“Hello America, My Name is Wesley Johnson”
“He’s a top five pick”
Five words; that is all it took for a no name transfer from Iowa State to become a top five pick on some internet draft boards.
Jim Boeheim has been saying all summer long how good Wesley Johnson was and the unheralded unknown transfer showed how good he was this past weekend at Madison Square Garden.
The 22-year-old Junior showcased his wide variety of skills when he went for 25 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and one block and steal against the defending champion North Carolina Tar Heels.
After the game Boeheim announced Wesley Johnson as a top five pick and also said, “Would I lie? Do I just talk?”
Is Johnson a top five pick?
Well as your draft “expert” for TheHoopDoctors.com I am not buying the Wesley Johnson hype. Understand I have only seen him play once but I refuse to believe this no name transfer from Iowa State is a top five pick because there are rules to being a top five pick.
1. You have to be huge.
2. If you are not huge, you must jump out of the gym.
If you are not a great athlete and are not huge then you are not a top five pick, it is as simple as that. There is never room for a decent G/F prospect with limited potential as Johnson is.
He has a similar body type as Evan Turner and ET also put up stellar numbers against UNC but Turner is a much better prospect due to his ball handling, rebounding, facilitating, and athleticism.
Sure Johnson had a great game or two but no way is this kid belongs in the top five and he will never be drafted that high. When I update my next rankings, Wesley Johnson will be on the list but nowhere near the top five and he will probably not find himself in the lottery.
But remember, I have only seen the kid once and I love when players prove me wrong, because that means they are officially legit.
Matt,
I both agree and dissagree. Top 5 pick is way too high and also way too early to decide. I have watched 3 or 4 of the Cuse games and he is the real deal. He put up very decent numbers at Iowa State on a mediocre to bad team last year. The only other player worth mentioning on that team was Brackins. He’s in a better situation this year and has proven to be the go to guy on a team without a proven leader, since Flynn, Devendorf, and Harris went to the NBA(or tried to). I think in time you will come around. But I agree he’s not Top 5 and probably won’t be next June.
this ‘cuse team is much better without those guys!
crazy
The kid is sick… Its about performing on the big stage. You probably didn’t know who he was cause you never saw him. I heard that most scouts had him on their radar at Iowa State, but couldn’t validate a reason to speculate a high draft spot until now. The kid is an insane athlete, can shoot the 3 ball, and has a 42″ vertical…? That I consider jumping out of the gym. Mind you, Evan Turner did have nice stats against UNC, but he did have a lot of turnovers and looked frazzled. Wes looked like the better player all weekend easily. Just my opinion.
the kid is absolutely legit. you must remember he was out of real game play for a full year due to transfer so he’s just getting back into the flow of things. i’d like to see what you say about “the corsican kid” in february….
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wes j shirt