Wayne Simien still likes to head down to storied Phog Allen Fieldhouse on the University of Kansas campus for a little shootaround every once in a while with the Jayhawks.
"I might shoot around or beat a couple of the KU guys in H-O-R-S-E or something like that," Simien, a former KU basketball All-American, said in a telephone interview Wednesday morning. "As far as getting up and down the court and playing, I really don't have the desire to do that. I am able to stay close to the game with my camps and things like that."
Simien has a higher calling these days, though, far removed from hardwood and the defeaning roar of a packed house of basketball crazies. Simien has turned his life to God, becoming a full-time minister in Lawrence.
"The church that we are closely associated with is the Morningstar Church here in Lawrence," Simien said. "I started a sports ministry named 'Called to Greatness.' I find myself traveling around different churches all over the country speaking and I'm also a minister at the University of Kansas (a KU team chaplain) and it's really been exciting."
Simien, the 2001 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and a McDonald's All-American, out of Leavenworth High School, was on former Kansas coach Roy Williams' radar long before those aforementioned accolades. Williams, who left Kansas for North Carolina prior to Simien's senior year at KU, started courting him to play for the Jayhawks when Simien was in the eighth grade.
After a glittering prep career, which included a Class 6A state championship his junior year at Leavenworth, Simien went on to become an NCAA All-American his junior and senior campaigns for the Jayhawks — a third-team pick as a junior and a first-team selection as a senior by The Associated Press.
"My experiences at KU were great," Simien said. "First of all, just growing up as a fan of the program, when I was in grade school. I was going to the KU camps all of my life. I was awarded a scholarship to go there, and it was great. We had two Final Fours and three Big 12 championships and then the individual success of being a two-time All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year just really exceeded my expectiatons.
"Being a small-town Kansas kid and becoming a first-round draft pick was obviously a dream-come-true. Being able to play for great coaches in Roy Williams and Bill Self (at KU) and then the next thing you know, I'm playing for Stan Van Gundy and Pat Riley with the Miami Heat."
Simien, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound power forward, was a first-round NBA draft pick in 2005, the 29th overall selection by the Heat. He was a member of their 2005-06 NBA championship team, featuring Shaquille O'Neal and Dwayne Wade.
"I would look across the locker room and see Shaquille O'Neal, Dwayne Wade and Gary Payton, guys that I grew up watching as a kid," Simien said. "That experience was great, and to be able win the NBA's world championship in 2006 was unreal."
Simien played in 43 games with Miami during its title run, but did not participate in the Heat's 2006 Summer League program because of a salmonella infection. He played in only eight games in his second NBA season (2006-07).
Early in the 2007-08 campaign, on Oct. 24, 2007, the Heat traded Simien, Antoine Walker and Michael Doleac to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. However, on Oct. 29, 2007, Simien was waived by Timberwolves in order to keep their roster at the 15-player limit.
In 2008, Simien had a Summer League invitation by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but did not play because of a hamstring injury. He later received a training camp invitation from the Atlanta Hawks, which was subsequently withdrawn.
In October of that year, Simien went overseas to play for Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto in Spain for one season (2008-09). He decided to retire from professional basketball on May 5, 2009, to pursue work in ministry.
"It was a fantastic experience," Simien said. "My wife Katie (whom he married on July 8, 2006) actually lived in the part of Spain that we were in for several years as a child while her father was in the navy.
"We enjoyed living in a new culture and had our second daughter over there, so it was a fantastic experience to play the game I love in a different country."
It also was a time when Simien decided to go in a different direction professionally.
"I had a good season over there (in Spain)," Simien said. "I just didn't have the desire to play basketball anymore. I enjoyed playing and I enjoyed the atmosphere and the culture over there, but I wanted to be involved some other things and really, my passion had been drawn to the full-time ministry.
"That's why I chose to retire. It wasn't an injury and it wasn't that I couldn't play anymore. I just didn't have the desire to."
Other than those shootarounds and games of H-O-R-S-E at Allen Fieldhouse, Simien says he doesn't have the itch to return to the game he loves so much. Not even March Madness can give Simien a basketball jones.
"No, not at all," Simien said. "There's no ifs to play and no regrets or fear of coming out of retirement five times like Brett Favre.
“I enjoyed my time and my career on the court in high school, in college and professionally, but I'm really excited to be doing what I'm doing now. Actually, I'm more excited than when I was playing at that time, so I don't have any regrets because every time I stepped on the court, I gave it my all."
