” This is the statement that Coach Self made, introducing young Wiggins to the University of Kansas. For those of us who have been around Coach, this was a throw away statement. Classic Bill. And, on the surface, there really is nothing special about the statement, at all. In reality, this sentiment is exactly why the kid chose the coach. Wiggins stated that the relationship that he developed with Coach Self in the recruiting process was the best of all. And that was exactly why. The understanding that the development of Andrew from a teenager into a man is a large part of the learning process that Andrew was looking for. Wiggs came to Lawrence for sanctuary from the media storm, and for Coach to show him, not only how to be a man, but to be The Man. I don’t think, at that moment, in that situation, Bill understood the depth of what that task would involve. On March 23, 2014, he understands.

Maybe more important than that, Coach Self learned that he could handle the shit show that comes from housing these prima donna, one-and-done, constructs of the high school recruiting/365-day college basketball reporting complex. Along with Calipari and Krzyzewski, Bill was now in a different stratosphere of the college coaching ranks. For a coach who stresses loyalty, and commitment, and champions the family mentality within his team, so much so that “Family Over Everything” is his mantra, this is a strange dichotomy. And yet, amongst his team, amongst his booster base, amongst the sports media, and amongst his peers, the two seem to have married up just fine. And don’t fool yourself: in spite of the 1st weekend dismissal, that status is cemented for him.

But that’s not the lesson that Wiggs taught Self. That may, or may not, have been an exercise of self-understanding for Coach Self going into the process, but it seems that a whole different lesson unfolded before him. By hook or crook, the usual approach that Coach has used to shape these young men was not appropriate for this young phenom. Sure, the hopes of the Wiggins family were that Bill would impart the toughness upon young Andrew that he had done with so many of the program’s protégés before him. And Bill took up that mantle, right from the beginning. But this is not a normal kid. And the toughness, nee the manhood, that needed to be taught to young Andrew was not the only lesson that this student-athlete needed. Yes, more so than Brandon, than Josh Selby, than Xavier and CJ and Carl and Barbara, than Maclemore or Joel, Andrew was upper middle class suburban; entitled, but not dismissive, heralded, but not gratuitous, antsy, but not sheepish. In spite of the entire world of differences, this celebrity superstar was a very identifiable teenager to him, not unlike his own son Tyler, but completely different. This was going to be a test for Self that was unlike any other he’d had in coaching, and Wiggs celebrity status had very little to do with it.

For those who are familiar with Coach Self, and his Selfisms, it is common knowledge that the most insulting thing that he can call a player is “soft”. The nastiest of four letter words in the Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball program. He has, on many previous occasions, gotten the best out of his young and impressionable players by challenging their manhood. For many, this would be the reason that Wiggs chose Self, and this was going to be the lesson that Wiggs needed to learn to get to the next level. For a long time, Self himself believed this, and was unrelenting in this approach. But that’s not the nature of this athlete. The thing that makes him that terrific kid, even more terrific than his talent, and the thing that identifies him most of all, is his kindness and goodness as a young man. This temperament and approach were of no relation to the fictional construct of the celebrity hype machine, the character: Wiggins. Self came to learn that these attributes that distinguished Andrew Wiggins, the young student athlete, were inseparable from Wiggs, his sensational freshman small forward. Not only were they inseparable, they were noble and worthy. In a revolution of Self’s technique, he began to foster these character traits, to coddle and elevate the nature of the man, even in front of his teammates. In doing so, Andrew Wiggins got what he needed from Coach Self. He was assured of his security from the media onslaught, he learned how to be a man, both on the court and in the locker room, and, most importantly, he learned that it was ok to be himself: gracious, deferential, and accommodating, in spite of his otherworldly gifts. This is when Andrew flourished, down the stretch, posting games of 29 and 41 points against Texas and WVU. In spite of the hay that will be made about his 1-for-6 swan song versus Stanford, Wiggins got what he needed from Self.

In doing so, Coach Self learned the biggest lessons that he’s learned yet in coaching. That he can do it. He can shape his message to accommodate the needs of the athlete. No matter the need, no matter the level of athlete. He can make them better.

Prior to Andrew Wiggins, no basketball player that came to Kansas was bigger than Coach Bill Self. But Andrew was. That is a situation that Coach Self had never been in, and never had to respond to. In doing so, I believe that he has convinced himself that it is a situation that he can excel in. That is the situation present in nearly every NBA organization. And, if it has been as eye-opening as I think it has, I would imagine that the urge to test those waters is more prevalent than ever for Bill. He can take these young celebrities blessed with the gifts of gods, and make them better. There may be no better reward than that.

That is what Wiggs taught Bill.