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Report: William 'Worldwide Wes' Wesley to Become Agent for Coaches
3/06/2010 1:15 PM ET By Tom Ziller
The name William Wesley is something to be feared or loved, depending on your perspective. For most college coaches not named John Calipari, finding out a top high school prospect is attached to the man dubbed "Worldwide Wes" makes chasing the kid in question a virtual dead end: Wes has a famously strong relationship with Calipari, reportedly influencing Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans to attend Memphis in recent years. Wesley is considered the most powerful man in basketball by many, with the ear of megastars like LeBron James, close relationships with all the top entertainers (including Jay-Z, minority owner of the Nets) and too much charisma and smarts to measure.
But Wes has always done his work in the dark, behind closed doors or in the shadows of after-hours. He's famously media shy, having only really become a household name among basketball fans thanks to brilliant reporting from TrueHoop's Henry Abbott and GQ's Alex French. As such, today's report from Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated that Wesley will became a certified agent for coaches at the NCAA and NBA levels is pretty stunning.
Davis reports Wesley will soon sign a contract with CAA, the juggernaut agency which represents some of the world's top celebrities (Oprah, Letterman, Spielberg, Pitt) ... and a few basketball players, including LeBron and Dwyane Wade, this summer's top two free agents. Wes will mostly represent NBA coaches, but also plans to mix in a few college coaches.
What's this all mean? Ask your minister, because I can't quite figure it out. If Wes were focusing on college coaches, you could see how he'd be able to place his clients in seriously advantageous positions. As Davis notes, athletic directors would be putty in Wesley's hands -- his clients could land outrageous deals just on the off-chance they could become a Calipari spillover. But what's the game in the NBA? Will it work the same way? Is Wes trying to use his access to LeBron, Rose, Evans and others in order to make some cash off some lucrative coaching contracts?
Or is this a behind-the-scenes power play? Is Wes lobbing a grenade at the infamous Pump brothers, two twins who basically run the college coach placement game? If so, what's the NBA got to do with it? Is Calipari or another of Wesley's friends looking to make the leap? Is Wes assembling as much influence as possible heading into the biggest summer of free agency in decades?
We'll see. If nothing else, this boosts the intrigue quotient.
3/06/2010 1:15 PM ET By Tom Ziller
The name William Wesley is something to be feared or loved, depending on your perspective. For most college coaches not named John Calipari, finding out a top high school prospect is attached to the man dubbed "Worldwide Wes" makes chasing the kid in question a virtual dead end: Wes has a famously strong relationship with Calipari, reportedly influencing Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans to attend Memphis in recent years. Wesley is considered the most powerful man in basketball by many, with the ear of megastars like LeBron James, close relationships with all the top entertainers (including Jay-Z, minority owner of the Nets) and too much charisma and smarts to measure.
But Wes has always done his work in the dark, behind closed doors or in the shadows of after-hours. He's famously media shy, having only really become a household name among basketball fans thanks to brilliant reporting from TrueHoop's Henry Abbott and GQ's Alex French. As such, today's report from Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated that Wesley will became a certified agent for coaches at the NCAA and NBA levels is pretty stunning.
Davis reports Wesley will soon sign a contract with CAA, the juggernaut agency which represents some of the world's top celebrities (Oprah, Letterman, Spielberg, Pitt) ... and a few basketball players, including LeBron and Dwyane Wade, this summer's top two free agents. Wes will mostly represent NBA coaches, but also plans to mix in a few college coaches.
What's this all mean? Ask your minister, because I can't quite figure it out. If Wes were focusing on college coaches, you could see how he'd be able to place his clients in seriously advantageous positions. As Davis notes, athletic directors would be putty in Wesley's hands -- his clients could land outrageous deals just on the off-chance they could become a Calipari spillover. But what's the game in the NBA? Will it work the same way? Is Wes trying to use his access to LeBron, Rose, Evans and others in order to make some cash off some lucrative coaching contracts?
Or is this a behind-the-scenes power play? Is Wes lobbing a grenade at the infamous Pump brothers, two twins who basically run the college coach placement game? If so, what's the NBA got to do with it? Is Calipari or another of Wesley's friends looking to make the leap? Is Wes assembling as much influence as possible heading into the biggest summer of free agency in decades?
We'll see. If nothing else, this boosts the intrigue quotient.