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Wayne Simien still likes to head down to storied Phog Allen Fieldhouse on the University of Kansas campus for a little shootaround every once in a while with the Jayhawks.
"I might shoot around or beat a couple of the KU guys in H-O-R-S-E or something like that," Simien, a former KU basketball All-American, said in a telephone interview Wednesday morning. "As far as getting up and down the court and playing, I really don't have the desire to do that. I am able to stay close to the game with my camps and things like that."
Simien has a higher calling these days, though, far removed from hardwood and the defeaning roar of a packed house of basketball crazies. Simien has turned his life to God, becoming a full-time minister in Lawrence.
"The church that we are closely associated with is the Morningstar Church here in Lawrence," Simien said. "I started a sports ministry named 'Called to Greatness.' I find myself traveling around different churches all over the country speaking and I'm also a minister at the University of Kansas (a KU team chaplain) and it's really been exciting."
Simien, the 2001 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and a McDonald's All-American, out of Leavenworth High School, was on former Kansas coach Roy Williams' radar long before those aforementioned accolades. Williams, who left Kansas for North Carolina prior to Simien's senior year at KU, started courting him to play for the Jayhawks when Simien was in the eighth grade.
After a glittering prep career, which included a Class 6A state championship his junior year at Leavenworth, Simien went on to become an NCAA All-American his junior and senior campaigns for the Jayhawks — a third-team pick as a junior and a first-team selection as a senior by The Associated Press.
"My experiences at KU were great," Simien said. "First of all, just growing up as a fan of the program, when I was in grade school. I was going to the KU camps all of my life. I was awarded a scholarship to go there, and it was great. We had two Final Fours and three Big 12 championships and then the individual success of being a two-time All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year just really exceeded my expectiatons.
"Being a small-town Kansas kid and becoming a first-round draft pick was obviously a dream-come-true. Being able to play for great coaches in Roy Williams and Bill Self (at KU) and then the next thing you know, I'm playing for Stan Van Gundy and Pat Riley with the Miami Heat."
Simien, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound power forward, was a first-round NBA draft pick in 2005, the 29th overall selection by the Heat. He was a member of their 2005-06 NBA championship team, featuring Shaquille O'Neal and Dwayne Wade.
"I would look across the locker room and see Shaquille O'Neal, Dwayne Wade and Gary Payton, guys that I grew up watching as a kid," Simien said. "That experience was great, and to be able win the NBA's world championship in 2006 was unreal."
Simien played in 43 games with Miami during its title run, but did not participate in the Heat's 2006 Summer League program because of a salmonella infection. He played in only eight games in his second NBA season (2006-07).
Early in the 2007-08 campaign, on Oct. 24, 2007, the Heat traded Simien, Antoine Walker and Michael Doleac to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. However, on Oct. 29, 2007, Simien was waived by Timberwolves in order to keep their roster at the 15-player limit.
In 2008, Simien had a Summer League invitation by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but did not play because of a hamstring injury. He later received a training camp invitation from the Atlanta Hawks, which was subsequently withdrawn.
In October of that year, Simien went overseas to play for Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto in Spain for one season (2008-09). He decided to retire from professional basketball on May 5, 2009, to pursue work in ministry.
"It was a fantastic experience," Simien said. "My wife Katie (whom he married on July 8, 2006) actually lived in the part of Spain that we were in for several years as a child while her father was in the navy.
"We enjoyed living in a new culture and had our second daughter over there, so it was a fantastic experience to play the game I love in a different country."
It also was a time when Simien decided to go in a different direction professionally.
"I had a good season over there (in Spain)," Simien said. "I just didn't have the desire to play basketball anymore. I enjoyed playing and I enjoyed the atmosphere and the culture over there, but I wanted to be involved some other things and really, my passion had been drawn to the full-time ministry.
"That's why I chose to retire. It wasn't an injury and it wasn't that I couldn't play anymore. I just didn't have the desire to."
Other than those shootarounds and games of H-O-R-S-E at Allen Fieldhouse, Simien says he doesn't have the itch to return to the game he loves so much. Not even March Madness can give Simien a basketball jones.
"No, not at all," Simien said. "There's no ifs to play and no regrets or fear of coming out of retirement five times like Brett Favre.
“I enjoyed my time and my career on the court in high school, in college and professionally, but I'm really excited to be doing what I'm doing now. Actually, I'm more excited than when I was playing at that time, so I don't have any regrets because every time I stepped on the court, I gave it my all."
