Wheelwright Leaves school?

[SWeberCat02]

http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8600&ATCLID=209249990" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Weber State men’s basketball head coach Randy Rahe has announced junior guard Gelaun Wheelwright has left the program.

“It was a mutual decision between me and Gelaun and we both decided it was time for him to have a change of environment and move on to a different situation,” Rahe said. “We appreciatee all Gelaun has done for us and we wish him nothing but the best in his future in whatever he decides to do. We will help along the way in anyway we can.”

Wheelwright played two seasons with the Wildcats and appeared in 63 games. He had a career average of 6.0 points and 1.4 assists per game.

 

[hawkssb04]

Here are my thoughts - http://www.bigskybball.com/2013/09/gelaun-wheelwright-will-reportedly.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tough loss, though certainly not insurmountable.

Even bigger than who will start at the 2 (I suspect either Berry will slide over or Senglin will slide in)... who backs up Richardson? It hurts from a depth standpoint for sure.

Great blog! Here's the official release from the university with a quote from Randy. http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8600&ATCLID=209249990" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[PURPLEFORLIFE]

Uh, there is more to this story. To me, this is a pretty substantial loss. He was slated to being a starter for the Cats this Fall. More importantly, the Cats are now down to 11 scholarship players. Curious, does anyone have any information on what could have prompted Wheelwright to leave so suddenly. Did the staff sign another player that no one knows about?

 

[hawkssb04]

Uh, there is more to this story. To me, this is a pretty substantial loss. He was slated to being a starter for the Cats this Fall. More importantly, the Cats are now down to 11 scholarship players. Curious, does anyone have any information on what could have prompted Wheelwright to leave so suddenly. Did the staff sign another player that no one knows about?

I fear we won't ever know for sure ... :thumbdown:

 

[oldrunner]

After what I saw last weekend, there was probably a meeting between Randy and Gelaun. We will never know the conversation that went on between them, but we can speculate it probably went something like this:

Randy: 'Gelaun, you know we love you and we want you in our program, but we want you to play within our system and the way we tell you to."

Gelaun: ' I've got to play my game, just like Damian played his. I need to get more shots.'

Randy: 'That's fine, as long as they are the shots that come out of our system.'

Gelaun: 'I want to be able to create my own shots. I have the ability to do it.'

Randy: 'We are not OK with that. You may need to find a place where that will be acceptable.'

Gelaun: 'OK. I guess that is what I will have to do.'

Randy: 'We will help you in any way we can.' :twocents:

 

[Webergrad02]

Or it could have been:

Gelaun: Coach, does this highly touted recruit play my same position?
Coach: Yes we would play him primarily at the 2.
Gelaun: You are gonna red shirt him right?
Coach: Probably not.
Gelaun: But you are going to guarantee me a starting spot for the next two seasons right?
Coach: No. We will start the player that best fits within our team concept and works the hardest.
Gelaun: But I have worked harder than anyone this offseason and deserve the spot.
Coach: You have worked hard and we appreciate it, but there are still times when you slack defensively and don't play within our system
Gelaun: Well that's how I play.
Coach: And that's why we have been recruiting a highly touted combo guard that can play immediately.
Gelaun: I am going some where else.
Coach: Let me get the door for you.

 

[Wildcat_Fan]

Here are my thoughts - http://www.bigskybball.com/2013/09/gelaun-wheelwright-will-reportedly.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tough loss, though certainly not insurmountable.

Even bigger than who will start at the 2 (I suspect either Berry will slide over or Senglin will slide in)... who backs up Richardson? It hurts from a depth standpoint for sure.

I agree, who will handle the ball? I really like wheelwright and he was the fastest on the team and had one of the best ball skills. Now who when jordan is out?

 

[n.ogdencat]

The more I think about this, the more I'm kinda sicken by this sudden loss. I agree with purpleforlife, there has got to be more to this. What happened over the weekend? Gelaun was pretty excited, from his twitter, to be back in school and in Ogden. WTF??

 

[oldrunner]

When Jordan is out of the game the point guard duties will fall to Berry or Senglin, depending on the circumstance. Jeremy is going to get a baptism by fire. He will need to play a significant role on this team. He was going to anyway, but now even more so. Gittins may also need to be available to play. It also means more minutes for Hill and Fuller, as the wave continues through the team.The center position is the only one that seems to not be effected.

