Will Wash's Oglesby be a Hawkeye?

Or a Cyclone? Or a Jayhawk? Or a Panther?

Cedar Rapids Washington junior wing player Josh Oglesby said he's just taking the recruiting stuff all in right now. He has been behind the home bench for a recent Iowa Hawkeye game.

He also has taken visits to Iowa State and Kansas, where his sister is a student. Indiana State coaches were at Friday night's Washington-Cedar Rapids Kennedy game to see him, and there should be a ton of coaches at this Friday night's Washington/Linn-Mar game at Washington.

"I'm just kind of sitting back and enjoying everything right now," Oglesby said of the recruiting process. "Hopefully by my senior season, I'll have committed."

Oglesby was suspended for Washington's first six games this season, but word is it was more a guilt-by-association deal than anything he personally did.

Anyway, here's a story on Oglesby that also is on our preps site: www.iowaprepsports.com.

CEDAR RAPIDS - There was this time a few years back when longtime college coach Ted Oglesby was coaxed into coaching his son's youth basketball team. Josh Oglesby was just a little shaver, and dad really wanted him to be a point guard.

So strict orders were given.

“I told him not to shoot unless he had an uncontested layup,” Ted Oglesby said with a chuckle. “He still wants to pass first even today. I think he's one of the best passers around. He just has a tremendous IQ. He knows the game.”

Including how to score now, too. The Cedar Rapids Washington junior wing has averaged 19 points since returning from a six-game, school-imposed suspension.

Washington (6-5) correspondingly has won four straight, including a big one-point win last Friday night over Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

“Getting suspended changed me personally. I grew up a lot, matured a lot,” Oglesby said. “It held me back, but that has just motivated me even more to come out and show that I'm a part of this team as well.”

He's a big part of it. The 6-foot-4 shooter averaged 11 points last season as a sophomore but has taken his game up a few notches and become a legit Division I college prospect.

Oglesby said he has had correspondence with schools in the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Missouri Valley Conferences and has visited Kansas, Iowa and Iowa State.

“He has really taken a leadership role,” said Wash Coach Brad Metzger. “There are more facets to his game, as far as taking it inside and pulling up for jumpers ... He is able to get his own shot.”

Oglesby said he trained at Mercy Acceleration last offseason and increased his speed and vertical leap by six inches in a month and a half. He absolutely loves the game of basketball.

“I remember he played 107 sanctioned games when he was in third grade,” Ted Oglesby said. “Always aware of burnout, I thought maybe that was too much, so we cut back the next year. But he told me how bored he was. He wanted to play more games.”

He always wants to play more games.

“You could have grounded him for a year, and it wouldn't have hurt him as much as sitting out basketball games this season,” Ted Oglesby said.

“I remember we were at the jamboree (before the season started),” Josh said. “I went into the locker room, but I just had to leave right away. I couldn't stand watching (other) people getting ready to play.”