Wes Washpun comes home to play for Iowa Energy

Welcome home, Wes.

Cedar Rapids native, Cedar Rapids Washington and Northern Iowa grad Wes Washpun is back in Iowa, and is going to get to play some basketball here again. The standout point guard was picked up on waivers by the NBA D-League's Iowa Energy on Monday and made his NBADL debut Tuesday, bringing Washpun back from Germany, where he was playing professionally.

It's a move Washpun is understandably excited about, and an opportunity he relishes.

'It's really cool. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity being home and close to my family, and get to play the game I love,' Washpun said. 'I feel like it's a positive step. Playing against top talent night-in, night-out; guys that are in the league and have been drafted, and guys that are right on the border line. It's a good step for me.'

Washpun signed with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of the German Bundesliga in July, and averaged 5.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 15 games there before leaving the team on Dec. 5.

He said Tuesday he and his agent discussed the move and his options for his future, and putting his name on the NBADL waiver wire was the best one. He was picked up by his home state team pretty quickly, as first reported by the Des Moines Register, and makes him another in a line of former state of Iowa players to suit up for the Energy. Former Cyclones Curtis Stinson and Diante Garrett and former Hawkeyes Jeff Horner and Matt Gatens all played in Des Moines after college.

'My agent let me know a few teams in the D-League were interested in me, and we thought it was a good idea to put my name into the waiver pool,' Washpun said. 'It was a good fit. They were dealing with a few injuries. It was a good fit for me, obviously, because it's close to home. I feel like there's some talent on the roster and I can help out a lot.'

The transition to the Energy roster happened fast for Washpun.

He signed on Monday and spent the rest of that day and most of Tuesday running around Des Moines getting paperwork finished and health checks taken care of. Those were just a few more reminders for why professional basketball is so different from what he dealt with at UNI. Maybe the starkest contrast was he played immediately. Washpun had two points, three assists and two rebounds in Tuesday night's 139-115 loss to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, barely more than 24 hours after signing with the team.

Pro basketball isn't for the timid, Washpun said. It's a lesson he's learned in just a few months out of school.

'Everything is a learning experience with this being my first year as a professional,' Washpun said. 'I'm taking a lot of stuff in. I've also learned it's a business — a cutthroat business, and you have to be at your peak at all times.'

Getting the chance to come home — both the U.S. and Iowa, specifically — serves as a perfect way, Washpun said, for him to further his career in basketball.

He hasn't had a chance to seek much advice from other former pro players he knows — there hasn't exactly been time — but there's at least an outline of a road map for him to follow. It's going to take time to integrate himself into a new team and a new place, but being able to do it and have his family just a few hours away helps.

'I want to hopefully help get the team here back on track and make a run for the playoffs,' Washpun said. 'We've got a bunch of games left and a lot of talent on the roster. I have just a lot of little goals like that — win, improve myself as a leader, player and point guard. I've been getting a lot of exposure and want to prove I belong here at the next level.'

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