Former Miami Heat and University of Kansas basketball player Wayne Simien has witnessed greatness.
The 6-foot-9 power forward worked under the tutelage of North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and KU head coach Bill Self while playing four years for the Jayhawks.
He was a rookie with the Heat when they won the 2006 NBA Finals, playing for Pat Riley along with the likes of Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal, who between have a combined six NBA Finals championships and four NBA Finals MVP awards.
“I’m so thankful to be able to play with some amazing teammates and two amazing coaches in Coach Williams and Coach Self,” Simien said. “It was a great experience to be able to be in the locker room with guys I grew up watching like Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, and then to be able to play with rising superstars like Dwyane Wade. To be able to play for another Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley, it was just a dream come true.
“To be able to go all the way and win a championship my rookie year was awesome and, of course, I was cheering for them again this year as they took on the Thunder in the championship series as well.”
Now Simien, who has spent the last few years of his life devoting himself to his ministry Called to Greatness, will be enshrined in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in an induction ceremony on Oct. 7 in Wichita.
“I was honored thinking about some of the incredible athletes that are in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, guys like Barry Sanders, Darnell Valentine, just a host of other great athletes,” Simien said. “To be considered in that class of athletes is a great honor.”
Simien started his career in Leavenworth, where he learned to play basketball from his father.
“My favorite coach of my entire career was probably my dad, Wayne Sr.,” Simien said. “He was the one who first put the basketball in my hands, and basically my love for basketball came from my love of spending time with my dad.
“Then being able to see his work ethic providing for my family and my brothers and my sisters, and that was something that I wanted to emulate. I did it on the basketball court. He didn’t coach me just on the basketball court, but in other areas of my life as well.”
Simien said it was always his plan to play for Kansas.
“I grew up a Kansas kid just a few miles down the road from KU,” Simien said. “I watched them and cheered for them my whole life. What kid doesn’t want to go to Kansas and play basketball? So that was something that I was always working for.”
While playing with the Jayhawks, Simien won three Big 12 Conference championships. He also competed in four NCAA Tournaments, including two Final Four appearances.
Simien is the 12th leading scorer in Kansas history with 1,593 points, and his jersey No. 23 was retired at KU in 2011.
He was the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year in his senior year before he was drafted by the Heat in 2005 as the 29th overall pick.
“To have three Big 12 championships, go to the tournament every year, two Final Fours and an Elite Eight appearance, not every collegiate player has the opportunity to say that,” Simien said. “I’m so thankful for that opportunity.”
Simien played in 51 games in the NBA, all with the Heat. A salmonella infection cost him part of his second year in the NBA, playing eight games in that season.
Simien was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007 and was released.
In 51 games, averaging 9.9 minutes per game, he scored 169 points and grabbed 99 rebounds. He was a 85.4 percent free-throw shooter in the NBA.
After a year, he began competing in Spain with Caceres Ciudad del Baloncesto.
“It was an incredible experience,” Simien said of his time abroad. “My wife (Katie), whose father was in the Navy, she grew up there, so it was nice to go back there and take our family on a little adventure to kind of relive that part of her life. One of our children was born there.
“The basketball league I was in over there was very competitive. I really enjoyed that. It was a great experience being able to play abroad and enjoy that time.”
Now, Simien is retired from professional basketball and is working with Called to Greatness as the organization’s KU campus minister. He also helps run the ministry’s athletic camps.
“I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to go there and play there,” Simien said of Kansas. “Now it’s great to be able to work with other Kansas kids to help them reach their basketball dreams.”