No Surprise, Wiggins Named to NBA All-Rookie Team

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Just days after being named the 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year, it came as no surprise that former Kansas men’s basketball guard Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves was a unanimous selection for the 2014-15 NBA All-Rookie Team, the league announced May 18.
 
Wiggins, who was named the NBA Rookie of the Year on April 30, was the only NBA All-Rookie First Team member to be a unanimous selection from the 130 panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.
 
Historically, Wiggins becomes only the third Jayhawk to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Team, which started in 1962-63. KU’s Paul Pierce was a first-team selection in 1998-99 and Mario Chalmers was a second-team honoree in 2008-09.
 
Kansas’ second-ever No. 1 overall NBA Draft selection in 2014, with the other being Danny Manning in 1988, Wiggins was originally taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers and prior to the start of the season was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wiggins averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 39 minutes while playing all 82 games in 2014-15. He won the first four Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards to set the table for his NBA Rookie of the Year honor.
 
While at Kansas, Wiggins set the KU freshman single-season scoring record with 597 points in 2013-14, making him the second-straight Jayhawk to surpass Manning’s record-setting rookie mark in 1985. Former standout guard Ben McLemore broke Manning’s scoring record with 589 points in 2012-13 before being selected seventh overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, one of 18 draftees in the head coach Bill Self era at Kansas.
 
The 2014 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Freshman All-America and all-conference first team selection, Wiggins was his own highlight reel as a Jayhawk, including a half-court shot at Baylor (2/4), the game-winning basket at Texas Tech (2/18) and a KU freshman record 41 points at West Virginia (3/8).
 
On the defensive end, Wiggins led Kansas in steals with 41 and came in second to Joel Embiid on the team with 34 blocked shots. Gifted and athletic, the combo guard pulled down 5.9 rebounds per game as a Jayhawk.
 
Besides his 597 points, other Kansas freshman season records Wiggins set include: scoring average (17.1), field goals attempted (422), free throws made (176) and free throws attempted (227).
 
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