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LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The story that will accompany Andrew Wiggins first game at Kansas, an impromptu exhibition during coach Bill Selfs summer camp, has already taken on a decidedly Paul Bunyan-esque quality. Those who were in the gym last week, and the thousands of people who have seen video of the game, know the real story. But when is reality as much fun as folklore? And the play that Wiggins made in the first couple of minutes against current and former Jayhawks lends itself to a tall tale. Whats fact is that the top high school prospect in the country, the odds-on No. 1 pick in next years NBA draft -- the Canadian LeBron James, as hes been called -- found himself in the open court with the ball in his hands and only NBA centre Cole Aldrich standing in his way. From there, the folk-hero version goes like this: Wiggins elevated from beyond the 3-point arc, posed midair for a couple of photos, autographed the ball and then slammed it down. The truth: Aldrich stepped aside and watched as Wiggins effortlessly dunked it. Either way, the play was enough to send Jayhawks fans into a tizzy, light up Internet message boards and burnish the almost mythical aura that already accompanies the 6-foot-7 swingman. "I let loose of all my nerves," the rising star from Vaughan, Ont., said, "so I felt good after that dunk. I just let my game come to me. Thats what happened. Thats what the fans wanted to see." Theyll want to see plenty more of it this season. Wiggins is arguably the most talented player to arrive in Kansas since Danny Manning in the 80s, and Self wonders whether anybody has created as much hysteria since Wilt Chamberlain. He has prototypical NBA size and athletic ability, a game already far more advanced than his peers, and an uncanny ability to make the most difficult plays seem pedestrian. He also has the unmistakable swagger, modest though he may be, of a player who simply knows that hes good. Its little surprise that autograph seekers already have descended on Lawrence, hoping to snag Wiggins John Hancock on a ball or a photo four months before his first real game. "Its kind of weird to me because weve recruited other good players before, but weve never had anybody with this kind of attention," Self said. "I kind of feel for him. Hes going to have to be able to tell people no, and we have to make it easier for him." Good luck with that. There are only a handful of college basketball programs in the country that can rival Kansas for pure passion, not to mention history or success. There are five banners hanging in the end zone of Allen Fieldhouse to represent the Jayhawks national championships, and dozens more herald more modest triumphs such as conference titles. Students often camp out for days in advance of a big game, and the raucous environment is one of the most intimidating in college sports. It was the environment that in part helped convince Wiggins to pick Kansas over a list of suitors that included North Carolina and Kentucky, a couple more tradition-drenched blue bloods. "Everyone here is really loving, friendly, so its good," Wiggins said. "Im getting to know people. Theyve been showing me around, so Ive been comfortable." Wiggins comfort level could be critical to the Jayhawks success this season. They lost all five starters from last years team to graduation or the draft, and return just a couple of reserves who played meaningful minutes. Self restocked with a recruiting class that included five-star recruit Wayne Selden and several other high-profile targets, but the low-key announcement that Wiggins would be joining them stole every headline across the state. It also turned some heads in the Big 12. "He brings so much athleticism to any place he plays," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who often saw Wiggins play just up the road from Morgantown at Huntington Prep last season. "When everybody says youre the best player in the country, youre obviously pretty good." Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said Wiggins was "as advertised," while Texas coach Rick Barnes let slip that even as a ninth-grader the lanky forwards game resembled that of Kevin Durant. "Believe the hype. Hes that good a player, a special player," Barnes said. "I think it speaks volumes about our league with the kind of players weve had come in through the years. Hes another one. He is a terrific, terrific talent and a very, very special player." Evidently, rival coaches arent afraid to build upon Wiggins near-superhero status. Self has been busy trying to tamp down those out-of-this-world expectations, pointing out whenever possible that Wiggins is just a freshman. But while he argues that Wiggins is "going to go through ups and downs like everybody else" in one breath, he adds in the next that "hes as talented as any player in the country, because