READ what REALLY happened with WES

**Cloned4Life** · 05-22-2008, 03:13 AM

My brief response to parts of Cleo's post below...

Originally Posted by Ms.Cleo

Did you notice that Coach Mac never mentioned the conversation he and Wes had where Wes (one of little words) initiated and went in for an unscheduled meeting...
Yes he did, albeit after he was asked about it. Mac said that they both felt better after the meeting and Wes said everything was fine, after that meeting.

He wants to play, he wants the approval of his coach, and he gets this thrown at him after such support in the media?.. and in front of the guys he is supposed to lead?
Leaders need to be able to take the most criticism of all. Not saying Mac is right here, but leaders are leaders for a reason. Coaches are always harder on their best players. That's why they're the best.

Although I personally was uneasy about the content of this meeting, I or should I say, we, were overjoyed with the fact that Wes felt so relieved and excited that with his type of personality he had initiated and gotten a chance to vent his frustrations and tell how he felt about the breakdown in their "relationship".
So...that's a good thing right?

Is it because he signed up for class, or he told you he was O.K.?
Um...yeah that might have had something to do with it.

...saying things to him in front of the team like, "we're better without you".. yeah he said that to Wes on a couple occasions in front of the team..
The best players in every sport I've ever participated it took the MOST criticism. And again, they were better for it, made them tougher. If people only knew half the things Larry said to Jamaal, Kantrail, and Fizer...

...he did not trust coach Mac and how he would handle adversity, injury and the rest of his basketball career.
Mac has faced quite a bit of adversity in his short time here at ISU and I've been nothing but impressed by the way he's handled it. And as Mac mentioned in his presser, he clearly laid out Wes's professional options in a very detailed manner, proving that he truly cared about Wes's chances to go pro.

Mac said "I refuse to believe that our relationship went sour like Wes said." And I say, if you would have believed him when he came to you the first time during the season we might not be going through this hell now.
As Mac mentioned at the presser, the meeting ended with Wes saying things were fine. He mentioned 6-8 other meetings and everytime it ended with Wes saying things were fine. So...Greg shouldn't have believed Wes after Wes said things were fine?? I'm confused...

Mac's ego would not let him believe that his pride and self centered behavior could over shadow the rest of the magic around that campus and cause a player to leave a great place. And that’s what happened and that’s what will continue to happen..
Sour sour grapes...o so sour.

**Madclone1** · 05-22-2008, 04:19 AM

Bottom Line . . Wes needs to grow up and act like a man. "Kids" his age are dying on a battlefield in Iraq or are returning home burned to the bone with limbs missing. THAT is adversity not this crap.

**Flynn4Heisman** · 05-22-2008, 04:24 AM

All right, I've always wanted the perfect opportunity to say this, and now I do...

WALL OF TEXT'D!!!

There, I feel better now. Been wanting to say that for a long, long time.

**jtd9046** · 05-22-2008, 05:24 AM

I understand your reference to Wes as a kid, because as a family member you'll always think of him that way.

But the fact of the matter is, Wes is an adult and deserves to be treated that way just like the rest of the ISU community. You obviously become more of an adult as time goes on, but at the age of 18 and after (especially for a scholarship athlete) there should be no need to 'baby' someone.

That being said, there are always two sides to every story. I believe that neither party, Mac or Wes, is being totally upfront and honest. After hearing all the discrepancies, not surprising to me at all this played out this way.

**tim_redd** · 05-22-2008, 05:34 AM

Regarding the injury thing. Mac is trusting what the doctors tell him. If they tell him nothing is structurally wrong and that he can continue playing without the risk of more damage, what is Mac supposed to do? He is not a doctor. If they say the pain is the only factor, you might see where Wes declined the redshirt and wanted to play so Mac put a little pressure on him to play. Now in this case the doctors happened to be wrong, and it sounds like Mac apologized. Mac put his trust in the doctors, and quite frankly I believe that is the way it should be.

**cybsball20** · 05-22-2008, 06:56 AM

Originally Posted by Cloned4Life

Did you notice that Coach Mac never mentioned the conversation he and Wes had where Wes (one of little words) initiated and went in for an unscheduled meeting...
Yes he did, albeit after he was asked about it. Mac said that they both felt better after the meeting and Wes said everything was fine, after that meeting.

I don't think he said they both felt better. He said that he told Wes it was just the injury and frustration that made him unhappy. Unfortunately, this brief response could be a key to what triggered the 'relationship' problems. Not only did Mac not acknowledge a problem, he minimized it. Like I said before though, this was the ONLY thing that caught me as a little shady about the whole press conference. Why skip this in the timeline then minimalize it when it does come up?

