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UPDATED: Eikmeier to transfer
By Courtney Linehan
Date Posted: 2009-03-26
Ever since he first touched a basketball, Wes Eikmeier had been a leader, the go-to guy his teammates looked to for an instant lift.
He wants to become that player again.
The two-time Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year announced Thursday that he will be leaving Iowa State after a freshman season plagued by injury and illness. He hopes to find a new start on a new campus.
“I just felt like in my heart it just wasn’t going to work out for me,†Eikmeier said. “After going through the season, going every two or three weeks being sick, seeing the Big 12 level, it was going to take me a little longer to get to a prominent roll at Iowa State.â€
Eikmeier admits he arrived in Ames underweight and a little unprepared for the intensity of the Big 12 conference. It didn’t help that all the weight he gained during the team-mandated summer strength training melted off when he fell ill at the start of first semester.
He considered redshirting in 2007-08, but was one of the team’s leading scorers in a closed exhibition game against Creighton, so he and coach Greg McDermott agreed he should play as a freshman.
Eikmeier averaged 12 points in the team’s first two games, but took his first major blow of the year when a bad stomach flu kept him out of ISU’s third game.
From there he felt like he could never get healthy.
“With my early success coach Mac saw I was going to be capable of being a big key in this year’s team,†Eikmeier said. “A lot of things happened that none of us could control.â€
As the season progressed and ankle, back and hand injuries piled on top of persistent illness, Eikmeier began thinking about transferring or at least redshirting his sophomore season. He told McDermott he would be thinking about a change during Iowa State’s spring break. Eikmeier said McDermott “thought it was a mistake for me to leave,†but supported his ultimate decision.
“I probably didn’t anticipate that it would happen, no,†McDermott said. “Wes went home, talked to his parents and actually told me earlier this week that he’d decided he was going to stay. But as he was putting together his workout plan, looking at what it would take to get his body to that level it needs to be in the Big 12, something changed his mind.â€
Eikmeier is the second Iowa State freshman to announce this week that he is leaving the team. Reserve forward Clinton Mann was released from his scholarship on Monday, the same day Iowa State received a commitment from junior college forward LaRon Dendy.
McDermott while he hoped Eikmeier would persevere at ISU, he also understands the transfer rate among college basketball players is on the rise.
“I’m never comfortable when someone in my program isn’t happy. That’s disheartening,†McDermott said. “But in this day and age, it’s becoming increasingly common. I think in Wes’ case he feels like a different level would be a better fit.â€
Eikmeier said he will revisit the suitors who recruited him out of high school, primarily in the Missouri Valley and Mountain West conferences. He said he hopes to spend his sophomore season, when he will have to redshirt per NCAA transfer rules, building the strength he expected to add as a freshman.
“It was a very hard decision for me, probably the hardest I’ve made, because of all the relationships I’ve created,†Eikmeier said. “I really love it here at Iowa State.â€
Courtney Linehan can be reached at (515) 663-6930, or clinehan@amestrib.com.
By Courtney Linehan
Date Posted: 2009-03-26
Wes Eikmeier played in 26 games as a freshman. He announced on Thursday that he plans to transfer.
Ames Tribune file photo
Ames Tribune file photo
Ever since he first touched a basketball, Wes Eikmeier had been a leader, the go-to guy his teammates looked to for an instant lift.
He wants to become that player again.
The two-time Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year announced Thursday that he will be leaving Iowa State after a freshman season plagued by injury and illness. He hopes to find a new start on a new campus.
“I just felt like in my heart it just wasn’t going to work out for me,†Eikmeier said. “After going through the season, going every two or three weeks being sick, seeing the Big 12 level, it was going to take me a little longer to get to a prominent roll at Iowa State.â€
Eikmeier admits he arrived in Ames underweight and a little unprepared for the intensity of the Big 12 conference. It didn’t help that all the weight he gained during the team-mandated summer strength training melted off when he fell ill at the start of first semester.
He considered redshirting in 2007-08, but was one of the team’s leading scorers in a closed exhibition game against Creighton, so he and coach Greg McDermott agreed he should play as a freshman.
Eikmeier averaged 12 points in the team’s first two games, but took his first major blow of the year when a bad stomach flu kept him out of ISU’s third game.
From there he felt like he could never get healthy.
“With my early success coach Mac saw I was going to be capable of being a big key in this year’s team,†Eikmeier said. “A lot of things happened that none of us could control.â€
As the season progressed and ankle, back and hand injuries piled on top of persistent illness, Eikmeier began thinking about transferring or at least redshirting his sophomore season. He told McDermott he would be thinking about a change during Iowa State’s spring break. Eikmeier said McDermott “thought it was a mistake for me to leave,†but supported his ultimate decision.
“I probably didn’t anticipate that it would happen, no,†McDermott said. “Wes went home, talked to his parents and actually told me earlier this week that he’d decided he was going to stay. But as he was putting together his workout plan, looking at what it would take to get his body to that level it needs to be in the Big 12, something changed his mind.â€
Eikmeier is the second Iowa State freshman to announce this week that he is leaving the team. Reserve forward Clinton Mann was released from his scholarship on Monday, the same day Iowa State received a commitment from junior college forward LaRon Dendy.
McDermott while he hoped Eikmeier would persevere at ISU, he also understands the transfer rate among college basketball players is on the rise.
“I’m never comfortable when someone in my program isn’t happy. That’s disheartening,†McDermott said. “But in this day and age, it’s becoming increasingly common. I think in Wes’ case he feels like a different level would be a better fit.â€
Eikmeier said he will revisit the suitors who recruited him out of high school, primarily in the Missouri Valley and Mountain West conferences. He said he hopes to spend his sophomore season, when he will have to redshirt per NCAA transfer rules, building the strength he expected to add as a freshman.
“It was a very hard decision for me, probably the hardest I’ve made, because of all the relationships I’ve created,†Eikmeier said. “I really love it here at Iowa State.â€
Courtney Linehan can be reached at (515) 663-6930, or clinehan@amestrib.com.
| Comments |
| MiddleCyBacker It seems freshman are all across the board nowadays. At one end of the spectrum, freshman are among the most dominant players in D1. And on the other, some players really need the red shirt year for incubation. Wes was likely among the latter, but it sounds like he aspires to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. It will be intersting to see where he lands. 3/28/09 |
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