23

Wayne Simien

Class: Senior Hometown: Leavenworth, Kan. High School: Leavenworth

Height / Weight: 6-9 / 255 Position: Forward Experience: 3L

Overview
A big, bruising power forward with an NBA body and big-time talent... A candidate for Player of the Year honors heading into his senior campaign after being listed as a finalist for the Naismith and Wooden Awards as a junior... Seems to be fully recovered from injuries suffered early in his career... Excels at getting position deep in the paint and has great touch around the basket... Shoots over 56 percent from the field for his career... Can hit the 15-foot jumper on a consistent basis... A great interior passer -- especially in a high-low set... Hits the boards with ferocity at both ends of the floor... A solid post defender... Able to consistently get to the charity stripe... A solid free throw shooter, Simien drastically improved his percentage at the line from 67.6 percent as a sophomore to 81.1 percent as a junior.

Junior Season (2003-04)
Named Associated Press Third Team All-American... Earned USBWA All-District 6... A First Team All-Big 12 selection... A two-time Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 2, Feb. 8)... A Naismith Award Finalist... A Wooden Award Finalist... An NABC All-District 12 First Team honoree... Named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50... Picked Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 by the media and league coaches... Picked up four awards at the team postseason banquet including the Dutch Lonborg Free Throw Percentage Award, the Bill Bridges Rebounding Award, the James Naismith Captains Award and the Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen Most Valuable Player Award... Played in 32 games with 31 starting assignments... Posted team-best averages of 17.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game... Led the team in free throw percentage (81.1 percent), field goals made (200), free throws made (167), free throws attempted (206), offensive rebounds (98) and defensive rebounds (199)... His 569 total points rank 23rd on KU's all-time single season list... Led KU in scoring in 16 games and in rebounding on 25 occasions... Posted 11 double-doubles... Collected 10 or more rebounds in 12 contests... Scored 20 or more points on 14 occasions... Dunked the ball 33 times... Shot 9-of-12 from the field, including a three-pointer, and a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe for 28 points to go with eight rebounds versus Michigan State on Nov. 25... Sat out the Fort Hays State game on Dec. 10 with an injury only to return the next game to contribute 19 points and 14 rebounds for his first double-double of the season versus Oregon in the Feist Shootout on Dec. 13... Snared 16 rebounds and added 15 points the next game versus UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 20... Pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds to go with 22 points versus Texas Tech on Feb. 7... Lit up Iowa State for 20 points, 14 boards and a season-best four blocked shots before fouling out on Feb. 21... Exploded for a career-high 31 points on 12-of-14 shooting versus Missouri on March 12 to open the Big 12 Tournament... Sank 18-of-20 free throws on his way to 30 points versus UAB on March 26 -- the 18 free throws tied for second most free throws by a Jayhawk in school history (Wilt Chamberlain, Feb. 8, 1958).

Sophomore Season (2002-03)
Named to the Preseason NIT All-Tournament Team... Earned the Dick Harp Field Goal Percentage Award at the team's annual postseason awards ceremony... Played in 16 games -- missed 22 contests due to a dislocated right shoulder suffered on Jan. 4 against UMKC... Sat out 11 games after the initial injury, then returned for four games in late February before deciding to sit out the remainder of the season to have surgery... Averaged 14.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game (second on the team) in 24.4 minutes of action... Shot a team-high 64.6 percent from the field... Hit 67.6 percent of his free throws... Tallied 15 blocks... Posted seven double-doubles and led the team in rebounding eight times... Posted 18 points and 10 rebounds against UNC Greensboro on Nov. 22... Had 22 points (on 10-of-11 shooting) to go with 10 rebounds against Central Missouri State on Dec. 4... Racked up a career-high 23 points -- on an impressive 10-for-11 shooting from the floor -- to go with nine rebounds on Dec. 14 against Emporia State... Posted back-to-back double-doubles against UCLA and California on Dec. 21 and 28, respectively, putting up 19 points and 10 boards against the Bruins and 17 points and 11 rebounds versus the Golden Bears... Simien's most memorable performance of the year came on Feb. 19 at home against Colorado, as he scored 21 points to go with a career-high 13 rebounds while playing through intense shoulder pain in a 94-87 KU win in Allen Fieldhouse.

Freshman Season (2001-02)
Named to the Big 12 All-Reserve Team... Played in 32 of KU's 37 games, as he missed the Jayhawks' first five contests after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in November... Averaged 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes of action... Shot 55.3 percent from the floor and 73.8 percent from the line... Tallied 27 blocks -- tying for fifth place on KU's single-season freshman rejections list... Also garnered 20 steals... Was Kansas' first player off the bench 23 times -- tying for the team lead... Posted four double-doubles on the year -- all while playing less than 20 minutes in each contest... Led Kansas in rebounds on two occasions... Made quite an impression in his KU debut, as he posted a double-double -- 10 points and a then-career-high 11 rebounds -- against No. 23 Wake Forest on Dec. 4... Tallied 12 points and 10 boards against Nebraska on Jan. 9... Scored a then-career-high 17 points to go with 10 rebounds at Texas on Feb. 11... Had 15 points and six boards against Iowa State on Feb. 18... Tallied 10 points -- including going 8-for-8 from the line -- against K-State on Feb. 27... Also recorded a career-high four blocks in that game... Opened the Big 12 Tournament with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Colorado on March 8... Played a season-high 24 minutes against No. 13 Illinois in the NCAA Sweet 16 on March 22.

High School
Leavenworth High School (2001)... Coached by Larry Hogan... Named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Kansas his senior season... A McDonald's High School All-American... Tabbed Mr. Basketball in Kansas in 2001... The Scholastic Sports America Kansas Athlete of the Year as a senior... The 2001 KC Basketball Coaches Association, Metro Sports and Kansas City Star Player of the Year... Sunflower League Player of the Year his senior campaign... Poured in 19.3 points to go with 10.0 rebounds per game as a senior... Led the Pioneers to a 17-4 record his senior season -- tying for the Sunflower League title... A consensus first-team All-State selection... Earned the prestigious DiRenna Award for top player in Kansas City as a senior after being the runner-up for the award as a junior... Averaged 16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game as a junior en route to leading the Pioneers to a 23-2 record, the Sunflower League crown and the class 6A state championship... A four-year honor roll student and academic All-American... Listed as the 15th-best prep power forward prospect in the nation by ESPN.com.

Off The Court
A native of nearby Leavenworth, Kan., Simien started attending KU basketball camp when he was in seventh grade... As a Kansas native, Simien said coming to KU was a "life-long dream" prior to his freshman season... Nickname is "Big Dub"... Other notable Kansas players to wear No. 23 include Rex Walters, Archie Marshall and B.H. Born.

Career Honors
2004: AP Third Team All-American... USBWA All-District 6... First Team All-Big 12... Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 2, Feb. 8)... Naismith Award Finalist... Wooden Award Finalist... NABC All-District 12 First Team... Wooden Award Preseason Top 50... Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Media)... Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)... Dutch Lonborg Free Throw Percentage Award... Bill Bridges Redbounding Award...James Naismith Captain Award... Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen Most Valuable Player Award. 2003: Preseason NIT All-Tournament Team... Dick Harp Field Goal Percentage Award. 2002: Big 12 All-Reserve Team.