National Basketball Association

Coach Self can't 'produce' NBA stars at KU? You must be joking

Published May. 19, 2015 4:31 p.m. ET

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The pingpong balls go up in a few hours, as the cynics' Super Bowl -- the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery, a celebration of the hopeless, a dais for the pathetic, the reality dating game that pairs winners with losers -- gets underway tonight. Hallelujah.

While this spring's circus lacks the local star power of a year ago, when Kansas Jayhawks Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid jostled for pole position as the No. 1 pick (Wiggins won, and was taken No. 1 overall by Cleveland, a chip the Cavaliers then turned around and swapped to Minnesota for Kevin Love), at least one of the evening's usual suspects (you again, Sacramento?) is probably going to latch onto KU's latest one-and-done sensation, wing guard Kelly Oubre.

DraftExpress.com projects the ex-Jayhawk to get plucked by Miami with the No. 10 pick; NBADraft.net went with No. 15 overall, to Atlanta. So though he's on the fringe, odds are good Oubre becomes the 11th Kansas player under Self to go in the NBA Lottery -- as in, picks 1-14 -- over the last 12 years.

So while we're up, it's time, past time, to officially put one of the Big 12's favorite urban myths -- that whole "Bill Self doesn't produce quality NBA players" bit -- to bed for good. Don'tcha think?

Exhibit A: Wiggins. As expected, Air Canada/Maple Jordan is doing more for KU basketball as a pro than he ever did in Lawrence. After averaging 16.9 points as the silver lining around another giant cloud of a Timberwolves season, the 6-foot-8 Canadian skywalker was tapped Rookie of the Year -- the first former Jayhawk to nab the award since some guy named Wilt Chamberlain in 1960. Metrics and scouts are still a bit torn as to just how high Wiggins' professional ceiling actually is, but this much isn't in doubt: The kid probably has the hops to reach it.

Exhibit B: Self has coached four of the NBA's top 105 qualified scorers this past season (that's one in every 26), including ex-Illinois great Deron Williams.

Exhibit C: Of the 18 players 22 years old or younger to average 12 points or more per contest, Self coached two at KU in Wiggins and Kings wing man Ben McLemore (12.1).

Lookin' good! Check out our gallery of NCAA hoops cheerleaders.

And while it lacks the volume of Calipari's Kentucky sign-'em-and-spit-'em-out machine or the pedigree of NBA Duke alums, former Self prodigies are having, collectively, something of an NBA renaissance at the moment.

In Self's 12th season in Lawrence, five different Jayhawks to play under him -- that's a new bar -- averaged 10 points or more in the NBA in 2014-15: Wiggins, Markieff Morris (15.3), McLemore, Marcus Morris (10.4) and Mario Chalmers (10.2). The previous high-water mark for former Self KU players to average double digits in a campaign was two, set last year when Markieff Morris poured in 13.8 points per game for Phoenix and Xavier Henry averaged 10.0 for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Point of comparison: During Roy Williams' 12th season with KU, in the winter of 1999-00, only two Roy KU products were averaging double digits in the pros: Paul Pierce (19.5) and Raef LaFrentz (12.4). Interesting.

So: Wiggins and McLemore now, Oubre, potentially, in the near future, and possibly Cheick Diallo or Carlton Bragg after that. The last two March flameouts sting and, no question, there have been plenty of better times to be a KU fan. But there might not be a better time to be a KU player in the NBA -- or a follower of KU players in the pros -- than right here, right now.

You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.

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