Heading into the 2014-15 season, Kansas Jayhawks’ sophomore guard, Wayne Selden Jr., was among many second-year players expected to break out and potentially enter the realm of college stardom. Selden would no longer be in the shadow of Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid as a sophomore, which would seemingly enable him to become the go-to guy on the perimeter and start to showcase why he was one of the top recruits in an absolutely loaded class in 2013.
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Well, this expected breakout season hasn’t quite gotten off to the auspicious start Selden could have hoped for. In the Jayhawks’ first nine games of the season, Selden has averaged only 9.1 points on 8.8 field goal attempts per game. These aren’t necessarily horrible numbers, but when you consider he’s decreased from his scoring output of 9.7 points as a freshman, while taking 0.9 more shots on average per game, it speaks to the lack of development on the offensive end.
Up to this point, Selden has shot a combined 27-for-79 from the field, which equals out to a horrid shooting percentage of .342. Selden has had only one game this season that was actually impressive, which was his 21-point outing in a comeback effort at home against Florida, in which he knocked down 9-of-15 field goals.
But outside of that solid performance, he’s scored no more than 12 points and has failed to reach double figures in scoring in five of the Jayhawks games so far, which is more than half. This also includes their early-season matchup with Rider, where Selden clocked 28 minutes and failed to register a single point. There’s also his five-point performance after an 0-for-10 shooting night against Michigan State, although Kansas still managed to hang on for a 61-56 win.
Luckily for head coach Bill Self, these offensive woes from his sophomore guard haven’t had too much of a negative effect, with the only Jayhawks’ loss coming at the hands of Kentucky’s platoon system, which was a blowout from beginning to end.
But Kansas has only four games left between them and the dreaded Big 12 Conference schedule, where they will have to meet the likes of No. 9 Texas, No. 13 Iowa State, No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 24 West Virginia twice each. This also includes an undefeated TCU squad, along with Oklahoma State and Baylor, who both have only one loss and will be looking to make some serious noise as the season progresses.
With the schedule soon getting much, much more difficult, the mediocrity that has become Selden’s offensive output will become a major issue that will likely result in a few extra losses when they face off with teams that can match, or even surpass their talent level on the court. Additionally, when you look at the competition he’s seen against teams like Rider, Rhode Island and UC Santa Barbara and see that he was only able to contribute 6.3 points per against some very underwhelming opponents, it gives plenty of reason to worry about his impact when Kansas enters into a conference schedule where their opponents are a combined 76-12 to this point.
Maybe Selden will rise to the occasion when the stakes are raised and the games matter more each night, but only time will tell on that front. For now, we can agree that Selden has been a very middle-of-the-pack player in some significant minutes and seemingly hasn’t added that aggressive motor he lacked last season, just as we can agree that there’s some clear issues with Selden’s game. You can credit off shooting nights, bad shot attempts, stingy defense, or all of the above, which makes more sense. But for now, it’s certainly time for Selden to improve as an offensive weapon, or simply quit being the guy taking the second most shots on the team.