Australian connection

PULLMAN – Ben Johnson was just doing what he always did. He was headed into a local gym to lift weights.

That’s when he saw the 15-year-old walking out.

“I thought, ‘Who is this big, farm-looking kid?’ ” Johnson said recently.

The kid was Aron Baynes. The gym was in Cairns, Australia. It was 2002. And, though no one knew it at the time, Washington State’s basketball future was about to change, thanks to a big, farm-looking kid who was a little bit of a throwback.

“The game there … is probably a little closer to the game here when you and I played,” said the prime mover – and recipient – of the change, WSU head coach Tony Bennett. “The younger players don’t play as many games but work more on their own, developing individual skills.”

At the time Johnson, then a coach in the Australian Basketball Association, had no idea he would join childhood friend Tony and his collegiate coach, Tony’s dad, Dick, on the Washington State coaching staff in a couple of years.

But he knew Baynes was a talent waiting to be developed.

“When I first met Aron, I was trying to assemble a team of high school kids together,” Johnson said. “But I learned he was already associated with Cairns Basketball.”

Baynes stayed with his mentor Aaron Fearne’s club in Cairns, Queensland, but Johnson didn’t forget the big kid from Australia’s northeast coast.

When Baynes moved on to the Australian Institute of Sport in the capital city of Canberra, Johnson made contact again, this time in his role as a WSU assistant.

“He was a kid I liked,” said Johnson, who has made 18 round trips to Australia since 1993. “I was hoping he could play for me then, but as they say, you have to be careful what you wish for. Four years later, we’re recruiting him to Washington State.”

AIS develops Australian athletes in 35 sports but is best known in the United States for exporting Andrew Bogut to Utah and the NBA. Since Bogut’s arrival – and success – the Institute has been a must-stop for college basketball recruiters.

“Those guys who have come over here … from AIS, let’s start with Aron Baynes because he’s near and dear, but Bogut, Patrick Mills (Saint Mary’s point guard), they’ve had success,” said Bennett, who played and coached in New Zealand from 1997 to 1999.

“AIS is not a secret anymore. You can ask Ben, he’s been recruiting it now for six years, but there used to be about a handful of schools that would go over there more than a couple times a year. Now you’ll have, I would say, close to 100.”

It didn’t matter in Baynes’ case.

The former youth rugby player, who had grown to 6-foot-10 and about 245 pounds, was headed to WSU, thanks in large part to Johnson’s Australian connections – besides playing and coaching there, Johnson’s wife, Nicky, grew up and played basketball in Cairns and the Johnsons expect to retire in Queensland some day.

Baynes has played a key role in WSU’s rise from mediocrity to the NCAA elite, culminating in a 26-9 record and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen berth last season.

“Ben was friends with my basketball mentor, Aaron Fearne,” said Baynes, who moved south to play for Australia’s national developmental organization while still in high school. “Ben and he played together some. Ben kind of used that connection to come through.

“Other schools talked with Aaron and me, but I wanted to play at the highest level and be able to play right away. … And the coaching staff as well. Every time I mentioned Ben’s name to people, there was a lot of respect for him.”

Baynes headed north despite his lack of knowledge about the Inland Northwest.

“I hardly even knew about the state of Washington, let alone Washington State,” he said.

Or vice versa.

“You won’t have as many evaluations,” Bennett said of recruiting in Australia – home of recent letter-of-intent signee Brock Motum – and elsewhere overseas. “You have to rely on tape, you have to rely on relationships … and when you’re over there you have to give real good evaluations.”

Despite the culture change, Baynes has taken to Pullman – the winters are another story – and has enjoyed his time here. But, some day, he expects to return to Australia and spread the basketball faith.

“Down the track I would I like to go back and be involved with basketball back home,” Baynes said. “It’s been good to me.”

Baynes, who played at 270 pounds last year, has slimmed down to near his freshman weight, though he’s added muscle – and dexterity – through a tough off-season workout regime.

Bennett hopes that will pay dividends.

“I’m hoping he’s going to have a real good senior year,” Bennett said. “He’s worked hard. He’s had some setbacks this summer, but he’s worked really hard on his fitness, his agility (and) his feet. … He has good body control and being fit and lighter is definitely going to help him.”