C.J. Webster to Australia

Just saw this:

Pioneers signing bigger than Texas
The Border Watch
January 19, 2011

The Mount Gambier Pioneers are taking a punt on American import “CJ” Webster for the 2011 South East Australian Basketball League season.

Webster is somewhat of a man mountain, standing 206cm (6’9”) and weighing 115kg, but will arrive at the Pioneers with strong credentials.

Born in Houston, Texas, the 24-year-old Webster has enjoyed basketball experience with Thurgood Marshall High in Missouri City, a brief stint at Arkansas Fort Smith, then with Texas State (San Marcos) in the National College of America Association and from 2007-10 with San Jose State in the NCAA...

Go here for the remainder.

* Mount Gambier is located in south Australia.

All about C.J. Webster

Hopefully, most will think of the following as a counterweight to the reservoir of misinformation, innuendo and downright falsehoods swirling around C.J. Webster's decision to forego his sixth year of college eligibility.

Setting his career numbers straight.

After an abbreviated-by injury-season at Texas State as a freshman and than a very brief stint at Arkansas Fort Smith (formerly a junior college) for the same reason, Webster transferred to San Jose State.

In 2007-2008 during WAC play, he shot .545% from the floor while putting up 12.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game in 27.4 minutes per game.

His production in 2008-2009: 12.6 points, 7.4 boards and 2.5 assists while shooting .485% in 32.2 minutes a contest.

This season brought 19 minutes of floor time each time out (with four conference games missed due to a severe eye injury) resulting in 9.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists each matchup. He shot .644% from the floor.



Webster played (or tried to play, referring to his initial pair of seasons) five years after his high school career concluded at Thurgood Marshall High in Missouri City, Texas.

So why did he choose to forego his last year of collegiate eligibility?

Nobody but C.J. really knows what was woven into the fabric of his decision.

What is known is that he became a father during last season.

Plus, he certainly endured a tough 2010 sports year what with a severe eye abrasion against the Fresno State Bulldogs -- something that limited his game participation from that point on and also negatively impacted his playing time once he returned.


Here are Webster's 2009-2010 WAC numbers preceding that January 11 game against Fresno State and then the remainder of the season:

* Idaho, January 4, a three-point SJSU victory at home: 32 minutes, 21 points, 11 rebounds and two fouls.

* Nevada, January 9, a 29-point loss on the road: 24 minutes, 15 points, three boards and four fouls.

Then came the eye injury and Webster missed league games against Boise State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State before returning to action against Hawaii.

In his return versus UH, Webster played 16 minutes, with four points, two rebounds and four fouls in a starting role.

* Versus Utah State, his production in 18 minutes was eight points and a pair of boards, alongside a pair of fouls in another starting role.

* In a road game against Montana State, Webster played 11 minutes with two points, three rebounds and a trio of fouls but not as a member of the starting five, as he came off the bench in this contest and for the remainder of the season.

* When SJSU faced Nevada again, he played 17 minutes and scored nine points, grabbed four boards and committed four fouls.

* In the rematch against Fresno State, Webster played 17 minutes again, produced seven points, six rebounds and three fouls.

* Likewise against Idaho with 24 minutes on the court resulting in 17 points, nine boards and four fouls.

* 24 minutes versus Boise State produced this: 24 minutes, six points, one rebound and a pair of fouls.

* In the WAC tourney matched up with New Mexico State, Webster had eight points, two boards and five fouls in 20 minutes.


The non-numbers/what we witnessed

* C.J.'s effectiveness defensively and offensively was proportionate to his weight -- less was more. Part of this was simply because he could play longer and remain a positive factor with less poundage carried.

* C.J.'s value as a defender in the paint lessened over his tenure with Chris Oakes superior in the middle in both blocking and altering opponents shooting attempts. In the best-of-all-world's department, a composite of Oakes' length and C.J.'s strength would have been the ideal. Plus, C.J's. employment at the four spot paid less dividends when his matchup possessed outside-the-paint shooting range or dribble-drive ability. His court movement definitely slowed this season and his foul totals increased because he was reaching rather than moving.

* C.J. remained a bull in the paint on offense, knocking around defenders and creating shooting space throughout his Spartan tenure. We would have liked to see use of the dropstep and up and under moves but he scored points regardless and shot .644% in his final go-around.

We hope this is viewed as a fair screening -- we believe it is but readers will make up their own minds. Our bottomline is that we wish C.J.and his new family well and we appreciate what he accomplished at San Jose State.

Carpe diem, C.J. Go all out and hook up with John Lucas or someone in a similar capacity back in Houston because it will pay off in both monetary and playing longevity manners. Reshape the body and add to your skills set.

