Every now and then I’ll be interviewing or talking to someone and maybe things are going pretty well when I go down a road that’s almost always worth the trip. Simple question, complex answer.  

What’s the best number in your cell phone?

The answers vary — it always surprises me who knows who and how — but you can imagine the replies and what they say about people. Well, I have Wes Johnson’s cell phone number and today that’s borderline cool.

Truth be told, I’m not even sure it’s his number anymore. It’s a Texas number and at the time he was leaving Iowa State before ultimately deciding on Syracuse. A lot has changed in the past two years, including my ability to accurately recall the time. But I think I spoke to him and he politely declined our discussion that, at that time, hinged on him possibly making the move to join Bob Huggins at WVU.

“He was in the Big 12 at Kansas State and I was familiar with him,” said the 6-foot-7 Johnson, the first transfer from a four-year school to win the Big East’s top prize. “When he left, he’d seen me play. He was interested when I left, so I felt like I’d explore my options.”

Johnson, who beat out a group including Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds, Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody and West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler, led Syracuse with 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds and was second in steals and blocked shots. He shot 48.7 percent from the floor, 38.1 percent from 3-point range and 78.6 percent at the free-throw line.

“We were picked sixth because nobody believed me when I told them Wesley Johnson was pretty good,” said Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, who won his third coach of the year award. “If you would have believed me, I wouldn’t be up here.”

Skills like Johnson’s would have helped any team and there are times he wonders what life might have provided at WVU.

“Especially with how Da’Sean Butler’s playing and how Devin Ebanks is playing,” Johnson said. “I think they would have been all the more better and we would have been a really long team and very athletic and hard to contend with.”