from a raw athletic ability standpoint, he can do some things that Ive never had a player be able to do physically." So far, Wiggins has handled the attention with aplomb. He refused to make his signing news conference into a televised event. Hes often said that he prefers to keep a close inner circle of friends and family -- his brother, Nick Wiggins, plays just down the road at Wichita State. And he comes off as unfailingly polite and quietly unassuming when a camera is stuck in his face, answering questions directly and succinctly. When asked whether all the expectations might be too much, Wiggins just shakes his head. "Its an experience I can enjoy," he said. "A lot of former players always say that college was their greatest basketball experience, all the fans and going to school and being on campus. Its just a great vibe. Thats what Im looking forward to." Wholesale Shoes Ireland . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Clearance Basketball Shoes Ireland .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. http://www.discountbasketballshoesireland.com/ .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Basketball Shoes Ireland Online . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Basketball Shoes Ireland Outlet . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. The ever-changing nature of wrestling has led to a litany of loose ends and questions that will never be answered and conclusions that will never happen. Who was behind GTV? Was Hornswaggle really the Anonymous Raw General Manager all along?Other stories arent forgotten entirely, destined instead to be put on the back burner for an extended and indeterminate stretch. This was the case when it came to John Cenas?pursuit of Ric Flairs record of 16 world championship reigns, with barely a mention made on TV over the last year until Cena made his dramatic return to SmackDown Live Tuesday night.A.J. Styles opened the show, as youd expect from the new WWE world champion, and he executed all of the things that make those who love him, love him -- and those who hate him, hate him -- to near-perfection. The smug grin on Styles face and almost everything he did on his walk to the ring was exactly what one would expect, and from the moment he got on the microphone, he made salient points. He listed off a number of occurrences he had correctly predicted en route to becoming champion, culminating in an increasingly ridiculous If I told you scenarios that peaked with Styles claiming that if he said the sky was green, it wasnt even worth looking because he was truly infallible.As with some of his other extended solo segments on the microphone, the tail end of his statements started to lose some steam. It actually got a bit ugly toward the very end for Styles as he turned his (and Cenas) catchphrase from the Face who runs the place to the Champ that runs the camp -- a rather cringe-worthy turn, in fact. Styles then repeated it several times, and whether it was his given mission to make the new phrase stick in the minds of fans or a merely as a tool to get the crowd to turn against him, it fell incredibly flat.Thankfully for Styles, Cena made his entrance at that moment and hit his stride in record time. He wasted no time and pulled no punches in stating his intentions for the WWE world championship, despite Styles efforts to deflect by returning Cenas headband when faced with Cenas demand that, You have something that belongs to me.It might be hard to believe, especially considering several particularly dominant stretches during his decade in the WWE, but Cena hasnt held a WWE world title in more than two years. His last reign with the WWE world championship came to an end in August 2014 in a match where he was utterly destroyed by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Cena has only sniffed the championship a few times since that point. There was a big push at the 2015 SummerSlam, as Cena embraced his proximity to Flairs record with a wave of 15x shirts and gear. But with Jon Stewarts interference, Cena lost, and he hasnt received a televised world championship match since.It would be unfair to dismiss that time frame completely, though. In that stretch, Cena made the United States championship and himself more relevant by challenging nearly every promising young guy and stepping up his in-ring game immensely. There was also a six-month stretch where Cena was out with an injury, but upon his return, he immediately got involved with Styles in a rivalry thats produced several career-defining matches for each of them.The fire on display from Cena as he went after Styles clearly showed just how important a milestone that Flairs record is for Cena, no matter how long its been since hes held the title. I have one goal left -- one goal in the WWE -- and its to proudly announce that the 16-time champ ... is ... here.On cue, Dean Ambrose came storming out to claim