The Rambler, Vol. 92, No. 4
Marc Nettles, staff writer

     AAron Whaley, men's head junior varsity basketball coach, is currently preparing his squad for another season, which he hopes will earn the J.V. program a little well-deserved respect.

     The road he took to get to his present-day position, however, is a little longer than the one that led to the team's first home game last week against the Fort Worth All-Stars.

     Whaley, a native of Chapman, Kan., began his playing days at Pratt Community College in Kansas. He was lured to Wesleyan by a former assistant coach, Jason Kennemer, who was hired at Texas Wesleyan as an assistant.

     "I was wanting to get out of Kansas, so it was perfect for me," said Whaley. He currently holds four school records and is a member of the elite 1,000-point club.

     While Whaley has his place etched in Wesleyan history, he has also played alongside some of Wesleyan's best student-athletes. He advanced to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship Tournament in 2002 when the university moved down to NCAA-Division III, with four other outstanding athletes.

     Other members of that team were All-American Todd Chappell, Chad Crenshaw, Brian Fulton and Shawn Ashworth, all of which have their place in Wesleyan history. Each of them remained at Wesleyan even after losing their scholarship money because athletic scholarships were not awarded to Division III athletes. Whaley also played for a team that was one game (an 80-70 loss to Jarvis Christian in the conference tournament) from advancing to the NAIA national tourney in 2003. That team also had tremendous athletes James Whitfield and David Johnson on board.

     Off the court, Whaley's stats are still impressive. He graduated from Wesleyan with a bachelor's degree in sports management in 2003. He is also currently only nine hours away from earning his master's degree in sports management. In June, Whaley was appointed as the full-time student activities coordinator, a position running out of the Student Life office.

     Whaley says he is thankful for a select few who "went to bat" for him with the assist he needed to become a full-time employee of the university. Whaley credits Brennen Shingleton, assistant men's basketball coach, as one of the main reasons he decided to stay at Wesleyan. He says Shingleton is a great friend who "does a lot for the program that people don't know about …and really doesn't get enough credit."

     "I'm comfortable here," he said. "Wesleyan is a place that can definitely use some change, and I'd like to be a part of that change."

     Whaley, who is beginning his second season as head coach of the J.V. program, says that the main objective of the team is to give student-athletes an opportunity to play college basketball. He says that he wants the program to be a developmental steppingstone for guys who are not quite ready for the varsity level.

     "This year's team is light years ahead of last year's team," said Whaley.

     The addition of 14 new athletes to the two returners will allow him to do much more with the squad than he could have done last year. And while the group has a lot of work to do, he said he sees a lot of potential.

     "Hopefully, they will continue to work hard, because they are going to get out of this what they put into it," said Whaley.

     Two athletes in particular, senior Brian Harston and freshman C.J. Higginbotham, put in a lot of hard work last year and were called up to the varsity squad. Harston saw a lot of varsity minutes. Higginbotham, now a sophomore on the varsity roster, should be an integral part of this year's team.

     "I don't like to pick names because it is still early on, but you can definitely see who has been working on their games over the summer and who has not," said Whaley. "I think we have a chance to really compete this year."

     With four home games on the schedule, Whaley said he hopes his team can be competitive and "give the fans something to come watch."
He also hopes to gain respect.

     "I want my guys and the school to take the J.V. team seriously," he said. "Right now, we get no respect, but it's up to us to change that."