Surprise! William Wesley, aka Worldwide Wes, is at the Center of a Recruiting/Sneaker Controversy
College Basketball, Recruiting, William Wesley (aka Worldwide Wes) July 20th. 2009, 5:00pm
Josh Selby is a coveted point guard in the class of 2010. Last September, he committed to Tennessee. Recently he attended the LeBron James basketball camp (yes, that one). Days after leaving the camp, Selby de-committed. Anyone know what could have happened at the NIKE-sponsored camp – for the record, Tennessee wears Adidas – to cause Selby’s sudden change of heart?
Early scuttlebutt involves the man holding back Ron Artest in this photo, William Wesley, aka Worldwide Wes.
Grant Wahl mentioned Wesley in our recent interview; GQ wrote a must-read feature on him last year. Wesley is tight with Jordan, Iverson, LeBron – basically, anyone that matters in basketball. On that list is Kentucky coach John Calipari, so nobody should be surprised if Selby ends up there.
… industry sources told CBSSports.com two schools that will almost certainly be involved are Kentucky and Oregon — both of which have obvious connections to William Wesley, a major person of influence in the sport. Wesley (more commonly known as “Worldwide Wes” or simply as “Wes”) has a close and very public relationship with Kentucky coach John Calipari, Oregon assistant Kenny Payne, and Nike Basketball. Kentucky and Oregon are both Nike schools.
For as much as we lust college basketball … filthy stories like this are difficult to take.
Selby’s mom discusses decommitment (CBS Sports)
14 Responses to “Surprise! William Wesley, aka Worldwide Wes, is at the Center of a Recruiting/Sneaker Controversy”
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July 20th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
this post is just to start some rabble-rousing
July 20th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
So, a 17 year old kid, who committed when he was 16, changed his mind? Whodathunkit??? It’s not that uncommon, and looking at his recruiting profile on that link, who’s to say Pitino is out of the picture. Dwight Howard went through a similar (though admittedly not as pronounced and egregious) two step when he was coming out of high school, over whether or not he’d go directly into the NBA. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s not shocking, and there’s little to no evidence that something nefarious is going on.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
this is a funny pic
http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/michael-jordan-and-the-giant-inflatable-penis-25164
July 20th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Yep this has been on the Knoxville radio circuit all day today. It’s total BS, and just shows how dirty both college basketball and Calipari are. Enjoy your probation in a few years UK.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/michael-jordan-and-the-giant-inflatable-penis-25164
Deadspin had that up last week.
/had to go there they talked about the erin andrews video first.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I also enjoy that photo.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Wesley Willis > William Wesley
July 20th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
William Wallace>>>>>>>>Wesley Willis > William Wesley
July 20th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
somebody is going to nail Wes and Cal and the money trail and get a nice book deal.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
by the way this kid isn’t going to Oregon
July 20th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I become less and less enthralled with college basketball yearly… This is a big part of it. No surprise here. Anyone else surprised? Gee, I’ll be REALLY surprised when he ends up in Lexington too…
Soon, please?
July 20th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Every time I hear about something like this, I think of that movie Blue Chips.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Except that there is plenty of evidence. Things aren’t that coincidental.
July 21st, 2009 at 11:11 am
No love for True Hoop’s open source investigation into “who is wes?” Pretty sure that was before the GQ feature.