what was rightfully his, immediately blowing by Cena and getting in Styles face too. Ambrose has subtly grown out his beard over the last few weeks, and it served as a nice touch in portraying just how unhinged hes become after losing his championship like he did. Both the announcers and Ambrose put over how good the match was before Styles took the easy way out, and its a strong-running storyline that could continue to build for a time to come. Styles has the ability to win a straight up fight, like he did against Cena at SummerSlam, but when he sees an opening to take a shortcut, he wont hesitate to do so.You made the biggest mistake of your life on Sunday, boy... Im not just going to take my title back -- Im going to take it back with interest, Ambrose said.Cena brought things back into focus and, because its 2016, warranted a reaction from the crowd for calling out Ambrose, agreeing with slights from Stone Cold Steve Austin that he dished out on Austins podcast. Cena even pointed out that Styles merely returned the favor for an injury Ambrose himself inflicted on Styles, and then turned up the heat with some seemingly childish humor that got him one of the loudest, most unilaterally positive reactions hes received in years as he laid into the Lunatic fringe.Im actually surprised that low blow even hurt you... all youve been showing the WWE Universe is that youve got no b----, said Cena as he got just a few inches out from Ambroses face, with the crowd breaking out into uproarious Cena chants.Ambrose returned fire as he called Cena a lazy part-timer that cant get it done in the ring anymore and is better-suited to being on morning talk shows. Enter?Shane McMahon, who with a snap of the fingers, set up a triple-threat match for the WWE world championship at Octobers PPV, No Mercy. Ambrose, Cena and Styles each felt like a big deal with a bone to pick with the other two, and the main event did a whole lot of good for each of them -- and a fourth person, as Styles was ultimately tasked with finding a tag team partner for Tuesdays main event.A two-hour show with only four actual matches might have typically infuriated some wrestling fans, but most of what happened on SmackDown Live really worked despite the lack of in-ring competition. The Miz predictably strolled out to the ring with Maryse, gloating about his victory via nefarious means of his own. He celebrated Day 162 of his Never-ending intercontinental championship world tour by pointing out hed already surpassed the reigns of 132 former Intercontinental champions, including Triple H and his Backlash opponent, Dolph Ziggler.He boiled it down to one big point -- one hed harp on, and prove later in the evening. I am a main eventer. Its the truth.Maryse proved how valuable she is on her own, garnering genuine anger from the crowd just long enough for Daniel Bryan. Its been impressive to watch the subtlety with which theyve handled The Miz and Bryan working together since taking a full week off post-Talking Smack showdown. Everything theyre doing plays well thanks to their natural ability to play off of one another.When Bryan demanded that Miz face Ziggler in a rematch, The Miz correctly pointed out that Ziggler hadnt really earned his No.dddddddddddd 1 contender status to begin with and reintroduced the possibility of a contract renegotiation. Rather than just dealing with the edicts of authority figures, this move from The Miz tends to lend itself to some interesting directions for the future as he wields his leverage.Im calling my own shots, Daniel, and theres nothing you can do about it, Miz said. You dont get what you want, until I get what I want. With a drop of the microphone, The Miz made good on his threats as he exited through the crowd with Maryse.The Mizs switcheroo as Styles last-minute tag team partner further accentuated three things: How much value hes built with the crowd in the last few weeks, how hes clearly the No. 2 heel on the SmackDown Live roster and just how willing his character is to disrupt everything Bryan wants to do. With Styles previously failing to find a partner, and Bryan saddling him with James Ellsworth, one of the independent wrestlers that was used as cannon fodder for Braun Strowman on Raw a few weeks back, The Miz had the perfect opportunity to interject.Im the main event, repeated The Miz, and he certainly felt like he belonged in this match as the bell rang. The tag team chemistry between him and Styles was strong throughout, and until the end of the match, none of the four competitors felt particularly stronger than the other three.Strangely enough, it somehow felt wrong that it was the Intercontinental champion, and not the vulnerable WWE champion, to ultimately take the fall. Having Cena make The Miz seem like a chump with a quick-hit Attitude Adjustment and no real prior offense felt like a silly thing to do, and ultimately a blow to the work that hes