We'll end with this snippet from a 2010 San Francisco Chronicle article on Omar Samhan: Good or great? [Randy] Bennett and [Kyle] Smith had gotten the line from ESPN's Doug Gottlieb, who said it at a St.Mary's camp. Samhan put together a solid freshman season, averaging 9.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and Bennett and Smith wanted to turn solid into something special. Samhan began going to the gym at 6 a.m. to shoot for an hour and then lift weights for another hour before heading to class. Smith usually accompanied him in those early morning sessions."The night before," Samhan said, "I'd text coach Kyle, 'Are we going tomorrow?' and he'd just text me back, 'Good or great?' and I knew that meant we were on. 'I'll see you at 6.' "

C.J. Webster enters the NBA draft

FOX's Jeff Goodman has posted the official list of the 2010 NBA draft entrants, with May 8 the last day to pull out and return to college if you haven't signed with an agent.

The WAC entries are Luke Babbitt, Paul George, Armon Johnson, Jahmar Young and, very surprisingly, C.J. Webster.

Our understanding is that C.J. has decided not to return to school. We wish him and his new family well.

Elementary my dear Watson...er Webster

We certainly can't attend the upperclassmen dinner now. Well, maybe with Mike Tyson in tow providing security.

A certain Rebounder pointed out to us -- we thank him -- that C.J. Webster has not changed his name nor morphed into a Golden State Warrior backcourter (as Idaho and soon the rest of the WAC wishes).

We don't know what we were thinking last night or if we were thinking when doing the game report. But we sure love the state of Texas and have a particular fondness for Missouri City, Texas...

Let us know when it is safe to emerge from our bunker.

C.J. Webster is the WAC Player of the Week

WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week Announced
Courtesy: WAC
12/29/2008

DENVER – San Jose State’s C.J. Webster has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 22-28. The honor marks the second career WAC Player of the Week award for Webster.

Webster, a junior from Missouri City, Texas (Texas State), helped the Spartans to a 2-1 record last week with wins over San Francisco and William Jessup. Webster scored a season-high 20 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in SJSU’s 82-76 win over San Francisco. He contributed 15 points with five rebounds against Saint Mary’s while shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field. Webster registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in an 82-61 win over William Jessup. Webster was named to the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic all-tournament team for his efforts against Saint Mary’s and William Jessup.

On the week, Webster averaged 16.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He shot 64.7 percent from the field (22-of-34) and 50 percent from the charity stripe (6-of-12).

A look at SJSU's 'bigs' in 2008-2009

We covered the San Jose State 'smalls' earlier so now it's time for the 'bigs.'

To put it bluntly, we as fans are spoiled -- and that is something hard to type considering the marathon of mediocrity the Spartan basketball devoted have endured. The Spartans have two of the better frontcourters in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) -- but we aren't satisfied.

We want more.

But maybe that's actually good -- more later on that.

Granted, it's human nature, the nature of the beast -- supply your own phrase here -- but it's curious how quickly we have forgotten the troubled times where either undersized or undertalented stopgaps did their best in the middle for SJSU but were simply never going to be enough to be competitive.

But the past need not haunt -- so where are we today?

C.J. Webster is a 2008-2009 pre-season all-conference WAC pick and Chris Oakes posted the best rebounding number, 7.2 per game, of any league returnee.

Webster is the best passing big man in the WAC, no ifs ands or buts. He scored 12.3 ppg. while shooting 66% and nabbed 6.6 rebounds a contest in 27 and a half minutes each time out.

Oakes delivered these numbers during conference play: in 25 minutes a game, he averaged 10.1 points, the aforementioned 7.1 boards (51 offensive, 63 defensive) and blocked 16 shots. He was charged with 54 fouls (Webster was whistled for 56).

All of these statistics are lights years better than anything produced in the many previous decades.

For comparison sakes, Utah State's Gary Wilkinson averaged 14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game (41 offensive and 84 defensively respectively), along with seven blocked shots in 30 minutes of play per league game. Referees called 34 fouls on him -- for perspective, 'banger' teammate Tai Wesley was nailed with 55 infractions.

Wilkinson is a unanimous pre-season all-league selection and some have him as the mostly likely to be the WAC most valuable player come March 2009.

So despite the trickiness of using numbers for determinations and the subterfuge that numbers can provide in masking true contribution, the indications are that both Webster and Oakes, at the very least, reside in the same neighborhood as Wilkinson. Maybe not the same street but close by. And if Wilkinson is being so highly lauded for his play...

But we want more.

However, so does the Spartan coaching staff and Webster and Oakes themselves. Everyone in the equation expects more.

