They had posed together for a photo on Big 12 media day in October 2013.
Marcus Smart had returned for his sophomore year at Oklahoma State as the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, and Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins was the nation’s big recruit. Some had christened him the conference’s favorite to dethrone Smart without playing a game.
In the photo the thin, 6-foot-8 Wiggins looks nervous, uncertain. Maybe that had something to do with the muscular 6-foot-3 sophomore standing next to him. Smart, shoulders stretching his orange Cowboys polo shirt, stared flatly at the camera.