**CyAggie** · 05-22-2008, 07:02 AM

Ok, so now there are differing stories..

Regardless, most, if not all argument points are negated by saying the decision was made months ago, signing up for everything, and then slipping away into the night. That is open communication?

You cannot argue your side of the story if you have left the discussion.

**ISUFan22** · 05-22-2008, 07:04 AM

Everyone is the "inside expert" in this deal and today yet another "came forward".

**mj4cy** · 05-22-2008, 07:05 AM

It's hard to argue a very detailed timeline layed out by McD than can be confirmed by multiple people at every point in time.

**Jeremy** · 05-22-2008, 07:15 AM

I'm not going to get into an arguement here, but what you said in your big long textorama just isn't true. I know this from the players involved, from the coaching staff and from my knowledge of the situation from others as well. You can defend/lie/whatever for Wesley but at some point you need to grow up and stop trying to dictate a kids life just to make a buck when he goes pro. Not only have you tarnished his reputation, you've actually set him back considerably on his immediate chances to go pro.

**kingcy** · 05-22-2008, 07:23 AM

So why did he go through the motions like he was coming back to Ames? Why wait to do this? It looks to me Wes couldnt handle the pressure. I do think he is a good kid. Coaches do expect a lot out of their players expecally their best ones. It is their job to push the players and make them better even. Maybe Wes took some things McD said the wrong way.

**cyclonenum1** · 05-22-2008, 07:26 AM

Obviously, we have no way to know if Ms Cleo is an insider with direct connection to WJ for certain. But I find it difficult to believe that someone without at least some inside knowledge could rap out a long passionate post like that with all of the detail included.

Having said that, as I have said before, McDermott gave his biased side of the story yesterday in his press conference. This may be someone close to WJ giving his side...which again is going to have bias. I believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle. One thing seems to be certain...McDermott had trouble communicating with his best player and it seems likely to me that he is, at a minimum, out of touch with what is going on within his own team.

At the end of the day, I continue to be stunned at how so many of you believe that every word leaving the mouth of McDermott is the unadulterated truth while totally discounting the other side's story. I think the old adage goes..."where there's smoke, there's fire"...I, for one, see a lot of smoke surrounding our program.

**kingcy** · 05-22-2008, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by cyclonenum1

Obviously, we have no way to know if Ms Cleo is an insider with direct connection to WJ for certain. But I find it difficult to believe that someone without at least some inside knowledge could rap out a long passionate post like that with all of the detail included.

Having said that, as I have said before, McDermott gave his biased side of the story yesterday in his press conference. This may be someone close to WJ giving his side...which again is going to have bias. I believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle. One thing seems to be certain...McDermott had trouble communicating with his best player and it seems likely to me that he is, at a minimum, out of touch with what is going on within his own team.

At the end of the day, I continue to be stunned at how so many of you believe that every word leaving the mouth of McDermott is the unadulterated truth while totally discounting the other side's story. I think the old adage goes..."where there's smoke, there's fire"...I, for one, see a lot of smoke surrounding our program.

McD told his side of the story and it was from his mouth. I want to hear Wes's side from his mouth instead of from others. That is the difference.

**cyclonenum1** · 05-22-2008, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by Jeremy

I'm not going to get into an arguement here, but what you said in your big long textorama just isn't true. I know this from the players involved, from the coaching staff and from my knowledge of the situation from others as well. You can defend/lie/whatever for Wesley but at some point you need to grow up and stop trying to dictate a kids life just to make a buck when he goes pro. Not only have you tarnished his reputation, you've actually set him back considerably on his immediate chances to go pro.

No need to argue for you...the "company line" coming from McDermott and anyone else associated with the program (including the remaining players) is the gospel truth and any comments to the contrary are, unequivocally, lies...you have made that clear in nearly every post you make.

**cyclonenum1** · 05-22-2008, 07:41 AM

Originally Posted by kingcy

McD told his side of the story and it was from his mouth. I want to hear Wes's side from his mouth instead of from others. That is the difference.

You better be careful in what you wish for. I highly doubt that if WJ did make extended public comment on this situation that it would cast a very good light on our program and would most certainly be used against in future recruiting.

I suspect he will not make too many public comments, which, I believe, is for the better for us. However, if we decide not to release him, I would suspect that we would likely get a lot of public comments from his family...which likely would not be too flattering.