Gelaun Wheelwright Will Reportedly Transfer From Weber State

Weber State was dealt a big blow when it was announced that junior guard Gelaun Wheelwright would be transferring from the Wildcats.

@_shawnyBOY yeah
— GeLaun Wheelwright (@WebState0) September 4, 2013

Wheelwright originally committed to USC before coming to Weber State. He had his ups and downs over the first two years of his career, but he looked to be a good bet to start the next couple of years in the backcourt. He was lacking in polish, but had excellent physical skills - he was perhaps the fastest player in the Big Sky. With that in mind, it seems like Weber State was the ideal spot for him - they developed Damian Lillard into a national star, and Jordan Richardson into one of the best PGs in the conference.

Arguably, there are few better spots to become a better PG, but it just never clicked for Wheelwright to become a star that his talent suggested he may be.

Last year, he shot 51.5% from twos and 33% from downtown, but struggled with ball security and initiating the offense. He had an assist rate of 13.4 and TO Rate of 27.3. While he has the size for the one, he was more of an undersized two guard.

His absence poses some interesting questions and thoughts for Weber State.

First is, who starts next to Jordan Richardson in the backcourt? Of the returners, Royce Williams seems like he could handle more minutes. In limited time last season, he was an efficient offensive scorer, shooting 50% both inside and outside the arc. Another option could see the Wildcats going big, with a lineup like:

PG Jordan Richardson
SG Davion Berry
SF Kyndahl Hill
PF Joel Bolomboy
C Kyle Tresnak

The amount of length and athleticism on that roster would be ridiculous.

In my opinion, the most intriguing option would have freshman Jeremy Senglin starting at the two guard, as there has been nothing but great things said about him. I suspect he will have a great chance at the starting spot if he has a great fall. Though with the lack of depth that this may cause, it may be better to have Senglin off the bench.

The second question is - who handles the ball when Richardson is out? There is no natural backup PG on the roster now, which is a concern this year and in the future for the Wildcats. Davion Berry is a guy that will probably be handling the ball a lot more this season.

In the end, it seemed like Wheelwright was coming into a great situation, but things never clicked 100%. At times, it seemed like he wanted to do his own thing, or make the fancy play rather than the simple one. However, he's very talented, and his absence will test the great depth the Wildcats would have enjoyed. It's not an insurmountable loss, but it's a blow for Randy Rahe.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Per Roy Burton, Coach Randy Rahe said, "We both decided it was time for (Wheelwright) to have a change of environment and move on to a different situation.”

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