Wesley back from break
He’s 6-foot-8, 230 pounds, and, as a red-shirt freshman, Tai Wesley will look to help the Utah State men’s basketball team to it’s ninth-straight winning season.
Wesley started playing basketball seriously in the sixth grade and said by the 10th grade, he knew he had a chance to pursue the sport further.
“My 10th-grade year, I started not being so uncoordinated and being able to move my feet and put the ball in the hole,” he said.
Growing up in a house where basketball was as common as Sunday-night dinner, Wesley said he really knew he was destined to play basketball long before the time he gained coordination and learned how to shoot.
“It was mostly those backyard games I had with my five brothers,” he said. “You know, beating each other up, us against our dad, you know, just growing up in a family where we all play basketball. It was hard not to come out and play in the college level.”
When he said that, he wasn’t kidding, as Wesley follows in the steps of older brothers Mekeli and Russel, who played at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College respectively.
By his senior year at Provo High School, Wesley was averaging 16.7 points per game as well as eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal. As a prep senior, he led Provo High to a state title and was named Mr. Basketball from the state of Utah.
Rather than follow in the footsteps of his basketball idol and brother, Mekeli, he chose not to go to Brigham Young University and also turned down an offer from the University of Utah. Wesley said he chose to come to Utah State because of its openness throughout the recruiting process.
“Utah State in their recruiting process was really honest with me, and I really liked that,” Wesley said.
During a reshirt season in 2005, Wesley saw current Aggie teammate Jaycee Carroll return from an LDS mission, and he soon followed suit, leaving the team for two years. By watching Carroll return from a mission, Wesley said he has a good example to follow in his pursuit of success.
“I saw (Carroll) come off his mission and how he bounced back,” Wesley said. “He took a lot of criticism from coaches and other people, and he just handled it really well.”
In addition to knowing how to bounce back from a mission, Carroll said he also knows Wesley will have to bring it every day to regain old basketball form.
“You cannot get discouraged,” Carroll said. “Keep playing hard and just bring a positive attitude every day.”
Wesley agrees and said he knows he has only been back playing basketball full-time for four months. He said he understands he has a lot of work to do to regain his old self on the court.
“I am a lot slower and still don’t feel comfortable like I did before,” Wesley said. “I’ve got to think about things more instead of it being fluid or solid.”
Wesley is expected to contribute to the team this year by being able to play with his back to the basket and use either hand to score or pass. Assistant Coach Tim Duryea praised Wesley for his basketball instincts as well as great inside play.
“Tai has tremendous instinct for the game and feel for the game,” Duryea said. “He is probably as good a passer out of the post as you could hope for. He really has a knack and a feel for where everybody else is on the floor, and he can score with either hand around the basket. He can go over either shoulder in the post and he can score with either hand in the post. He is also a good enough ball handler to be able to step out on the perimeter, and he can drive by you.”
With that said, Duryea also acknowledged that like any other player, Wesley will have to earn his playing time in practice by working hard and improving his defense. Wesley said he knows he needs to get better on the defensive end of the court and that the coaches remind him of that at every practice.
“Every day, every day,” Wesley said. “Not just (USU Head Coach) Stew (Morrill), every coach out here lets me know I need to play better defense and move my feet.”
Besides improving on defense, Wesley said he wants to help the team win and is willing to do whatever the coaches ask of him to do so. He said winning a Western Athletic Conference championship would be nice.
For now, though, Wesley is just happy to be starting his career as an Aggie. After taking two years off from the sport he loves, Wesley said he would have it no other way than to be in Logan playing basketball for the Aggies.
“It feels great. I love it,” Wesley said. “I get to play basketball every day. I am just loving it right now.”
-sam.bryner@aggiemail.usu.edu