 

[Midmajor??]

The Weber State program is building a reputation as a program that develops talent. Players have to make a commitment to not just play at the best of their abilities today, but to work hard to develop their skills for the future. It's not for everyone and obviously it wasn't for Wheels!

The program just got better. There's nothing like a team of talented players all playing with the same level of intensity to achieve a common goal. That's what you now have at WSU. That's not in any way to downplay Wheels prior contributions, but the expectations get higher every year. He was not willing to raise his performance to the expected level.... That's what a mutual separation is all about. Sometimes you get better by subtraction.

2014 will be one of the best seasons in Wildcat history..... Every player on the team is now all in. That's what it takes to win championships.

 

[oldrunner]

I'm sorry to see him go. He has so much potential and he had been working hard to get better. I don't know what happened over the weekend, but I'm sure that it must have been some sort of falling out with one of the coaches. He must have felt that he just couldn't continue to work with someone. It's been said already, but we will likely never know the details. I don't think I really want to know. I just wish him the best, where ever he lands. He will be missed.

 

[Wildcat_Fan]

I agree the program gets better each year but I don't agree wheels wasnt working to get better. I saw him and bolomboy working with coach beckner this off season. I also have talked to a basketball manger and he said he worked hard in practice too. So I agree something had to happen over the weekend

 

[WSUfan1]

I think this could all be alot worse than it really is. I once heard that when McCarthy was coaching, the season following the team fishing like #12 in the nation, 4/5 starters quit the team a few games into the season. Then McCarthy played some walk-on kids, had a open campus tryout, and those players that quit tried getting back on the team. McCarthy did go for that one bit. They ended up winning some games that year, but nowhere where thyey should have.
Why do I bring this up? Well, if a player had to leave or quit, I am sure glad its Wheels and not someone like Joel or a starter. Is it sad, yes. However, the more I think about, USC passed on him because he didnt develop to what his potential was. Now three years later, I really didnt see him progress like we all hoped.Can the team respond by picking up his lag, stat wise from last season? Yes they can. He scored 6pts/game, had 1.3 assists a game. So basically 8 total points for WSU a game. However, once you figure he cost the team double that in TO points, fouls and wasted timeouts Rahe had to call to sub him out for poor play, I think this team just got better. Rahe knows what is up. He knows what is best. Look at the talent we though we had with Fields and many more.However, they were not what Rahe is about. I remember when Rahe first came here, and I was mad at him for cutting that St. Johns transfer, Tyler something, but things seemed to work out for the best. I have every confidence that Rahe and company will get this school to the Big Dance come March! I think we will hope we had Wheels come season time, but who knows, I am glad it happened now than later. Also if you noticed last season, when Wheels was running the 1, Rahe just cringed the whole time. At the start of the season, he was call him over and try and help, near the middleof the season, he yell at him to do something he wasnt, at the end of the season, he just would call a timeout and sub him. That to me showed that Rahe gave up on him at that point. Almost that it wasnt worth the time. I have always said, once a coach stops coaching you or trying to fix your mistakes, he has given up on your progress and is seeking an alternate player. I will miss you Wheels, I am sure you would have been 2-4 off the bench, not a starter or 6th man type player with the skill this team now posses. Good Luck Wheels, hope things turn out okay for you.

 

[PURPLEFORLIFE]

From what I am reading, there are a few members who think that it'll be better if Wheels is gone. I'm not so sure that that is the case. How can any of us think that. Look how much time and energy was invested into Wheels and his game. He is the quickest guy on the team and one of the best players on the team. We all saw what he did when he was a starter against Loyola two years ago in the CIT. He is a 2 and was expected to play the 1 last year. He didn't do a bad job. Sure he had a lot of turnover's, but Rahe's system isn't easy to run, and thats when you get lots of playing time. He was backing up both Richardson and Bamforth. His defense was soft at times, but he was a guy you wanted on the floor when it was crunch time because of his speed and nose for the ball. Remember our come from behind victory against PSU in the Big Sky Semis two years ago, or last years game against UND?? I for one, will not sale Wheels short. This is a enormous loss and a giant shock. What happened over the weekend that forced Wheels to leave? More importantly, none of us have seen Senglin or Gittens, Fuller too, play in an NCAA game. Wheels is an experienced player with a crap load of talent. He can only get better. I'm going to miss him. I liked his energy, his swagger, and confidence. He is a guy who wants the ball in his hands at the end and has the juice to finish the game. Look at his game against BYU. If we would have been playing that style the entire second half, Weber would have run the Cougs out of the Dee, but we went away from it and lost our lead and push. Wheels brought a lot to our team. If he can, I wish he would reconsider and come back and make good on his career here at Weber.

