Former ISU forward has UA’s interest

Iowa State forward Wesley Johnson, who surprised his coaches when he suddenly packed his bags and left the program on May 15, has garnered attention from Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey, according to a report.

Johnson, who averaged 12.4 points per game last season as a sophomore and was named to the Big 12’s All-Freshman team in 2007, has not been given permission by the ISU athletic departmen

t to speak to interested schools, but the Des Moines Register has the scoop:

The Des Moines Register requested a list of schools requesting permission to talk to Johnson through Iowa’s open records law.

As of today, those schools were Arkansas, Cincinnati, Marquette, Ohio State, Mississippi, Sam Houston State, Southern Methodist, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Johnson suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle but played throughout the season last year, missing just five games. The fracture was not discovered by doctors until April 25, according to a report by Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register.

[Iowa State head coach Gregg] McDermott contemplated a medical redshirt for Johnson during the season.

“It’s unfortunate this didn’t show up in some of the earlier X-rays,” McDermott said. “Had it been there in January, we would have shut him down. But we didn’t know. And there was no way to know.”

Johnson is now wearing a boot and will need three months to heal.

Pelphrey signed two small forwards in the Hogs’ 2008 class already, including Jason Henry of Harmony Prep. Small forward Daniel Payne, once a 2008 signee with the Hogs, was released by Pelphrey in April. So, obviously, there is a slot open for another small forward for the Hogs.

If brought on board by Pelphrey, Johnson would have to sit out the 2008-09 season per NCAA rules before completing his two remaining years of eligibility.

Filed under: SEC Basketball, Arkansas Basketball by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: May 28, 2008 at 11:57 am