Wiggins returns to Vaughan roots amid trade rumours

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 13, 2014
By Michael Hayakawa

Andrew Wiggins has joined a new team.

No, it’s not the rumoured deal that reportedly has the six-foot, eight-inch, 19-year-old Vaughan resident and former Vaughan Secondary School basketball standout going to the Minnesota Timberwolves for veteran forward Kevin Love.

At least not yet.

That news can’t be made official until Aug. 23.

In the meantime, Wiggins, who was recently selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers as the first overall draft pick in this year’s National Basketball Association draft, has joined the BioSteel Sports team.

A Canadian-based sports nutrition company, BioSteel officially introduced Wiggins yesterday to their team at a news conference and promotional shoot they held at his former elementary school, Glen Shields Public School.

Wiggins, who played his collegiate basketball at the University of Kansas for just one season before declaring himself for the NBA draft, was glad to return to his alma mater where he graduated in 2008-09, to announce his association with BioSteel.

“This (Glen Shields Public School) is where it all started. You can’t forget where you came from. If it wasn’t for this school right here I wouldn’t know where I would be,” he said during a crowded news conference.

“From Grades 2 to 8 I was here every day and after school playing basketball.

“To be involved with BioSteel it’s all about roots. We’re both from Canada, if you Drink The Pink (BioSteel) you will know it’s something special and I look forward to my future with them.”

The son of former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins and Canadian sprinter Marita Payne, Wiggins’ presence on the BioSteel team marks the first partnership between him and a Canadian company that also includes other high-profile athletes, such as Montreal Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price and Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver Dez Bryant.

In conducting a promotional shoot for BioSteel during his visit to his former school, Wiggins was quick to credit his brief time spent at the University of Kansas, where he averaged 17.1 points a game and 5.9 rebounds a game in his one season.

“The University of Kansas treats basketball players like rockstars. This prepared me for this transition,” he said.

As for the rumors circulating about with Wiggins going to Minnesota, he refused to make any comments on that situation.

What Wiggins would like is to just focus on preparing for his upcoming NBA debut.

Wherever it may land him.

“It’s really not in my control,” he said in reference to the ongoing trade rumours. “I just want to play basketball...the sport I like.”