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KU's Wayne Selden expecting more bounce following offseason knee surgery

Guard still stung by KU's NCAA loss to Stanford

Jesse Newell
Kids stand in line to get an autograph from Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. at the Bob Chipman Basketball Camp Wednesday afternoon at Lee Arena.

Wayne Selden says there was one main reason he chose to return to Kansas for his sophomore season.

“Unfinished business,” Selden said Wednesday during a break at Washburn coach Bob Chipman’s youth camp at Lee Arena. “It’s as simple as that.”

Though Selden, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound guard, was listed in some early mock drafts as a potential first-round pick, he made the decision to come back to school quickly, tweeting it out just two days after KU fell to Stanford in the round of 32.

“I didn’t even really think about it,” Selden said. “I knew losing that early in the tournament isn’t what Kansas basketball is all about. I can’t go out on that.”

If there’s a reason for optimism with Selden, it's the fact that he’ll start out the season healthier than he was a year ago.

The Roxbury, Mass., native dealt with a left knee injury throughout most of his freshman campaign. Though he played through it, the ailment required arthroscopic surgery in the offseason.

“You can’t really make excuses, because I’ve been playing with my knee like that for three, four years now,” Selden said. “So it became normal, and I didn’t really realize it.”

Selden has worked to rehab the knee over the summer and is still getting treatment for it.

“It’s feeling pretty good,” Selden said. “I don’t think I’m still fully 100 percent, but I feel like I’m getting really close to being there.”

Selden showed off his athleticism during Wednesday’s camp, trying a variety of alley-oops to himself while also throwing one down after going between his legs.

He said the extra hops had him “feeling almost like high school, like I was 16, 17 again.”

Selden thinks the increased explosiveness will help his confidence.

“This season, I didn’t really show much athleticism,” Selden said. “I feel like this season upcoming, I could be more athletic on defense and on offense.”

Working Wednesday’s camp is just the start of a busy summer. On most days, Selden will be going to two sessions of tutoring while working on his online class, shooting on his own in the morning and participating in team workouts during the afternoon.

Selden, who averaged 9.7 points and 2.6 rebounds a year ago, says he feels a certain comfort heading into Year 2.

“I’m not going in blind any more,” Selden said. “So I know what to expect. I know what I have to work on. I know I have to improve my ball handling, improve my rebounding, improve my free-throw shooting, improve my shooting.

“It’s all-around game. I’ve just got to get to that next level.”

Selden already has been impressed by the pair of freshmen who are on KU’s campus: point guard Devonte’ Graham and wing Kelly Oubre.

“I didn’t know Kelly was that good of a shooter,” Selden said, “and I didn’t know Devonte’ played that good of defense and had a good handle on the ball as he does.”

The early impression has only added to Selden’s excitement for the season, especially because he already knows the talent KU returns from last season.

“As a team, even though we lost (to Stanford), we have so much more room to grow,” Selden said. “And I want to be able to grow with the whole team.”