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Volume 126 Issue 105
kansan.com
Thursday, April 10, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
COMMENTARY
MIKE VERNON
sports@kansan.com
Joel Embiid walked out of Jayhawk Towers at 1:31 p.m. as an amateur athlete. His black Kansas polo, sandals and multi-colored socks wouldn't be on for much longer. He briefly waited to cross the street at Irving Hill Road and took a long look at the Burge Union as he walked into its parking lot.
None of his fellow students bothered him.
He was alone.
As he approached the Wagnon Athletic Center to enter Allen Fieldhouse, Embiid sang along with music playing out of his phone. His arms swung back and forth.
Soon Embid traipsed down a few stairs and through the entrance, swapped out his black polo for a blue Kansas shirt, ditched his sandals for black-and-white Adidas sneakers and did what many figured inevitable following his incredible freshman season: declared for the NBA Draft. He walked out of his dorm a 20-year-old kid and returned a millionaire.
wiggins' declaration was a date that could've been marked on calendars before the season started. Embiid's seemed destined for 2015 or beyond. All of this — the press conference, the talk of being the No.1 overall pick, the anticipation of his decision would have shocked anybody, even Embiid, half a year ago.
Which made his ascent to the top of draft boards so much fun. Embiid arrived in Lawrence a 7-foot project with crazy highlight videos and a shadow. Two other freshmen, Wiggins and Wayne Selden Jr., were to be the one-and-done players. Embiid was to develop.
One week earlier Andrew Wiggins declared in the same room. This was different. Embiid has lived in the United States for only four years. He recently tweeted about learning how to drive. He isn't just new to basketball. He's new to the culture that demands its phenoms succeed immediately and the requisite pressure therein.
And develop he did. During the Jayhawks preseason media day in October, Embiid wowed the media by casually shooting jump shots and 3-pointers. A month later, with his father in attendance from Cameroon, Embiid scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against lona — off the bench.
"Under almost all circumstances, this would be the obvious move to make," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He's still so young in the sport."
"We talked about (jeff) Withey improving and Cole Aldrich improving," Self said. "Ain't nobody improved more than this kid."
Don't you remember? It wasn't that long ago Embiid didn't even start for Kansas. He was too young. He didn't have enough experience. He needed more time.
Then there was the 67-61 Florida loss, his first start. In the next game against New Mexico, the inevitable became visible. Embild's dream to be great shook the Jayhawks past the Lobos, scoring 18 points. He dropped 17 on Georgetown a week later.
"He showed off a little bit against New Mexico and Georgetown," Self said. "We knew he'd be really, really good, but we didn't know how long it would take for him to be really, really good."
Soon there would be the draft talk and the goggles, the pumped-up double-pistol firing and the urban legend that he once killed a lion. Like Embiid, it seemed too great of a story to be true. Only he was. The biggest thrill in a disappointing season unquestionably was Embiid's evolution in such little time. Projects are supposed to take more than a few months, and Embiid couldn't fully grasp how in many scouts' eyes he surpassed even Wiggins on their draft boards.
"During the season," he said, "I really didn't think about it."
When Embiid committed, Jayhawker Towers was expected to be his multi-year home. When he walked out of his dorm at 1:31 p.m. on Wednesday, he knew there was no turning back.
rie'll no longer take that three-minute walk from his dorm to Allen Fieldhouse, strolling slowly across the Burge Union parking lot singing to himself and swinging his arms.
This walk was different. It was the path Joel Embiid took from Kansas Jayhawk to NBA lottery pick. The entrance at Wagonnah has two doors. The one through which Embiid strode is like a speakeasy — there for in-the-know student-athletes. Above the second one hangs a sign. It says: VISITORS ONLY.
MILLION DOLLAR WALK
- Edited by Blair Sheade