Mekeli Tiu Wesley (born 2 February 1979) is a Fijian-Samoan former basketball player who starred in the United States before embarking on an international professional career. In college, he was the 2001 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year while playing for Brigham Young (BYU). Professionally, Wesley's staggered career began in 2001 and officially ended in 2010. He now works in the insurance industry.

Early life

Wesley was born in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

as one of five children to parents Hiagi and Susan Wesley, who met one another while attending BYU. He grew up in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

and attended

Provo High School Provo High School is a public secondary school located in Provo, Utah, United States. It is one of three high schools in the Provo City School District and was the oldest secondary school in the city. In the Summer of 2017 the school district be ...

. While on the basketball team, Wesley guided the Bulldogs to state championships in 1994–95 and 1996–97. For his high school career he averaged 21.7 points and 10.8 rebounds and was a three-time all-state selection. Both the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History A ...

'' and ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'' named him their MVP. Wesley also represented Western Samoa in National Junior Olympics. He was recruited by universities such as Colorado State,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, Marquette,

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

and Loyola Marymount. Ultimately, however, Wesley chose BYU and enrolled the fall of 1997.

College

During Mekeli Wesley's four-year career as a Cougar, he scored 1,740 points and held the school record for most

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

s made in a game with 16 (since broken by

Jimmer Fredette James Taft "Jimmer" Fredette (born February 25, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He last played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. Fredette was the 2011 National Player of the Year in college ...

). As a freshman, Wesley started in 29 of 30 games, was named to the WAC All-Newcomer Team, was named the most valuable player of the Cougar Classic, and held averages of 13.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he was suspended for the first semester due to violating BYU rules, but came back to average 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Then, as a junior in 1999–2000, he increased his averages to career-highs of 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds en route to an All-Mountain West Conference Second Team selection. In his final collegiate season, Mekeli led BYU in scoring at 17.2 points per game and in rebounding at 5.2 per game. For the first time since 1993, BYU won or shared a conference title, and for the first time since 1992 won the conference tournament championship. He was a two-time MWC Player of the Week and at the end of the season was named the conference player of the year.

Professional

Despite being a viable draft candidate in the 2001 NBA draft, Wesley went unselected. He never got the chance to compete in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

but he did embark on an international career that ultimately spanned between 2001 and 2010. He played for teams in France, Poland, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Mexico.

Personal

Wesley is married to Montell McDonald and they have a son, Keliano John. Mekeli is the older brother of professional basketball player

Tai Wesley Tai William Evans Wesley (born May 13, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Utah State Aggies, where he was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2011. After begin ...

. Tai, coincidentally, was also named a Division I conference player of the year; in 2011 he earned the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year while at

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. Wesley is of Rotuman descent through his father Hiagi Wesley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, Mekeli 1979 births Living people American men's basketball players American people of Rotuman descent American sportspeople of Samoan descent Basketball players from Utah Bucaneros de Campeche players BYU Cougars men's basketball players Fijian emigrants to the United States Fijian expatriate basketball people in Belgium Fijian expatriate basketball people in France Fijian expatriate basketball people in Mexico Fijian expatriate basketball people in Poland Fijian expatriate basketball people in Portugal Fijian expatriate basketball people in Spain Fijian men's basketball players Fijian people of Rotuman descent Fijian people of Samoan descent Polonia Warszawa (basketball) players Power forwards (basketball) Provo High School alumni Samoan men's basketball players S.L. Benfica basketball players Small forwards Sportspeople from Suva