Wayne Simien is a character coach with the Kansas Jayhawks. He played his college ball with KU, where he was a consensus All-America selection and Big 12 Player of the Year in 2005. His success in college led him to become a first-round selection in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat (29th overall).
Simien played two seasons with the Heat, and earned an NBA championship ring his rookie season as Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal helped Miami to its first-ever championship in the 2006 NBA Finals. In October 2007, Simien was traded to Minnesota but never played another game in the NBA. He played a few more years overseas before retiring in May 2009 at the age of 26 to pursue ministry work.
Today he is serving with Kansas as their AD of Engagement and Outreach and his number 23 is retired at Allen Fieldhouse.
On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Simien about his new role with Kansas, growing up a Jayhawks fan, why he considers his work as ministry and lessons learned from Roy Williams, Bill Self and Pat Riley.
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