The point here is that we need a greater appreciation for what we are currently seeing out on the floor from this pair. Oakes is entering his junior year, having just become an upperclassmen. Webster is listed as a junior but is truly a sophomore in experience -- still an underclassmen. Such is a factor whether one wishes to accept this or not.

We say the best is yet to come and that time is both on the sides of Oakes and Webster and aligned with our predictions.

So we will get more.

But we would be guilty to some degree of simple excessive fan-dom in stopping here.

With Ollie Caballero an unknown at the moment, San Jose State's 'bigs' are Webster, Oakes, redshirt frosh Clint Amberry and senior DeVonte Thomas, who is nominally a small forward. Depth and experience are valid concerns as Amberry is getting his first taste of D-1 action and Thomas at 6-4 has matchup limitations.

Our observation is that Webster and Oakes need to play more consistent positional defense this season, with less reaching. This at least theoretically would translate into fewer fouls and less time on the bench due to foul concerns.

The duo needs to extend their playing time this season to at least 30 minutes a game, even a couple of minutes higher if fatigue won't hinder their respective effectiveness and if their respective production can grow commensurately with the added court time.

That's because Amberry is going to endure what almost all freshman go through -- the ups-and-downs of a first season, especially but not solely at the defensive end where physical play reigns. Although his public exposure has been fairly limited, Amberry has displayed the potential to be a contributor but it would be foolhardy to count on him for consistent production so very early in his college career.

DeVonte Thomas is going to help this season -- there is nobody stronger or more athletic on the roster. However, to expect him to hold his own against opponents four or five inches taller during substantial playing time is going too far out on the proverbial limb. He will certainly bang others around on the court and back down to no one but there are limitations.

We also need to mention Garrett Ton. The 6-8 walk-on will help at the defensive end this season. His offensive game still looks raw but containing others while Webster and/or Oakes are getting a breather will be a valuable asset.

SUMMARY

Webster and Oakes are two very valuable if sometimes under-appreciated assets. Keeping them on the court longer this season will be huge given the inexperience or lack of size that their backups present. Depth with the 'bigs' may be problematical but let's see how Webster and Oakes progress as well as how Amberry adjusts and Thomas matches up.

Don't mess with Team Webster

Beware! Yes, if Team Webster approaches you at the local basketball gym for a 'friendly' game of three-on-three, well, don't say we didn't warn you. You might think C.J. is the ringer of the trio but we're not so sure anymore. We recently engaged Sharon Webster, C.J.'s mother for a question-and-answer session and we
promised not to ask about her three-point range or rebounding ability. Little did we know that mom is the enforcer, having the backs of her husband and C.J. whenever they take to the court

Here's the evidence:

Haven't you heard from whom C.J. get's his talent? Honey, let me tell you momma got moves. Ain't no shame in my game! My rebounding is ridiculously radical. Three-point range...not so much. However, I am still known for getting into foul trouble in the paint. Got a tech and was thrown off the court in league play this past summer for an "accidental" elbow to the mouth of an opponent. But it was worth it, we won! Church Ladies 48 vs Singing Baptist Men 40. That one particular player couldn't sing for awhile, but he recovered okay.

Yikes. We will make sure to call her Mrs. Webster every time from now, probably with a visible genuflection thrown in for this Queen of the Court.

Here's our Q and A:

Q - When C.J. was a high school junior and senior, what was the recruiting process like for you as a parent? Were there calls day and night interrupting meals? Did the mail deliverer give you dirty looks due to all the recruiting materials sent to C.J.?

SW - Yes, there were hundreds of calls from schools all over the country. When we would initially speak to a coach, we would tell them the best time to call. When they would get overly eager and call during dinner, my husband would answer the phone and not so politely tell him that we're in the middle of dinner and to call back later. Except my husband sounded more like Mr. T... "We eatin fool, call back tomorrow and not at dinner time!" I would look across the table at C.J. and cringe, feeling very uncomfortable for the poor fellow on the phone. C.J. would look back at me and just shrug his shoulders and say "I told him what time to call me, I don't feel sorry for him." Then C.J. would just continue stuffing his face full of food.

And yes there was tons of mail. Too many trees had to suffer so that C.J.could receive the "just keeping in touch" bi-weekly mail.


Q - If there was one, what's the most amusing thing you recall from any of the home visits by college coaches?

