Calipari hires Brandon Weems; LeBron one step closer to unofficial UK alum

Picture this situation taking place sometime over the next year or so: UK is hosting big time high school stud X in Lexington. John Calipari is showing him around UK’s facilities, trying to convince him that UK is the place he needs to spend the next 1, 2, 3, or 4 years in preparation for superstardom in the NBA.

Calipari: “So this is the Joe Craft Center. This is where we hold most of our practices and pick-up games, it’s the state of the art facility that I don’t think any other school in the nation can match. You’ll be learning the Dribble Drive here and…”

Big Time High School Stud X (noticing a headbanded 6-8 270 pound specimen of an athlete shooting baskets on a side court): “Wait, coach, is that who I think it is???”

Calipari: “Seriously, that guy hangs around here all the time, it’s kind of annoying. I think he’s a buddy of one of our GA’s. Anyway, let’s go check out the weight room.”

(Big Time High School Stud X’s jaw hits the floor)

That situation is now entirely plausible. Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com is reporting that John Calipari has hired “LeBron’s boy”, Brandon Weems, as a graduate assistant at UK for the upcoming season:

Rick Pitino brought on one of Marquis Teague’s “guys” as a graduate assistant, but John Calipari may have one-upped his rival from down the road.

Calipari has added Brandon Weems as a graduate assistant.

No, Weems doesn’t have a connection with a particular recruit as Shabaka Lands did with Teague.

However, Weems has one connection that could be extremely valuable.

Weems was a teammate of LeBron James’ back at St. Vincent-St. Mary (Ohio) and is one of LeBron’s closest friends. One source told me that Weems’ presence in Lexington was key in LeBron showing up on the campus during the summer.

“You could say he’s in LeBron’s inner circle,” said Walsh University head coach Jeff Young, who coached Weems at the Division II school. “They grew up together.”

This will further a relationship between LeBron and Calipari that has been aided by William Wesley (aka Worldwide Wes), who is close with both parties.

Young confirmed to FOXSports.com that Weems has been brought on by Kentucky.

“He’s a great kid,” Young said of his former player. “He’s a four-year starter, an All-American and one of the best kids I’ve ever been around. He’s a winner.”

We all know about the fuss that was generated by LeBron James’ brief visit to Lexington this summer, so the prospect of having him even more closely tied to UK is intriguing to say the least. I wrote an extended article about LeBron and Cal’s budding relationship and the driving forces behind it.  At the time I was unaware of the role played by Weems, but I was very aware of the instrumental role being played by Worldwide Wes in bringing the two together:

So, Calipari and James have a close relationship with Wesley in common. Wesley has enough influence over both to steer them toward people and steer them away from people. I think it’s pretty clear that William Wesley is acting as a matchmaker of sorts between Calipari and James.

Wesley sees that LeBron and Calipari both stand to gain by building a rapport, so he’s pushing them together. Per usual, it figures that Wesley stands to gain as well, it just that no one is sure how. However, the next reason for the LeBron-Cal relationship may give some insight into that.

It’s unclear exactly how Calipari plans to use his connection to LeBron other than just making sure everybody knows about the connection, but the possibilities are all fun to think about.

This is really a good situation for everyone, because it connects UK even more to LeBron, LeBron gets to see one of his friends get a great opportunity to make a career for himself in basketball, and Brandon Weems can contribute to something potentially special if he is any good.