Wesley Johnson

gocubs2118

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Mar 31, 2006
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I think that we can all agree on that if it wasnt for Kevin Durant, Wesley would be one of the front runners for freshman of the year in the Big XII. I just want to get the opinoin from you guys about how good he can be. Over the hopefully next 3 years I think it is the skies the limit with this guy. After his cyclone career is done, do you guys think he will be:
1. AP All American 1st, 2nd or 3rd team
2. Conference player of the year
3. Big XII first team
4. First round draft pick
You can pick more than one.
Sorry I would had made this a poll but I dont know how to.
 

isu_bub

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I think this year he will be a Freshman All-American and probably 2nd Team All-Big XII. It all depends how he is utilized in the future however. The sky is the limit though!
 
Aug 21, 2006
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Who knows? It's all about development. He needs to develop strength to get separation from defenders, as well as confidence in his dribbling skills before we talk NBA. He'll be third team All Big 12 and all-rookie Big 12 this year. I'm not going to venture a guess beyond that.
 

Cyclonepride

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With his combination of size and athletic ability, and a couple of years of good coaching, I could see him easily being 1st team all big 12. To be an All American at Iowa State, you have to outplay the 1st and 2nd team to get 3rd team. Hopefully that will change with some consistency in the program. Wesley is easily the second best freshman in the league.
 

thakeepa14

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All of the above, and you forgot National Champion as well!!!!....ok, realistically....Wesley may scratch the surface of the All-American lists eventually, but don't be surprised if he goes thru a couple more fantastic seasons and doesn't have that kind of elite talk. AP voters love to reserve those top spots for the top scorers, plain and simple. And while I believe WJ will continue to be a real threat on the offensive end, his game is a lot better in the other areas. He'll continue to be good at everything. If ISU improves in the standings perienially and he's even part of the reason, he could shower in a ton of accolades and not get All-American talk because the media sees him as a dependable but maybe not "THE" go-to-guy on the offensive end. And Conference POY, in many years, is tougher than 2nd or 3rd team All-American. Should the Clones win the conference, the Dickey-V's of the world could look at the team and choose to pick the guy putting up the most points (like a mike taylor) rather than WJ for team MVP. And they'd base their decision on what looks to be the biggest improvement for the team in points scored. So.......I think 2nd team All-American, Conf POY runner-up twice, and a lock for the NBA first round (based on his all-around potential) assuming 3 more years of similar and injury-free ball.

BTW....Don't be surprised if we start seeing a ton more "super-freshmen" like Durant playing college ball every couple years. Ok, maybe not as good, but the 19-year rule in the NBA has the potential to set up talent like never before in the college ranks. And thus recruiting may become more and more important in the coming years....all the more reason to build the program up.
 
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tim_redd

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Mar 29, 2006
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BTW....Don't be surprised if we start seeing a ton more "super-freshmen" like Durant playing college ball every couple years. Ok, maybe not as good, but the 19-year rule in the NBA has the potential to set up talent like never before in the college ranks. And thus recruiting may become more and more important in the coming years....all the more reason to build the program up.

I agree. People say we haven't seen anything like Durant before, and not to take anything away from him because he is crazy good, but we didn't see guys like Lebron in college. Can you imagine what he could have done?
 

ISUFan22

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Wes has a lot to work on in order to obtain some of those items you listed. What's nice is he definitely looks the part.

He's under a coach that won't settle for nothing but hard work, dedication and smart play. Combine those things with Wesley's current physical skills and he indeed has a very bright future.
 

A-town Cy

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Aug 4, 2006
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What's a Wesley Johnson thread without a Wesley Johnson dunk?

WES.jpg



Right now 3. & 5. (second round draft pick). With definately room to increase. He is going to have a lot of players around him that can score a lot. I think it'd be tough for him to be an All-American. For his size in the NBA he is going to need better ball handling skills. But he's only a freshman, and I can't wait for the future of Cyclone basketball with Wes Johnson!!
 

Clones85'

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Jan 31, 2007
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I don't think that Lebron would have been as dominate as Durant has been this year. Not saying Durant is as good, or that he will be. But I just don't see Lebron putting up these numbers. Maybe I am wrong
 
Aug 21, 2006
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I actually think LeBron would be a better college freshman than KD. Durant's damn amazing, but LeBron was able to average 21, 5, and 5 as a rookie in the best league in the world as an 18 year old. With a team that fully utilized him (he was an Ohio State lean), LeBron could've broken the single season scoring record as a frosh, IMO.
 

pulse

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Mar 24, 2006
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I would say he could BigXII 1st team by the time he's a junior. If the team around him develops over the years, he could be a conference player of the year as a senior. If that was the case, then he'd obviously be good enough to be an All-American candidate. Having said that 1st team all-conference, a lock, All-American I'd say 40%.
 

BryceC

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Wesley is easily the second best freshman in the league.

Augustine looked pretty darn good yesterday too.
 

CyinCo

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Mar 24, 2006
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Another question is: Is Wesley a better player as a freshmen than some of our Cyclone greats from the past as freshmen.

Fizer - Wesley is better since Marcus wasn't working that hard as a young player and had an attitude problem.

Stinson - Stinson was a pretty good Freshmen. Tough one to call. Stinson came in playing well and never got much better, IMO.

Sullivan - Great shooter as a freshmen. Typically was left unguarded and took spot up shots. Didn't have a well rounded game until later in his career when he was burdened with running the point occassionally.

Who else can we compare??
 

jay moe

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Apr 10, 2006
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Wesley has definitely played better than any of us imagined he could leading up to this year. What is amazing to me is the way he rebounds at both ends of the floor. He is as big around as a twig, yet he is still able to mix it up and rebound against much stronger people. He is for sure on the All-Freshmen team, if not a Freshmen All-American. As for his future, he is going to be as good as he wants to be. Sky's the limit, and from what I have read, his work ethic is superb, so we should see improvement in him from year to year.
 

BryceC

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As much as I like Wesley, I'd be surprised if he were a freshman All-American just because of the team's performance. If we were a potential tourney team he'd get a lot more pub.
 

pulse

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I think he was the same as Fizer. Fizer didn't have any help.

Stinson was probably better.

Sullivan never had anyone within 5 feet of him and just shot 3s. Although because he was nailing them, Sullivan may have had a better freshman year, but he had more to work with.
 

Todd

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Freshman Years:
Fizer 14.9 pts. 6.7 boards
Johnson 12.4 pts. 9.0 boards
Stinson 16.2 pts. 6 boards

Stinson peaked his soph. year, Fizer his Jr.(would have dominated in his Sr. year). Johnson??? I'd say they are all pretty equal campaigns.