ST. LOUIS — The games between the three Wiggins brothers were full of trash talk and physical play. There were two constants: Andrew, the youngest of the three, never won, but he always came back for more.
“He never got upset,” middle brother Nick said. “He always wanted to play again.”
Andrew, 19, the dynamic and smooth 6-foot-7 Kansas freshman from Toronto who entered college with through-the-roof hype, and older brother Nick, a Wichita State reserve, will share college basketball’s big stage beginning Friday, the NCAA Tournament, after oldest brother Mitchell Jr. reached the NAIA Division II Final Four with Southeastern University in Florida. Now Andrew and Nick will have the opportunity to watch each other perform along with their proud parents at the Scottrade Center this weekend.
“For that family, it probably played out perfect for them,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
And it’s likely to last past Sunday. Wichita State, the top seed in the Midwest, is in the midst of a dream season, the first team to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated since UNLV in 1991. Kansas, meanwhile, is seeded second in the South with Andrew, the potential top pick in this June’s NBA Draft, leading the way.
“I never thought it would turn out this well,” Nick, a 23-year-old senior, said. “It’s great for me and my family.”
It began with Mitchell Wiggins, a star at Florida State and first-round NBA draft pick of the Pacers in 1993, and has continued with his three sons. Basketball is the family business.
“My dad definitely paved the way for us, and once we were born, we were given a basketball, and that’s all we knew,” Nick said.
The two look alike, but their personalities are as different as their games. Nick is like their dad, outgoing, talkative and a free spirit. Andrew is more like their mother, Marita Payne-Wiggins — on the quiet side, reserved and laid back.
“We definitely take after both our parents,” Andrew said.
That’s been one criticism of Andrew’s freshman year — he lacks a killer instinct despite his immense gifts. He’s starting to shed that tag, however, amping up his aggression with a strong finish to the year that saw him average a team-best 17.4 points per game in addition to 6.0 rebounds.
“It’s getting closer to crunch time and I’m trying to do the best I can do for my team,” Andrew said. “That’s what they want from me. That’s what they brought me to Kansas to do — score, bring energy, make plays.”
Andrew feels he is prepared for the Big Dance, with all the advice he has been given by the Kansas coaching staff, his teammates, and of course his older brother. Nick, after all, reached the Final Four with Wichita State last year, and has offered plenty of advice.
“I like when the stage gets bigger,” Andrew said. “My teammates, my brother, they told me if you keep winning it gets even better.”
Nick, who went the junior college route prior to landing at Wichita State, answered questions about his famous younger brother virtually the entire time the Shockers’ locker room was open. He didn’t mind. In fact, he helped Kansas land Andrew because of the close proximity between the schools and the tight bond the brothers have.
There is a chance they can face off for the first time, if both Kansas and Wichita State reach the national championship game. Andrew smiled when the possibility was suggested.
“We talked about it,” he said. “It would be interesting.”
“That would be amazing, something that the world wouldn’t want to miss, and it would make Canada very proud,” Nick added. “There’s trash talk when we play video games, so I know there would be trash talk if we play each other.”