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Show "ir Sit j . WES JOHNSON I Just Wants A Chance By DAVE WIGHAM WOODS CROSS -- Sometimes Some-times all an athlete wants is a chance to prove themselves. Such is the case with Wes Johnson who recently finished a great career at Woods Cross. TROUBLE is though unless your club is seen at a state ' tournament the chances of a college offer are slim. "It's sad in a way but the tournament is where all the scouts go and if your team isn't in there then they don't get to see you" noted the 6' 3" graduate. Wes has proven himself in sports. He has won two letters at the Wildcat school in football, foot-ball, basketball and baseball for a total of six letters. LIKE MANY other high school athletes Wes could t have concentrated on one sport but he has a theory about it. "if you're looking for a college col-lege scholarship out of it then you should specialize because there just aren't that many athletes around here good enough to play three and still be that good in one of them. But 1 know that I wouldn't have done it any other way than to play all three." Wes looks to another former , Wildcat Mark Earnshaw as an example. "Mark was good enough to play junior college ball at most colleges but because be-cause the team didn't do that well and we didn't make it into the state event then he wasn't recruited. Sometimes you look at some of the players on the junior college teams and you know you can play with them." MR. JOHNSON began his love for sports in elementary school noting that he felt it was the thing to do. Soon it was obvious that he was big for his age and in football he soon began be-gan playing with guys two years older than him. "Now though seems like most have caught up with my size" he added. He came up through the basic ranks of Bantam basketball. basket-ball. Mustang baseball and of course a member of Terry Orchard's state championship little league football side. WES HAS a lot of memories about his high school playing days. In football he cherishes the two years that the Cats knocked off rival Bountiful up on the Brave's field. Basketball brings back the thoughts of his sophomore year when the club placed third in the state tournament and then beating Highland this year. Baseball wise he remembers remem-bers the summer leagues better especially the tournament he had in Las Vegas last year. WHEN CORNERED about his best love he had to think for awhile but then came up with basketball as his favorite and best with baseball right behind. be-hind. All three sports were disappointments dis-appointments to him this year since he felt all three clubs should have done better. "We seemed to play against the best sides a lot tougher than we did the others. We proved we could play with anyone yet didn't make the state tournament in any of them." AND MAKING the state meets is where the scouts get to see their stuff. This is where the final decisions on scholarships scholar-ships are made and those absent ab-sent are usually overlooked. Yet there are some, like Wes Johnson, that should get a shot at a junior college program. Wes will more than likely walk on at Dixie and give it a shot. Afterall that's all this fine athlete wants, a good shot at it. He has the talent to make it .just depends on the circumstances. |