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Volume 128 Issue 121
kansan.com
Thursday, May 7, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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FACE OF THE STREAK
And the winner is...
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
Junior guard Sherron Collins raises his arms in celebration during a game in Allen Fieldhouse. Collins was named the #FaceOfTheStreak champion over his teammate Mario Chalmers.
Sherron Collins named the #FaceOfTheStreak Champion
SHANE JACKSON
@jacksonshane3
The time has finally come. The day you have all been waiting for.
Since March 30, the Kansan has been doing a competition based off fan voting to determine who has been the Face of the Streak. Starting from a pool of 32 players, every day a new individual matchup was released, with the readers having the chance to vote for their favorite.
The official winner of the Face of the Streak competition is former guard Sherron Collins.
Many players have come and gone, for the past 11 years, but one thing has remained the same: Kansas being named Big 12 regular season champs.
During this impressive stretch, Bill Self has had plenty of talented players. Currently,
Mario Chalmers has had the most successful professional career. Andrew Wiggins may surpass him when it's all said and done. Self even claimed Wayne Simien was the best player he has ever coached.
But this competition was not to figure who will have the most luxurious NBA career, or who was the most talented player. This competition was to identify who the fans believe is considered the symbol of the streak.
Much similar to the way Collins bullied his way through Big 12 defenses, he plowed through the bracket all the way to the finals. In round one against current guard Wayne Selden Jr., Collins received 91 percent of the votes.
In his second matchup, Collins was on the winning side of a lopsided matchup against Bern McLemore, receiving 61
Both the second and third matchup was much closer than Collins' Final Four matchup. Facing another one-and-done in Andrew Wiggins, Collins racked up 74 percent of the votes.
percent of the votes. That trend continued into the Elite 8, when 62.9 percent of fans voted Collins over Brandon Rush.
Even in the Championship, Collins avoided a close contest. Collins' 57 percent of the votes in the final matchup, against his former teammate Mario Chalmers.
Due to his game-tying three in the 2008 National Championship, Chalmers was an early favorite to win the competition. Unlike Collins, Chalmers had a contested path to the title game, having to knock off Thomas Robinson.
At the end of the day,the fans' voices have been heard.In an
era where college basketball has been dominated by one-and-done players, a player like Collins who stayed all four years are the exception rather than the norm.
In his four-year career, Collins averaged 13.2 points per contest, putting on the Kansas jersey in 143 collegiate games. He finished with fifth-most points in Kansas history, with 1,888 points accumulated throughout his career.
He ended his career as the winningest Jayhawk of all-time, before Tyrel Reed dethroned him.
Kansas fans have seen plenty of players come and go through the past 11 years, but only one has the impact on the fans that Collins has had.
That's why it's Sherron Collins cutting down the nets in the Face of the Streak.
-Edited by Andrew Collins
Highlights from the bracket
DEREK SKILLETT
@derek_skillett
Over the past seven weeks, Kansas basketball fans have been voting on who should be considered the best player of Bill Self's 12-year career as head coach of the layhawks, which includes a still-active streak of 11 consecutive Big 12 conference championships.
At long last, a winner was declared Wednesday. Sherron Collins, a superstar point guard, who led the Jayhawks from 2006-10, knocked out former teammate Mario Chalmers in the championship round.
BEST MATCHUP
BIGGEST UPSET
The #FaceOfTheStreak bracket matchups were certainly eventful. One of the best matches came when forward Thomas Robinson matched up with Chalmers in the Elite Eight. Two of the most beloved Jayhawks of all time, Robinson and Chalmers went back and forth before Chalmers ultimately won by a final margin of 55.6 percent in favor of Chalmers to 44.4 percent in favor of Robinson.
TOUGHEST PATH
One of the biggest upsets in the bracket came when Wayne Simien knocked out Jeff Withey in the Elite Eight. Simien, who averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds and one assist during his two-year Kansas career, defeated Withey, Kansas' all-time leading shot-blocker, by 35.2 total percentage points.
Robinson had perhaps the toughest route to the Final Four, having to face Sasha Kaun, Russell Robinson and Chalmers. Chalmers eventually defeated Robinson in their Elite Eight matchup to advance to the Final Four.
EASTIEST PATH
Interestingly enough, Andrew Wiggins, Kansas' record-setting freshman, had the easiest path to the Final Four, only having to take down Josh Selby, Darnell Jackson and Tyshawn Taylor before Collins eliminated him from the bracket.
BEST NBA CAREER
Two of Self's brightest NBA stars made it to the Final Four. Chalmers, who was drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Timberwolves, has enjoyed great team success in the NBA as a member of the Miami Heat, a team he joined in 2011.
As a member of the Heat, Chalmers won two NBA titles, although mainly with the help of LeBron James. Over the course of his pro career, Chalmers has averaged 8.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals.
Although he only joined the NBA in 2014, Wiggins may very easily become the biggest star that Self has produced. Wiggins won NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his first year. He was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but ended up on the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade involving forward Kevin Love. The best is yet to come for Wiggins, as he can only get better.
The Self era has seen Kansas basketball reach unprecedented levels of success. The Jayhawks have been one of the most consistently great basketball programs over the past 11 years. Even though Self is a big reason why that is possible, the players he has coached have been a major reason why Kansas possesses one of the most impressive streaks in modern sports.
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Edited by Andrew Collins
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