Tre'von Willis Retrospective - Part Three

2009-10 Season

UNLV was projected to finish 3^rd place in the pre-season MWC poll, behind BYU and SDSU. Willis’s longtime friend Derrick Jasper was finally ready to suit up and play after recovering from micro-fracture surgery on his left knee. UNLV’s position in the coaches pre-season picks had the Rebels at number 53, not the team to beat - but still threatening.

 

 

Willis had an extra coach in this corner before the start of the season, Kwanza Nelum. Nelum was Willis’s childhood friend whom his mother took in when he was experiencing family problems. Nelum started Willis on a drill to 3166 shots from all different parts of the court. Nelum was also dedicated to making Willis a better free-throw shooter.

 

 

The roster that season consisted of Darris Santee, Brice Massamba, Oscar Bellfield, Derrick Jasper, Tre’Von Willis, Kendall Wallace, Steve “chopper” Jones, Anthony Marshall, Chase Stanback, Justin Hawkins, and Matt Shaw. The pre-season started with an unexpectedly difficult win against division II Washburn, Rebels winning 62-52. Washburn would turn to be an anomaly as UNLV embarrassed Pittsburg State 91-52 in the home opener. Willis led all scorers with 17 in that game. The starters and roles were more defined this season, Bellfield had cemented his place at point guard, and Willis was comfortable at shooting guard, and Jasper on the court as an additional guard. Massamba was the starting center and Stanback playing forward. Kruger’s 3 guard offense would prove effective, leading the Rebels to a 4-0 start until they re-matched Louisville, this time at the Mack, and the Cardinal came in ranked No. 16. The Rebels pulled a 76-71 upset against Pitino’s team lead by 17 points from Oscar “Cardinal Killer” Bellfield and 16 points, 9 assists from Willis.

 

 

The Rebels lead by Willis pulled out to a 12-2 record and then faced their nemesis, BYU. Coming into the BYU game Willis was held to 0-6 shooting in Hawaii against USC in an unexpected loss. Despite 24 points from Willis, the Rebels blew a late game lead and fell to #25 BYU 77-73. Luckily, the next test had more positive results, and the Rebels game into The Pit and defeated #15 New Mexico 74-62. Kendall Wallace was the story of the game, who was as potent as Jimmer was this season from the three-point line and dropped 21 points. Willis had a lot to do with that win as well, adding 20 points and 4 assists in only 27 minutes of action. More impressive, Willis’s efforts in Provo and Albuquerque came on a injured left ankle. In the first SDSU game of the season, the Rebels surged in the second half powered by Willis and Stanback, Willis added 23 points in 36 mins as they downed the Aztecs 76-66. The season continued to roll, most games Willis would be the leading scorer, most games the Rebels would win. The lone anomaly was a three game losing streak to New Mexico, SDSU, and Utah (who beat us twice that season). One unfortunate piece of the puzzle leading into post-season play was Jasper’s injury in late January that would sideline him for the rest of the season. The Rebels finished the regular season 23-7, and went into the MWC championships, won two games but came up short against SDSU in the final (45-55 L).

 

 

Because of the impressive wins against ranked teams and overall record (25- 8) UNLV earned an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, and met Northern Iowa in the Kansas bracket (déjà vu). Besides the last minute 3-pointer that sunk an otherwise close and competitive game (final score 66-69 L), Tre’von actually struggled a bit in that game, he was 5-15 (33%) from the field and only 13 points in 37 minutes of play. Matt Shaw, who rolled his would-be senior season into a doobie and smoked it away (NCAA 1 year suspension ended collegiate career), was the leading scorer that game with 14 points. Northern Iowa’s success against Kansas left many of us Rebels fans wondering if we also could have beaten Kansas should Northern Iowa not been so lucky, we’ll never know.

