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Cal says don't worry about 'Worldwide Wes'

Barnhart: NCAA raised no red flags on issue

William Wesley, a behind-the-scenes figure in University of Memphis basketball recruiting, should not be cause for concern among Kentucky fans, John Calipari said Wednesday.

“William Wesley knows what he’s allowed to do and what he’s not allowed to do,” said Calipari, who left Memphis to become UK coach. “He will never represent the University of Kentucky or me in any kind of recruiting.”

Wesley, also known as “Worldwide Wes”, regularly sat near the Memphis bench at home games. He’s the godfather of Dajuan Wagner, the first high-profile recruit signed by Calipari for Memphis. Wesley has been linked to several other Memphis recruits.

UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said the school asked the NCAA about Wesley as part of the vetting process. The NCAA did not raise any red flags, he said.

“Basketball players all over the country have relationships like that,” Barnhart said before adding, “The college basketball world is a very confusing world.”

Calipari said he first met Wesley during an effort to recruit Kevin Walls, a player from Camden, N.J., who signed with the University of Louisville and played on the Cardinals’ 1986 national championship team.

Martin Newton, who works for Nike and is the son of former UK athletics director C.M. Newton, brought Wesley to Calipari’s attention again when the coach first went to Memphis.

“Martin Newton reconnected us when I was going to Memphis because Dajuan Wagner was thinking of coming (to Kentucky),” Calipari said. “Then Martin said, ‘Hey, Cal’s getting back in the business (of college coaching).’ ”

Reshaping the roster

The next few weeks will be all about evaluations for Calipari.

During his introductory news conference, the new Kentucky coach talked about evaluating current players and recruits and seeing whether or not they fit into his system.

“We’ll have to have individual meetings, figure out where everybody stands, how they feel about things,” he said.

If no current player or incoming freshman decides to depart, Calipari inherits a roster that already is two players over the scholarship limit of 13 players.

Like any changing of the guard, Calipari didn’t rule out that players would opt to leave the program.

“If there are any players here who don’t want to be here, I’m fine,” he said. “If there are any players here who came here because of Billy (Gillispie), well then they should be able to be released. … We should release anybody who does not want to be here because of the coaching change.”

The former Memphis coach admitted that he knows little about the team he is walking into, but he did specifically mention being excited to work with players such as Patrick Patterson, Jodie Meeks and Darius Miller.

The entire team met Calipari for breakfast at Wildcat Lodge early Wednesday.

“It was really nice, especially talking to a coach of his prestige,” Miller said. “I’ve never talked to him before so it was a good chance to meet him. He seemed like a real cool, down-to-earth guy. He seems like he’ll be a nice fit for us here.”

Former coach Gillispie left the new coaching staff with five commitments through the 2012 season.

Calipari made no promises when it came to honoring those commitments, stressing that he would start the evaluation process soon.

The players who have committed but have not signed with UK yet include juniors Dakotah Euton of Scott County, Dominique Ferguson of Indianapolis and K.C. Ross-Miller from Texas as well as sophomore Vinny Zollo of Clark County and California freshman Michael Avery.

“I’ll watch every player, and I’ll be honest with them,” Calipari said. “If they’re good enough to play here and help us win national titles, I want (them) here. If they’re not, I’m going to tell them.”

One player did not wait for Calipari’s assessment. The coaching change caused Konner Tucker, the last prospect to commit to UK during the Gillispie era, to begin looking for a new school. The junior college transfer said he’s heard from California, Marquette, Cincinnati, Santa Clara, Oklahoma State and Wichita State.

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