 

[WILDCAT]

From what I am reading, there are a few members who think that it'll be better if Wheels is gone. I'm not so sure that that is the case. How can any of us think that. Look how much time and energy was invested into Wheels and his game. He is the quickest guy on the team and one of the best players on the team. We all saw what he did when he was a starter against Loyola two years ago in the CIT. He is a 2 and was expected to play the 1 last year. He didn't do a bad job. Sure he had a lot of turnover's, but Rahe's system isn't easy to run, and thats when you get lots of playing time. He was backing up both Richardson and Bamforth. His defense was soft at times, but he was a guy you wanted on the floor when it was crunch time because of his speed and nose for the ball. Remember our come from behind victory against PSU in the Big Sky Semis two years ago, or last years game against UND?? I for one, will not sale Wheels short. This is a enormous loss and a giant shock. What happened over the weekend that forced Wheels to leave? More importantly, none of us have seen Senglin or Gittens, Fuller too, play in an NCAA game. Wheels is an experienced player with a crap load of talent. He can only get better. I'm going to miss him. I liked his energy, his swagger, and confidence. He is a guy who wants the ball in his hands at the end and has the juice to finish the game. Look at his game against BYU. If we would have been playing that style the entire second half, Weber would have run the Cougs out of the Dee, but we went away from it and lost our lead and push. Wheels brought a lot to our team. If he can, I wish he would reconsider and come back and make good on his career here at Weber.

I think what most people are really saying (including me) is it wont be better with him gone, it just wont really hurt us that he is gone.

I liked his energy, swagger and confidence too, but I didnt like his turnovers, and his desire to play way to much one on one. Rahe has preached that Weber is team first, Wheels had a lot of talent, but he was no Lillard, Lillard could take a game over, but I dont think Wheels could have on a consistant basis.

You are right that we havent seen any of the newbs play in an NCAA game, but that is no reason to say they are or are not as good or better than Wheels was. Only time will tell.

 

[weberwildcat]

i do not understand why any of you are comparing wheels to dame or vise versa...he was a good player, we will miss him on the court. he wasn't expected to be one of our 3 best players for the upcoming. he couldnt have possibly have left for playing time.

 

[ajwildcat]

I'm not going to speculate on why Wheel's left, I enjoyed watching him play and I appreciate all the work he did here while at WSU and wish him nothing but the best in the future. Are we screwed without him? NO. It just means next man up has to step up. More minutes for the young bucks in the program to show what they can do. I support this coaching staff 100% and I would rather this happen now than drag on through the season and become a distraction.
GO WILDCATS!!

 

[n.ogdencat]

I'm not going to speculate on why Wheel's left, I enjoyed watching him play and I appreciate all the work he did here while at WSU and wish him nothing but the best in the future. Are we screwed without him? NO. It just means next man up has to step up. More minutes for the young bucks in the program to show what they can do. I support this coaching staff 100% and I would rather this happen now than drag on through the season and become a distraction.
GO WILDCATS!!

:clap: :clap: :clap: Excellent post.

 

[hawkssb04]

I'm not going to speculate on why Wheel's left, I enjoyed watching him play and I appreciate all the work he did here while at WSU and wish him nothing but the best in the future. Are we screwed without him? NO. It just means next man up has to step up. More minutes for the young bucks in the program to show what they can do. I support this coaching staff 100% and I would rather this happen now than drag on through the season and become a distraction.
GO WILDCATS!!

Agreed on all counts. If this were a Reddit post, you'd get an upvote, sir! :thumb:

 

[Wildcat_Fan]

Does anyone know where Wheelwright ended up or if he event went anywhere?