 

Tre’von Willis had many accolades that season. He led UNLV and was second in the MWC in scoring with a 17.2 points per game average accumulating his highest collegiate offensive performance. In conference-only games, he led the league in scoring with 20.3 ppg. He was named first team All-MWC and was a member of the league's all-defensive team.  Willis played in all 33 games, starting  28 games. He averaged 3.9 rebounds (third on the team), 3.5 assists (second on the team) and 1.2 steals per game. Shot 47.8 percent from the field, 29.5 percent from 3-point range and 85.8 percent from the free-throw line. His seasonal free-throw percentage tied for sixth best in UNLV history, and he knew how to get to the line as his 163 made free throws ranks eighth on the all-time UNLV chart for free throws made in a season. Was seventh in the MWC in apg, third in free-throw percentage, sixth in field-goal percentage, 10th in steals and ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio – he was the complete package.  

 

As a scoring leader, he scored in double figures in 29 games, including scoring 20 or more points in a game 11 times and 30 or more three times. He had a six-game stretch in January of 2009 where he scored 20 or more in each game. Willis led the Runnin' Rebels in scoring in 21 Games. Willis scored a career-high 33 points against BYU, while also handing out eight assists and not committing a turnover in 38 minutes on the floor. Willis was named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week after that performance. He recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 assists against New Mexico. He made each of his last 29 free throw attempts of the season, which is now the UNLV record for consecutive free throws made by a player. Obviously, he was voted team MVP by his teammates.

 

 

In spite of the post-season heartbreak in the first-round, the Rebels felt generally positive about what they had accomplished over the course of the season and optimistic about the future. The dynamic Willis would return for his senior season along with a supporting cast who achieved great things in 09-10.

Off-season between 2009-10 and 2010-11

In late June, a twist in Willis’s personal life would dominate the conversation and put a caveat on his upcoming season. Henderson police alleged that Willis choked a female acquaintance at her apartment at 3 AM. In September Willis pled no contest to misdemeanor battery, and made a statement about what occurred where he admitted to grabbing the woman and dumping her purse, but he did not choke her. Willis’s crime in terms of UNLV Basketball, levied a 3 game suspension at the beginning of the season.

In August, Willis had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. It was apparent that his suspension coincided with the fact that Willis likely was not recovered enough to play or make a significant contribution anyhow. Just how significant the knee injury / recovery would be in comparison to the other issues was hard to fathom.

According to Willis, becoming a parent helped him deal with the challenges he faced in the off-season. In September 2010 Willis’s daughter was born, named Tremiyah . Willis looked forward to the experience of fatherhood, as he didn’t have one growing up.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Total Games in 2009-2010: 34

