UK's (ex-Washington) recruit is another Wes Wesley player/coach package deal

[HouWarrior]

For those of you watching the Lebron/Calipari sweepstakes play out, or for those wondering how Cal has landed studs at Memphis and at UK --the behind the scenes guy is often "Worldwide Wes" Wesley, one of the most inflential behind the scenes guys in BB.

Wes just helped deliver a Portland Oregon recruit, out of the clutches of his Washington verbal to Coach Cal and UK--How?

Easy...vintage "Wes" deal...player comes and the coach comes to UK too..

.here are two instances of Wes' package deliveries to Coach Cal:

1-Oregon assistant Kenny Payne visited Kentucky this weekend and is a candidate to join John Robic and Orlando Antigua on John Calipari's staff, Oregon coach Dana Altman told CBSSports.com on Sunday.

A move by Payne to Kentucky would come as no surprise given that he's a close friend of William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley, the basketball powerbroker with longstanding ties to Calipari. It's also worth noting that Payne has spent years recruiting McDonald's All-American Terrence Jones, a Portland native who committed to Kentucky last week. Multiple sources told CBSSports.com that Payne's probable presence at Kentucky was a factor, though not the determining factor, in helping Calipari lure Jones away from Washington, where he publicly committed last month before waffling in the wake of a phone call with Calipari.

Deja vu....
2-
In 2001, Wes's godson and Milt's son, Dajuan Wagner, was the consensus best high school basketball player in the world. If Dajuan had entered the NBA draft after his junior year at Camden High, he might have been the number one pick. But Wes persuaded him to let the NBA wait and spend a year or two playing for John Calipari at the University of Memphis. The deal came with plenty of strings attached: Wes made it clear to Calipari that Dajuan was more inclined to sign with a school that also gave a free ride to his best friend, Arthur Barclay, an all-state player who'd been passed over because of poor test scores. (Done.) Then Milt, despite lacking a college degree, was hired to be Memphis's head of basketball operations. When news of the deal leaked out, the media crucified Calipari, painting it as nothing more than legalized graft.

Read More http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/200706/william-wesley-worldwide-wes-nba-basketball?currentPage=2#ixzz0p0CMNiMP

FYI-- Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose are also "Wes" deliveries to his buddy Coach Cal....to wit:...

When I talk to John Calipari, he says it makes sense that Wes would recommend Memphis to Derrick Rose. "It's the right fit," he tells me, and then adds, "Wes is a goodwill ambassador to our program."

Read More http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/200706/william-wesley-worldwide-wes-nba-basketball?currentPage=4#ixzz0p0IcnsVf

[NotAnAlum]

Don't know how many of you remember but back during the Tarik Black recruitment when it appeared that he was favoring MU and would not consider Memphis a Memphis fan came on this board and insinuated that the only reason Black was sticking with MU was that his AAU coach was going to get a job on the MU staff.  I don't for one minute believe this.  I think Buzz's internal character would not allow him to even consider something like this.  What I found interesting is that for these Memphis fans this type of arrangement is so "business as usual" that they assume it goes on everywhere all the time.  All of Cal's tenures have been littered with this kind of stuff.  Some of it violates NCAA rules, some of it isn't technically a violation but it certainly violates the spirit of what recruitment is supposed to be based on.  If you play with this kind of fire sooner or later you always cross the line.  I have no doubt that Kentucky will face NCAA rules violations due to Cal's presence sometime in the next few years.
Personally I'd much rather run a clean program even if that means just getting to the tournament as opposed to this kind of stuff even if it means building a national powerhouse.  I never want this kind of stuff to be considered "business as usual" for our program.

[GOMU1104]

Don't know how many of you remember but back during the Tarik Black recruitment when it appeared that he was favoring MU and would not consider Memphis a Memphis fan came on this board and insinuated that the only reason Black was sticking with MU was that his AAU coach was going to get a job on the MU staff.  I don't for one minute believe this.  I think Buzz's internal character would not allow him to even consider something like this.  What I found interesting is that for these Memphis fans this type of arrangement is so "business as usual" that they assume it goes on everywhere all the time. 

Its not that Buzz's character wont allow it, it is the NCAA that will not allow it.  They passed a rule forbidding teams from hiring anyone associated with for 2 years prior to that recruit coming to campus and 2 years after they leave.




