Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Prioleau Can Spot A Prize (Boyle Can, Too)
June 23, 2010 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Colorado men's basketball assistant Jean Prioleau has more than a casual interest in Thursday's NBA Draft. Not only will he be in attendance in New York, he'll be waiting and watching with Wesley Johnson in the "green room" for Johnson's name to be called.
It shouldn't be a very long wait.
Johnson, a 6-foot-7 small forward from Syracuse, likely will be among the first five players selected - maybe even among the first three. Philadelphia coach Doug Collins has likened Johnson's physical presence and parts of his game to that of former Chicago Bulls star and future NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.
That's high praise, but Prioleau - he answers to "JP" or "Pre" - knows it's well deserved. That's because Prioleau knows Johnson very well - well enough to be in the "inner circle" of family and friends flown by Johnson to NYC for the draft.
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| Syracuse's Wesley Johnson was the 2010 Big East Player of the Year and is expected to go early in Thursday's NBA Draft Photo Courtesy: Syracuse University Athletic Communications |
"He's like, 'Hey man, I'm flying you out to the draft' . . . I smiled and was happy for him; it felt good," said Prioleau, who had worked with new CU coach Tad Boyle at Wichita State (2000-05) and was coaching at Texas Christian before Boyle brought him to Boulder.
Prioleau's relationship with Johnson predates his landing the player at Iowa State, where "JP" spent two seasons (2006-08). He initially spotted Johnson in high school (Corsicana, Texas) and thereafter on a powerful Dallas AAU team - the Mustangs - while searching to sign a wing player for Wichita State.
At that time, Johnson was a spindly 6-4. Now, he's three inches taller, weighs 206 and has a 7-1 wingspan. "He probably would have redshirted because his body wasn't ready," Prioleau recalled. So he and Wichita State took a pass and signed someone else.
A year after Prioleau had moved on to Marquette, he and former coach Tom Crean (now at Indiana) visited The Patterson School in Lenoir, North Carolina, to scout a 6-9 prospect. Entering the gym, Prioleau noticed a familiar-looking player at the court's far end.
"But he was longer than I remembered, he was moving his feet and really playing. He was on the floor with Dominique Sutton (Kansas State), Tony Crocker (Oklahoma) and Davon Jefferson (Southern California). I'm thinking, 'This guy's got a chance to be really good.' I did a double take - it was Wesley," Prioleau recalled.
"When we left there, I made sure I got in contact with his brother who I had built a relationship with anyway. We (Marquette) weren't looking for a wing, but I kept in touch. Usually when stuff like that happens and there's separation - someone leaves or whatever - there's a disconnect. But for some reason, on this one . . . we just kept in touch because I guess it just comes down to people.
"I think they (family) respected me enough and appreciated it all. I respected his brother and all of his family."
Maintaining the relationship paid off. When he got to Iowa State and then-head coach Greg McDermott (now at Creighton) was looking for a wing, Prioleau said, "I've got your guy." He telephoned Johnson, who had left Patterson for Eldon Academy in Petoskey, Mich., and offered him a scholarship. Johnson was bound for Ames, Iowa.
It turned out that Prioleau and Johnson spent only two seasons at ISU. But in that time, Prioleau knew Johnson had become a player. During one four-game stretch against Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State - "The most athletic teams in the league and the eventual (2008) national champion," Prioleau noted - Johnson averaged 20-plus points.
He wound up being selected to the Big 12 Conference's All-Rookie team in 2006-07. Johnson played most of his sophomore season with an ankle injury, and when Prioleau left for TCU, Johnson left for Syracuse. "JP" called their same-season departures "coincidental," but however disparate their reasons, the Cyclones were dealt a blow.
After sitting out a transfer season, Johnson averaged 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.8 blocked shots for the Orange and was named the Big East Conference's player-of-the-year - the first Division I transfer in league history to earn that honor. The NBA took notice; he's ranked No. 6 in this year's Top 100 prospects and has been projected as high as No. 3 in some mock drafts.
Johnson's moves to the pair of prep schools raised some eyebrows, but Prioleau said, "He was already qualified (for college admission) and most people don't understand that. He has a really tight circle (of friends) and they guided him the right way. He just wasn't ready physically; his body was changing. They told him to wait a year - and for him it worked out."
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| Newly hired CU assistant Jean Prioleau worked with Tad Boyle and fellow assistant Mike Rohn at Wichita State. Photo Courtesy: TCU Sports Information |
"I was there (at WSU) for five years, so that's where I'm coming from," Prioleau said. "Once we turned it around, I branched off and went into the Big East. Tom Crean (Marquette) was a great coach as well, but the core of what I know comes from Mark and Tad.
"You're talking a lot of history with those two, obviously going way back to their college days at Kansas. You're talking about what they've done and what they've learned under guys like Roy Williams and Larry Brown - big-time, powerful coaches. So I'm actually coming into all of that. They've grown up in that system and tweaked it along the way with what they like."
Prioleau turned up many of Wichita State's top players, including Denver's Sean Ogirri, and is being counted on by Boyle to be among his top recruiters. Leaving TCU for CU offered him chance to work with two of the three other coaches he'd been with at Wichita State (fellow CU assistant Mike Rohn and Boyle).
"It pretty much was a no-brainer for me," said Prioleau, who calls Boyle "a great up-and-coming coach. He loves competition and is a great person. I'm excited to be here with him."
Prioleau has an obvious knack for dealing with people and developing relationships with players and recruits. But he refrains from terming that a strong suit: "I've never looked at it like that . . . I just am what I am. If someone wants to know, I'll explain it to them. But I don't have all the answers."
He had enough of the right ones, though, to be an early influence on Wes Johnson's life. He can have the same kind of impact at CU. Boyle is counting on it.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
