Iowa, Tennessee in play for CR Washington's Wes Washpun

IOWA CITY - Cedar Rapids Washington point guard Wes Washpun has several schools vying for his services as basketball's national signing day approaches next week.

Washpun will take an unofficial visit to meet Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery on Thursday and remains in contact with new Tennessee Coach Cuonzo Martin, who offered Washpun a scholarship at Missouri State.

Washpun's AAU Coach Jamie Johnson of the Iowa Barnstormers tweeted Tuesday night that Washpun had received a scholarship offer.

"Both of them (Iowa and Tennessee) are big players right now," Washpun said. "They've talked to me a lot. I talked to Coach McCaffery (Monday) night, Coach Martin on Saturday. Things have been picking up a little bit."

Missouri State, under new coach and former Iowa player Paul Lusk, continues to pursue Washpun as well.

"I talk to him (Monday) night," Washpun said. "He told me that my offer still stands, and he'd love to have me down there still. As far as my situation there, it remains the same."

Washpun averaged 18 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4 assists a game for Washington, which qualified for the Class 4A state tournament. He and teammate Josh Oglesby, who signed a letter of intent to play at Iowa last fall, combined for nearly 40 points a game for the Warriors.

Washpun admittedly did struggle from the free-throw line. He hit just 52.2 percent from the floor - 82-of-157 - but says it was just an irregular year and not typical of his ability.

"What I need most important improvement in is my shooting from 3-point range," he said. "I struggled a little bit from the free-throw line this year. That was the first time struggled my career from there in my career."

Washpun sank 25 percent of his 3-point shots this year. National recruiting analyst Van Coleman said Washpun is competitive for a scholarship at Iowa.

"I think he's a kid who can still be in the mix,” Coleman said of Washpun. “I think he still is. He is a pure point guard. Does he have some work to do? Yeah, he needs to work on his jump shot a lot. But as far as ball handling and delivering of the ball off the dribble, he's right there with all the kids that you're recruiting this time of year. He doesn't have experience, but he has the abilities."

North Dakota State also has offered a scholarship to Washpun, who recently visited that campus. He has received interest from Florida Gulf Coast and Louisiana Tech.

"I'm just gonna wait it until signing day to see what happens," he said.

Washpun also answered concerns that he might not qualify academically to play at the next level.

"I'm 100 percent qualified for the NCAA Clearinghouse with my ACT score as it is right now and my GPA," Washpun said. "I really turned it on here the last year. It wasn't that I couldn't do it; it was just almost laziness  on my part, and I paid price for it. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise in the end. I definitely wish I would have jumped on it earlier."