Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
If you’ve been following the stories coming out of Las Vegas this week, you know that the biggest one of them all had to do with point guard Josh Selby and his recruitment.
The 6-foot-1 Selby recently de-committed from Tennessee, and did so while UT head coach Bruce Pearl was coaching Team USA in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Word on the street is that Kentucky may now have the inside edge to land Selby, and his mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, fed that perception by giving this quote to Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier Journal.
“Anybody with a basketball brain and knows what [Kentucky coach John] Calipari has done — you have to consider Kentucky,” she said. “It doesn’t mean it’s a done deal, but you have to consider Kentucky.”
The backstory here is that William Wesley, aka “Worldwide Wes,” met Witherspoon at the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va. and again at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron. Yet Witherspoon told Demling there is no connection between Wes and her son.
“He has nothing to do with my son,” Witherspoon said. “They have never had lunch together; he’s never called my son’s phone.”
Wesley, a well known person of influence in the sport and a close friend of Calipari’s, has been known to steer players in Calipari’s direction, including guards DaJuan Wagner and Derrick Rose. Some believe Michael Gilchrist will eventually follow suit, since Wes is a close family friend who grew up near Gilchrist’s family in Camden, N.J.
Demling reported that a slew of major coaches watched Selby this week in Sin City, including Billy Donovan of Florida; Bill Self of Kansas; Jim Calhoun of UConn; Josh Pastner of Memphis; Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Gary Williams of Maryland.
“Every school is in the picture, even [NCAA Division II] schools,” Selby told Demling. “It’s going to take a long time before I commit again. I am wide open.”
Kentucky is involved with all four major point guards in this class, including Kyrie Irving of Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick, who lit it up in Orlando this week; Joe Jackson of Memphis; and Brandon Knight of Ft Lauderdale (FL) Pine Crest, who was not in Vegas or Orlando this week.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
If you’ve been following the stories coming out of Las Vegas this week, you know that the biggest one of them all had to do with point guard Josh Selby and his recruitment.
The 6-foot-1 Selby recently de-committed from Tennessee, and did so while UT head coach Bruce Pearl was coaching Team USA in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Word on the street is that Kentucky may now have the inside edge to land Selby, and his mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, fed that perception by giving this quote to Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier Journal.
“Anybody with a basketball brain and knows what [Kentucky coach John] Calipari has done — you have to consider Kentucky,” she said. “It doesn’t mean it’s a done deal, but you have to consider Kentucky.”
The backstory here is that William Wesley, aka “Worldwide Wes,” met Witherspoon at the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va. and again at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron. Yet Witherspoon told Demling there is no connection between Wes and her son.
“He has nothing to do with my son,” Witherspoon said. “They have never had lunch together; he’s never called my son’s phone.”
Wesley, a well known person of influence in the sport and a close friend of Calipari’s, has been known to steer players in Calipari’s direction, including guards DaJuan Wagner and Derrick Rose. Some believe Michael Gilchrist will eventually follow suit, since Wes is a close family friend who grew up near Gilchrist’s family in Camden, N.J.
Demling reported that a slew of major coaches watched Selby this week in Sin City, including Billy Donovan of Florida; Bill Self of Kansas; Jim Calhoun of UConn; Josh Pastner of Memphis; Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Gary Williams of Maryland.
“Every school is in the picture, even [NCAA Division II] schools,” Selby told Demling. “It’s going to take a long time before I commit again. I am wide open.”
Kentucky is involved with all four major point guards in this class, including Kyrie Irving of Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick, who lit it up in Orlando this week; Joe Jackson of Memphis; and Brandon Knight of Ft Lauderdale (FL) Pine Crest, who was not in Vegas or Orlando this week.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
