The Silence of Andrew Wiggins

The packed gym in the southern Minnesota campus is especially loud tonight. The Minnesota Timberwolves are back at Minnesota State University, their usual destination for training camp, but this time with a new idea: Dunks After Dark—a college-style, Midnight Madness-inspired showcase of the new look Timberwolves. The packed house of college students is anxious to see some basketball. Well, at least some dunks.

As the Timberwolves make their way onto the Taylor Center floor, the crowd explodes. The opening three-man weave and its resulting dunks have people forgetting about Kevin Love, at least for a little while. The cheering is a predictably chaotic din of screams, oohs, and ahhs. But then, slowly, the cheers start to take form.

"ANDREW WIGGINS! ANDREW WIGGINS! ANDREW WIGGINS!"

Wiggins, Minnesota's centerpiece in the trade that sent Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers, is cautious about acknowledging the crowd. It takes teammate Nikola Pekovic raising Wiggins' arm in the air—as if he had just knocked out Joe Frazier—for Wiggins to finally crack a megawatt smile at the attention being foisted upon him.

That's a small glimpse into how Wiggins has managed expectations since arriving in Minnesota. It's obvious that his personality is bright, his mind sharp, and his outlook positive. But generally speaking, his mouth has been closed.

He was introduced at the Minnesota State Fair, then hit the media circus. He's been on Minnesota's local Fox Sports affiliate, several radio stations, and talked to nearly every writer in town. He's done Media Day. He's done post-practice media sessions. And throughout the whole process, Wiggins has managed to avoid saying much.

When asked if he felt like he matched up defensively with the Philadelphia 76ers, last Friday's preseason opponent, nobody was surprised by his answer.

"Yes."

Next question.

Wiggins is still a teenager, but has already spent years in the media spotlight as one of the most hyped prospects in basketball history. He came out of high school touted as a future number one pick. Then, in his one year at Kansas, he met all expectations as a second team All-American. Which is not to say that he is ready to be a superstar in the NBA.

"Once he learns to put the ball on the ground, learns what he can do and what he can't do. [Those] are going to be the big things for him," teammate Corey Brewer said during training camp. "He has a great game. But you can have game in the NBA and still deal with defenders and shot blockers. I think he'll be fine, though."

On the court, Brewer has been trying to instill some tricks he's learned along the way to try to speed up the learning curve that Wiggins will have to go through during his first October in the league.

Brewer had to learn the hard way. Back in 2007, Brewer was taken seventh overall by Minnesota. The 2007 season was the first since 1994 that the Timberwolves would play without longtime star Kevin Garnett.

Wiggins, who will spend his rookie year on the first Kevin Love-less Wolves team since Brewer's rookie year, will receive tutelage from Brewer, who said he didn't receive any type of mentorship during his original stint with the Timberwolves.

"You've got to encourage him, that's my man. That's the number one pick. The franchise," Brewer said. "He's not going to be the best player in the world right away, but he has the opportunity to get there."

In a way, Wiggins' mastery of his own athleticism mirrors what he does with the media. Everyone has seen the dunks, the leaps, and the alley oops, and while they're certainly worthy of the awe they receive, they are actually never more than humble attempts to put the ball in the hoop. Rarely do you see Wiggins, in-game, try to windmill or cock the ball back on the way up for a slam. Most of the time, athleticism alone gets him in the highlight reels, but it's usually all business.

Head Coach Flip Saunders, who was on the bench for the rookie seasons of both Kevin Garnett and John Wall, has seen the best and worst of some of the best and biggest high school phenoms of the past 20 years.

"He's going to have good games," Saunders said. "He's going to have bad games. But whether he plays bad or good, he'll have to go through the process of fundamental individual development."

Wiggins appears to have taken Saunders' message to heart thus far. Throughout training camp and the opening stages of the preseason, he has played well, but never outside of himself. To the pleasure of the coaching staff and his teammates, Wiggins has managed to keep an even keel on the court and play the role of student.

"Right now, I'm more learning than doing, and just letting the game come to me," Wiggins said. "Just trying to learn and figure out everything."

There aren't too many people with the ability to "figure out everything," much less at 19 years old. But Wiggins —already a Sports Illustrated cover boy, Second Team All-American, and number one overall pick—has a chance to do it, quietly.