SW - I won't mention names, but I still snicker when I think about this particular recruiting visit. We had scheduled a visit via an asst coach to meet with him and the head coach of a well-known out of state private school. So the assistant shows up without the head coach! Well, we had attended a really great parent recruiting education seminar hosted by RCS Sports (Jim Hicks), and learned that if a school is really serious and truly wants your child, then the head coach will always be apart of the process. So we sat down and asked the whereabouts of the head coach. The asst coach gave some lame answer and/or excuse that I can't even remember. Anyway, it wasn't going to fly with me. So I cut everything short and stood up so that he knew it was time for him to leave. In the meantime, you could smell all these delicious aromas coming from my kitchen. The dining room table was set beautifully for our expected visitors. I was getting a bit ticked off about the whole thing by now. Anyway, the guy was taking his time about leaving, so I went into the kitchen and started fixing to-go plates for C.J.'s high school coach to take home with him. Mind you I had not offered Mr. Assistant Coach a crumb. The guy was unbelievable, he comes over and looks at Coach Nic's plate and says, "that sure looks good, is that peach cobbler?" I give him the evil eye and answered very matter of factly, "yes it is." Trying to be sarcastic, he's says "no thank you, I already ate before I got here". Then he BURPED really loud in the middle of his sentence! I opened the door to show him out, and fanned the burp out behind him.


Q - How was C.J.'s initial destination (Texas State) determined as the one for him? Was it totally up to C.J.? Was there family input?

SW - There was lots of input from C.J.'s entire family. All of my brothers were student-athletes and now most of them are coaches, so it was hard for them to keep their mouths shut. My husband and I had C.J. compile lists and work his way through it with pros & cons. When it got down to the final three, then C.J. had to make the decision.


Q - After C.J. was injured and then went through various coaching changes, what was going through your mind during this time?

SW - I always knew that things would work out for C.J. Among his God-given talents, basketball is one which he truly loves and cherishes. This was just a detour on his road to success. I always told him there is a lesson, something God wants you to learn from all this. C.J. is stronger, wiser and better since going through this experience. Although I was trying to stay positive and give C.J. good motherly advise, there were times when I wanted to get on a plane and pay a visit to one particular coach and just beat him like he had stolen something! Wham! Pow! But I'm over it now. You know, stuff happens...get up, move on, get over it.


Q - Were there any 'restrictions' placed on C.J.'s choices when deciding on a new D-1 school (We can't fully remember but sort of recall C.J. saying Hawaii was ruled out due to its location)?

SW - I met Coach Nash and was very impressed with him as a person as well as with his b-ball program. The location was indeed a factor. C.J.'s dad told him that he had to choose a school that he (Dad) could drive to in one day or get there by plane within four hours. Overall, it had to be a good school academically and the head coach had to be a man of character who would hold his players accountable.


Q - How did the decision for C.J. to attend San Jose State come about?

SW - When things didn't seem to be panning out for C.J. to attend Virginia Tech or Gonzaga, we moved on. We were not going to sit on our hands and wait for Bill or Seth to make up their minds. C.J. was concentrating on schools in PAC 10 & WAC, I was more interested in getting him a little closer so I contacted LSU and University of New Orleans. I thought C.J. could be the next "Big Baby", but LSU never responded, imagine that. UNO responded immediately and was very interested, but they did not make our short list. However, once C.J. started on his California schools list, it was all over. CalPoly, Long Beach and Fullerton were battling it out for C.J. We really took a liking to Asst Coach Marlon Morton @ Cal Fullerton. However, their new incoming head coach didn't seem to be interested and passed on C.J. Coach Morton gave C.J.'s info to his good friend Don Williams @ San Jose. When C.J. flew out for the official visit, the choice was made. C.J. canceled his visits to Hawaii and a couple other schools. He was sure this was the place for him. He was really impressed with Coach Nessman and could see Coach Nessman's vision for the future of the SJSU MBB and wanted to be right smack dab in the middle of it.


Q - What advice would you give to parents who have sons or daughters just entering the recruiting process?

SW - Read the coaches bio's. Get a feel for who they are and what experience they may/may not have.
Get educated about the recruiting process.
Be knowledgeable. Don't believe everything coaches tell you, find out for yourself.
Research the school's academic standing. Find out graduation rate for athletes & non-athletes.
Question the head coach about his contract. Renewing? Contract terms? If the coach is out next year, 9 times out of 10 your kid is out also!
How does the coach see your child fitting into their program? In what capacity or role?
What type of support system do they have in place for student-athletes?
After you as a parent have investigated, researched and asked loads of questions, what is your gut feeling about the head coach? Is he/she a strong leader? Is this a person of good character and moral standards?
Don't be afraid to get in somebody's face about your kid, even if your child is 6'10 & 265 lbs.

Thank you Sharon...er...Queen of The Court for your time and participation -- it's been quite informative. Please do let us know when you will be at Walt McPherson Court for one of the SJSU games and the refreshments will be on us. In fact, bring all of the Church Ladies as we would love to witness them against all foolish takers.