James Moses saw enough of Wes Washpun Friday night (Dec. 10) to offer some friendly advice to college basketball coaches around the country.

You need to take a serious look at this guy.

Washpun scored 22 points and excelled at all facets of the game as No.4 Washington topped Prairie, 61-40, in a Mississippi Valley Conference affair at Washington.

Washpun had seven assists, seven rebounds, seven deflections, five blocked shots, two steals, one partridge and a pear tree in a dazzling performance.

“He’s a true Division I player,” said Moses, a former University of Iowa star who’s now the head coach at Prairie. “He stood out on the floor.

“I personally think, if there are some schools that have some openings at the guard position, they need to really consider him.”

Washpun is a 6-foot-1 senior, but he’s still available because he struggled with grades until this fall. Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery saw Washpun score 32 against Bettendorf last week and could be in the market for a left-handed point guard with great skills.

“He’s fast, he can jump, he can anticipate, he gets a lot of deflections,” said Washington Coach Brad Metzger, who’s been fielding calls about Washpun.

Linn-Mar junior Marcus Paige is considered the top point guard in Iowa, and some basketball observers think Washpun could be No.2.

“He played exceptionally well,” said Moses.

Washington (2-1, 1-0) needed Washpun to perform at a high level against Prairie (1-4, 0-1) because Josh Oglesby got into foul trouble in the first half, struggled with his shot and was scoreless at halftime. It didn’t matter.

Washpun personally outscored the Hawks, 13-12, in the first half and the Warriors held a commanding lead at intermission, 32-12.

Metzger won’t have to wait until the end of the season to produce a highlight reel for Washpun. The first four minutes of the second quarter will do.

Here’s the play-by-play on Washpun during that segment: Great pass, great drive, tremendous end-to-end speed, terrific block, great kick-out, smooth jumper, silky drive. The score went from 14-8 to 25-8 in a flash and climbed to 29-9 during that stretch.

It was the Wes Washpun Show.

“I felt pretty good about it,” he said. “I played pretty well. I just go out there and try to help my team.”

Washpun’s only weakness came at the foul line, where he went 2-for-6.

Oglesby got cooking in the second half, showing why the University of Iowa is excited about getting him next season. He scored 10 points in the third quarter and finished with 16.

Matt MacDougall tossed in 16 points for Prairie. “MacDougall is definitely a player for us,” said Moses.

PRAIRIE (40): Aune 0 0-0 0, Frazier 0 0-0 0, L. Hanna 0 0-0 0, Kehoe 2-5 0-0 5, Dellamuth 0 0-0 0, Hilgenkamp 0 2-4 2, J. Hanna 0 0-0 0, Bradford 1 0-0 2, Jantzen 1 0-0 2, Lafferty 2 0-1 4, MacDougall 6 1-2 16, Eilers 0 0-0 0, Goodale 0 0-0 0, Boots 3 0-0 7, Rasmussen 0 0-2 0. Totals 15 3-9 40.

WASHINGTON (61): Carr 1 0-1 3, Tann 1 0-0 2, Butterfield 0 0-0 0, Washpun 10 2-6 22, Oglesby 5 4-5 16, Hoekstra 0 0-0 0, Clark 1 4-4 7, Matteson 0 0-0 0, Moa 0 2-2 2, Bredl 2 1-2 5, Nash 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0, Todd 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 15-22 61.

Halftime — Washington 32, Prairie 12. 3-point goals — Prairie 5 (MacDougall 3, Kehoe 1, Boots 1), Washington 4 (Oglesby 2, Carr 1, Clark 1).