Date	Game	Min	Pts	FG	FG%	FT	FT%	3PT	3PT%	OR	DR	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF
2009-11-14	PITTST 52, UNLV 91	24	17	5-8	62.5	7-7	100.0	0-3	0.0	1	2	3	4	1	0	2	2
2009-11-18	NEV 75, UNLV 88	13	8	2-6	33.3	4-4	100.0	0-1	0.0	1	3	4	1	1	0	0	2
2009-11-21	SIU 69, UNLV 78	26	25	8-11	72.7	7-7	100.0	2-3	66.7	0	7	7	4	0	0	3	2
2009-11-25	HC 59, UNLV 80	28	14	7-11	63.6	0-0		0-2	0.0	2	4	6	3	1	1	3	3
2009-11-28	Lville 71, UNLV 76	32	16	5-13	38.5	5-7	71.4	1-7	14.3	2	4	6	9	1	0	4	4
2009-12-02	UNLV 74, Arizona 72	40	25	9-19	47.4	6-6	100.0	1-4	25.0	1	3	4	1	0	0	2	3
2009-12-05	UNLV 66, SCU 63	23	14	5-9	55.6	3-4	75.0	1-3	33.3	1	0	1	5	2	0	0	4
2009-12-12	K-State 95, UNLV 80	27	17	5-7	71.4	4-4	100.0	3-5	60.0	0	3	3	2	0	0	3	3
2009-12-15	UNLV 77, SUU 59	22	16	5-11	45.5	5-6	83.3	1-5	20.0	1	1	2	4	4	0	2	3
2009-12-17	WEBER 63, UNLV 72	23	9	3-8	37.5	2-2	100.0	1-4	25.0	1	3	4	2	2	1	3	1
2009-12-19	UPSTATE 58, UNLV 88			-		-		-
2009-12-22	SMU 53, UNLV 67	25	12	5-13	38.5	1-1	100.0	1-4	25.0	1	3	4	2	2	0	5	2
2009-12-23	UNLV 77, HAWAII 53	12	12	4-8	50.0	2-2	100.0	2-5	40.0	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	4
2009-12-25	USC 67, UNLV 56	29	4	0-6	0.0	4-4	100.0	0-4	0.0	1	1	2	4	1	1	1	5
2010-01-06	UNLV 73, BYU 77	34	24	9-16	56.2	4-5	80.0	2-4	50.0	1	5	6	4	0	0	7	2
2010-01-09	UNLV 74, Lobos 62	27	20	6-13	46.2	7-8	87.5	1-4	25.0	0	2	2	4	2	0	1	4
2010-01-13	SDSU 66, UNLV 76	36	23	6-15	40.0	10-13	76.9	1-3	33.3	0	2	2	1	0	0	1	2
2010-01-16	UTAH 73, UNLV 69	39	27	7-16	43.8	13-16	81.2	0-4	0.0	0	6	6	4	1	0	4	1
2010-01-20	UNLV 80, CSU 72	32	21	6-11	54.5	7-8	87.5	2-5	40.0	1	3	4	1	2	1	2	4
2010-01-23	UNLV 79, TCU 70	31	30	9-14	64.3	11-14	78.6	1-4	25.0	2	4	6	4	1	1	2	2
2010-01-26	AF 50, UNLV 60	32	13	3-8	37.5	6-6	100.0	1-4	25.0	0	2	2	0	1	0	6	0
2010-02-03	UNLV 78, WYO 50	31	15	4-7	57.1	6-9	66.7	1-3	33.3	0	8	8	4	0	0	1	1
2010-02-06	BYU 74, UNLV 88	38	33	11-20	55.0	7-9	77.8	4-7	57.1	1	4	5	8	2	1	0	2
2010-02-10	Lobos 76, UNLV 66	38	13	4-13	30.8	4-6	66.7	1-5	20.0	2	2	4	10	3	0	3	3
2010-02-13	UNLV 58, SDSU 68	38	17	5-15	33.3	6-8	75.0	1-5	20.0	0	3	3	5	1	0	3	2
2010-02-17	UNLV 61, UTAH 66	37	32	11-19	57.9	7-9	77.8	3-6	50.0	0	2	2	2	3	0	2	2
2010-02-20	CSU 39, UNLV 70	27	11	2-6	33.3	6-6	100.0	1-3	33.3	0	3	3	3	1	0	2	2
2010-02-24	TCU 62, UNLV 78	22	16	5-7	71.4	4-4	100.0	2-4	50.0	1	3	4	3	3	0	2	2
2010-02-27	UNLV 77, AF 47	24	9	3-9	33.3	2-2	100.0	1-6	16.7	0	4	4	4	0	0	4	2
2010-03-06	WYO 56, UNLV 74	33	20	9-15	60.0	1-1	100.0	1-4	25.0	4	4	8	5	1	0	3	1
2010-03-11	UTAH 61, UNLV 73	35	13	5-11	45.5	2-2	100.0	1-4	25.0	0	5	5	2	0	1	4	5
2010-03-12	UNLV 70, BYU 66	36	18	5-9	55.6	6-6	100.0	2-5	40.0	0	2	2	1	1	0	2	3
2010-03-13	SDSU 55, UNLV 45	35	11	4-12	33.3	2-2	100.0	1-5	20.0	1	0	1	3	2	0	2	3
2010-03-18	UNI 69, UNLV 66	36	13	5-15	33.3	2-2	100.0	1-4	25.0	1	3	4	5	2	0	0	3
Date	Game	Min	Pts	FG	FG%	FT	FT%	3PT	3PT%	OR	DR	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF

Sources:
UNLVREBELS.COM
SCOUT.COM
CBSSPORTS.COM
STATSHEET.COM
Las Vegas Sun
THEHOOPSREPORT.COM