P.S. To the original poster...It is William Wesley, not "Wes Wesley"

[NotAnAlum]

You're missing the broader point.  If your leader (in this case the head coach) has no ethics other than "do whatever you can get away with, just don't break the law (or don't get caught)."  Inevitabably someone in the organization will violate a rule.  If on the other hand you hold yourself and your people to a higher ethical standard to start with you are a lot less likely to become involved in something like this.  There is a reason why these things follow some coaches even though its written off as a "bad assistant" or a "misunderstanding of the rules".

[wyoMUfan]

I hate John Calipari,
I was really hoping he would leave for the nba this year.
Looking at him makes me cringe

[HouWarrior]

P.S. To the original poster...It is William Wesley, not "Wes Wesley"

Thank you so much. I was aware of William as first name,but,...Really..
..Neither of us is right viz. usage.
When I met Wesley , My NBA team org. friend said to me, although his given name is William-- no one calls him that, and he prefers Worldwide Wes, and introduces himself, as such. He'll answer to you calling him Wes--but not to William.

[OhioGoldenEagle]

Calipari has a perfect system going for himself.  He builds up programs that are desperate for success by using these "dirty" recruiting techniques.  Then after a few years of success, he bolts for another program/NBA team.  Because he only spends a handful of years at each program, by the time the NCAA investigates and punishes the program, he is gone and essentially wipes his hands of the problem.  It's disgusting, although not too surprising, that institutions such as UK somehow overlook/ignore his past and gamble their reputation for a few years of success on the basketball court.  I for one predict he is as good is gone to the NBA in the next year or so.  Stepping right in to UK and nailing back to back #1 ranked recruiting classes in the little time he had there is far too suspicious.  UK is going to pay for it!

[MU B2002]

  UK is going to pay for it!

I am pretty sure they already are...   

[dw3dw3dw3]

You're missing the broader point.  If your leader (in this case the head coach) has no ethics other than "do whatever you can get away with, just don't break the law (or don't get caught)."  Inevitabably someone in the organization will violate a rule.  If on the other hand you hold yourself and your people to a higher ethical standard to start with you are a lot less likely to become involved in something like this.  There is a reason why these things follow some coaches even though its written off as a "bad assistant" or a "misunderstanding of the rules".

Do people actually think that Buzz doesn't operate in gray areas? It has been documented that he will do whatever it takes... Knowingly cheating on the SAT (if Cal did know), or directly paying players (OU) is one thing, but the recruitment of players isn't just watching a player at tourneys and saying you will offer him a scholarship.  When the elite camps were allowed (i think this got banned this year), he paid coaches of elite players to come in and "coach" (and btw.. bring your best player with you). I also recall him going out east to do a "coaches clinic" along with 5 or 6 coaches of the other top 20 schools, the school happened to be that of JayVaughn Pinkston.  This is just the way it is, there is very little the NCAA can do to prevent schools from indirectly paying people of importance to recruits. If you don't, they won't visit you or consider you, hello NIT. Saying any coach at a top 30 program is not going to use whatever loopholes there are to his advantage is just naive.

[OhioGoldenEagle]

Do people actually think that Buzz doesn't operate in gray areas? It has been documented that he will do whatever it takes... Knowingly cheating on the SAT (if Cal did know), or directly paying players (OU) is one thing, but the recruitment of players isn't just watching a player at tourneys and saying you will offer him a scholarship.  When the elite camps were allowed (i think this got banned this year), he paid coaches of elite players to come in and "coach" (and btw.. bring your best player with you). I also recall him going out east to do a "coaches clinic" along with 5 or 6 coaches of the other top 20 schools, the school happened to be that of JayVaughn Pinkston.  This is just the way it is, there is very little the NCAA can do to prevent schools from indirectly paying people of importance to recruits. If you don't, they won't visit you or consider you, hello NIT. Saying any coach at a top 30 program is not going to use whatever loopholes there are to his advantage is just naive.

I agree with the "gray areas" idea and that most to all coaches must do it.  Cal just takes it to another level.  I don't see Buzz giving an AAU coach the AD position at MU.  I don't see Buzz fudging SAT's or another school test to get a player into MU.  Did he tell JMay that he will get a ton of minutes/start right from the get go??? Maybe, but why would anyone recruit a player if he didn't think that said player was worthy of playing time?  Recruiting is no doubt a dirty business, but some coaches take it to extreme dirtiness (I'm looking at you Cal!).