Aaron Wiggins

Wiggins hails from Kinston, North Carolina — a city of 20,000 people that has produced a disproportionate number of NBA players including Paul Pierce, Cedric Maxwell, and Jerry Stackhouse, giving it one of the highest per-capita NBA production rates in America.

He was drafted 55th — nearly the last pick in the draft — but has outlasted the majority of players selected ahead of him in his class through hard work and development.

Wiggins wore #21 at Maryland as a tribute to Tim Duncan, whose fundamentals-first approach to the game he admired growing up.

His path from Kinston to the NBA follows a tradition of basketball excellence in that small North Carolina city that scouts and coaches have marveled at for decades.