Rookie shines for Cyclones

By Gary Bedore     Jan 13, 2007

Iowa State's WEsley Johnson, right, fights Nebraska's Jamel White for a possession. Johnson, lightly recruited out of high school, has emerged as the Cyclones' second-leading scoring and top rebounder this season.

? One of the best freshman men’s basketball players in the Big 12 Conference happens to be one of the most lightly recruited of all the rookies.

He’s Iowa State’s Wesley Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 195-pound forward from Corsicana, Texas, who last April chose first-year coach Greg McDermott’s Cyclone program over Charlotte and San Diego State.

Initially, the 19-year-old Johnson had signed with Louisiana-Monroe his senior year at Corsicana High, but opted out of his letter of intent and headed to prep school after a coaching change was announced.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Cyclone coach McDermott said of Johnson, who takes a 12.1 scoring, 8.9 rebound average into today’s game against Kansas University (1 p.m., Hilton Coliseum). “You recruit someone in April, you never know what to expect. In Wesley’s case, he’s everything you hoped for and more.”

Johnson, who has started all 16 games for the Cyclones (11-5, 2-0), has made 45.9 percent of his shots, including 11 of 39 threes while logging 31.3 minutes a game.

He’s contributing more than some players who earn McDonald’s All-America status in high school.

“Obviously, the grade is a good one,” McDermott said, asked to rate Johnson’s early performance, which has included a Big 12 Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week honor as reward for his whopping eight double-doubles.

“He has been unbelievably consistent for a freshman, especially on the backboards. For someone with a slight build to do what he’s done from a rebound standpoint game in and out is impressive.”

That’s not all he has done.

“We needed him to score, and he’s done that,” McDermott said. “Everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s been able to do. He’s extremely coachable and has a great work ethic. Because of that, he will get better and better. He is a coach’s dream – the first to practice and last to leave. He wants to know what he can do next to improve his game. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

Johnson is showing no rust after not playing all of last year.

He enrolled at Paterson School in New Jersey but changed his mind and transferred to another prep school, Eldon Academy, in Michigan. One problem: That school folded. Johnson, who already had received a high school degree in Texas, returned home and eventually received a recruiting call from one of Iowa State’s assistants who knew of the gifted player.

He has provided a nice 1-2 scoring punch with another newcomer – juco transfer Mike Taylor.

Taylor, a 6-2, 165-pound point guard out of Chipola (Fla.) Community College, has averaged 16.1 points a game off 39.2 percent shooting. He has made 38 of 91 threes and has averaged 4.4 assists. He has 84 turnovers to 66 assists.

“Mike has played well,” McDermott said of the player who chose the Cyclones over Tennessee and Minnesota. “We’re working to improve our front line to get a little more production there. We need to be a balanced team. We don’t have a superstar. We have to rely on different players on different nights.”

Jiri Hubalek, a 6-11 junior, averages 9.5 points and 6.4 boards a game, while Rahshon Clark, a 6-6 junior, contributes 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds.

“We are getting better. It’s what I like the most,” McDermott said of a team that won at Missouri (66-65) and at home against Nebraska (71-62) in Big 12 play.

ISU also has defeated Minnesota (68-63) and lost to Iowa (77-59), Bradley (76-66) and Ohio State (75-56) in some of the team’s marquee games.

“They continue to stay with it. Obviously, it’s a new system of play. They are learning to play with each other because we’ve got a new team,” noted McDermott, the former Northern Iowa coach who replaced Wayne Morgan last offseason. “Their ability to stay focused and trying to get better is all I can ask at this point.”

His program will be a work in progress. The native Iowan senses fan support in drawing 12,152 fans per home date.

“Our coaching staff and team has been very well received,” McDermott said. “We have a very knowledgeable fan base. They understand the situation we are in and the challenges we face our first season. We sold 10,000 season tickets for the first time. The interest level is high. We just have to get better as a team.”

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