been doing. There were a dozen other ways this could have ended, most of which could have involved an anything you can do, I can do better sequence between Cena and Ambrose that could have led into a Dirty Deeds straight into an Attitude Adjustment (or vice versa) and made to feel like either Styles or Miz required a lot to be taken down. It also would have made Ambroses strike on Cena to close the show feel like more of a culmination than a random happenstance.The Miz deserved better.Hits and missesIt would have been hard for the five-way match on SmackDown Live to live up to the Six-Pack Elimination Challenge at Backlash, but the No. 1 contender status battle for the SmackDown womens championship was still a very fun match, giving each woman a chance to look like she could be the winner. They even had the kind of near-falls stemming from moves that would normally end matches -- and if youre one who looks for symbols of the women reaching an even playing field with the men, this was a big milestone.Naomi is very much a feast-or-famine entity, but shes doing a lot of exciting and experimental things in the ring that few others are willing to risk. Nikki Bella is moving as well as she has at any point in her career, and shes seemingly been reinvigorated with all of the fresh opponents ahead of her -- and it speaks well for the future of this division.There was a certain lingering feeling that the winner here would be a wild card, with Bella and Carmella already embroiled in a rivalry outside of the scope of the SmackDown womens championship. There were certain arguments to be made for Naomi and Natalya, the other veterans in the ring, but Alexa Bliss was something of an inspired choice -- someone who could greatly benefit from a high-profile feud at the top of the womens division, and someone with previous history against Becky Lynch.Theres nothing quite as fun as Heath Slater putting his foot in his mouth, and it seems like one of these days Rhyno will either going to get fed up with the One Man Band talking for him or hes not going to be able to cover Slaters rear end when hes needed most. For now, everythings clicking. Im far from the biggest Ascension supporter, as its seemingly been a competition between them and fellow former NXT tag team champions The Vaudevillains in a contest to see whos least relevant in the division, but this was the right kind of opening challenge for a team like Slater & Rhyno to build up a victory while still giving Konnor and Viktor a chance to prove themselves.I like the thought of there being at least an occasional title match on SmackDown Live and Raw, and the SmackDown tag team championships certainly fit the bill in terms of where they currently sit in the pecking order. There was sadly some sloppiness from The Ascension during an opportunity to make themselves and Slater & Rhyno look good, so it could be a while yet before they get another shot like this going forward.Theres not much to say about the other tag-team match on this show; neither team even got an entrance in a rematch between The Usos and The Hype Bros. Jimmy and Jey made quick work of Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley, with Ryder continuing to sell a knee injury. For a team that got quite a buzz a week ago with a full-blown sudden heel turn, The Usos didnt get to show all that much in this brief showdown, but its clear theyre ready to circle back around for another go at the titles.Things clearly arent over between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton, but there wasnt much that was new or fresh to their confrontation Tuesday. Having Erick Rowan attack Orton smells like a bit of desperation; hes gone from good to bad (and Wyatt friend to foe) as many times as the Big Show has over the last couple of years.Time to face the facts: Curt Hawkins debut this week was a continuation of his previous skits, only with him reciting these lines in person. It was utter cheesiness -- a mix of 80s over-the-top wrestling character and modern day meta-awareness.?Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews squared off at the very tail end of their respective NXT runs -- each of them performing quite well, with promise but rough around the edges. This match never happened, as Corbin took out Crews on the outside, but one of the most interesting developments of the evening was Jack Swaggers?spontaneous appearance in confronting Corbin.There was a brief mention on Raw of Swaggers contract coming up, and in leaving Raw for SmackDown as a free agent, we have our first taste of a talent going from one roster to another. It shows that such a movement is possible, and opens up a world full of possibilities, including future drafts with many different potential formats, trades and other forms of free agency. It was also another in a growing series of subtle interactions between the two shows without much direct conflict. ' ' '