WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Kaleb Wesson sat off to the side of the stage, nervous and unsure, as his older brother Andre stood in front of a packed crowd inside the auditorium at Westerville South High School. Andre Wesson, a senior, was set to announce where he would be playing college basketball next season. Kaleb Wesson, who is a junior already committed to Ohio State, had no idea who his brother intended to sign with.
“I told him I didn’t want him to tell me,” Kaleb said. “I wanted to know like everybody else.”
So, Andre grabbed the microphone, his black jacket zipped all the way up to the top as to not reveal the shirt he had underneath. There were no hats on the table. This wasn’t going to be a long, drawn out process. Andre was going to say a few words, then announce where he was going to play his college basketball.
Wesson began by thanking his parents, paused for a few seconds to collect his thoughts, then continued.
“Next year,” Andre said, his left hand now on the zipper to his jacket, “I will be attending The Ohio State University.”
The entire crowd erupted. That probably should have been expected. After all, this was happening at a high school located just 20 minutes from Value City Arena.
But the reaction from Kaleb Wesson was what stood out most. Above all of the noise, all of the commotion inside that auditorium, Kaleb's voice rang loudest.
‘Yes, sir!’ he screamed.
Kaleb, who is listed at 6-foot-9 and 280 pounds jumped out of his seat with the quickness of a point guard. He sprinted out of the open door located right next to him and dashed down the hallway. Don't worry, he returned a few seconds later.
But it was in those brief seconds, Kaleb realized he was going to get to play college basketball alongside his brother. Andre had decided to stay home and play for the hometown Buckeyes.
“I was so excited,” Kaleb said afterward, smiling from ear-to-ear.
The fact Andre Wesson signed to play for Ohio State wasn’t all that surprising. His school, Westerville South, is just 20 minutes from campus and his younger brother is one of the top-rated junior prospects in the country, already verbally committed to play for the Buckeyes. On top of that, Andre and Kaleb’s father, Keith, played his college basketball at Ohio State back in the mid-1980s.
It seemed like it should have been a done deal, Andre to Ohio State. But because of the way his recruitment played out, it was anything but.
Andre Wesson flew largely under the radar for the majority of his recruitment. He garnered offers early in the process from the likes of Richmond, Akron, George Mason and other mid-major programs, but did not land any high-major offers. He opted not to sign during college basketball’s early-signing period with hopes of landing one of those.
Then Wesson had a huge senior season and helped lead the Wildcats to the Division I state title — the first in school history. He averaged 17 points and 6.5 rebounds for Westerville South as a senior and shot over 40 percent from behind the 3-point line while also emerging as one of the state’s top defenders. High major programs started to take notice.
On March 22, just a few short days after Andre and his teammates lifted up the state championship floor at Value City Arena, Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta finally pulled the trigger and extended a scholarship offer.
Many thought it was over at that point, but Andre, even despite all of the Ohio State connections, still kept thinking back to those schools that had been recruiting him for a long time.
“I had great relationships with the coaching staffs that had already been recruiting me,” he said. "Like Richmond, they’ve been here the whole time and I really liked my visit when I went there so it was tough.”
The relationships he had built with those programs were long established.
But this was a chance to play at Ohio State.
“Any kid from Columbus, Ohio, they grow up wanting an Ohio State offer. That’s all you watch is Ohio State, that’s all you see is Ohio State,” Andre said. “But I still felt good about the offers that I had. The people that had already offered me, I had a real good relationship with the coaching staffs and when I went there on visits I had a good relationship with the players.
“But like I said, growing up in Columbus, Ohio State is pretty hard to turn down.”
So Andre Wesson joins the Buckeyes in the 2016 class. He officially signed his Letter of Intent and will suit up next year for Ohio State. Derek Funderburk and Micah Potter are also both already in the fold and the Buckeyes landed another commitment from junior college point guard C.J. Jackson on Monday. He is expected to sign after visiting campus.
“We are excited Andre continued the Wesson legacy with Ohio State basketball,” Matta said in a statement. “Andre brings several elements to our program with his abilities to score, handle the ball, shoot from 3-point range and play defense.
“But one of the things I like most about him is his desire to play for the Buckeyes and add to what his father accomplished in an Ohio State uniform.”
In the end, that was just too much to overcome. The kid who grew up 20 minutes from Ohio State’s campus with a father who played for the Buckeyes and a brother who was already verbally committed was going to wind up staying home in Columbus after he finally received his scholarship offer.
And with Andre officially in the fold for next season and Kaleb to follow the year after that, Keith and Stephanie Wesson will be spending plenty of time watching their sons play college basketball just a short drive from their home.
A family affair, indeed.
“It’s going to be fantastic,” Keith Wesson said. “The fact that we can go to Kaleb’s games next year and go to Andre’s games. And then when Kaleb gets there, to be able to watch them both, that’s priceless.”
