Willis’ up and down career ends with thud

TULSA, Okla.

His voice began to crack, and his eyes began to water, and, suddenly, a side of Tre'Von Willis appeared that few have witnessed in his time playing basketball at UNLV.

"I've got the shivers," he said. "Man, it hurts. I will never play with this group of guys again ... . It's over."

He was almost impossible to gauge the past three years, far more for his temperament than talent.

Willis arrived as a transfer from Memphis with the promise of helping UNLV create March memories, an ebb-and-flow journey of significant highs and extreme lows that ended with him sitting the final 17:29 of the team's NCAA Tournament game here Friday.

The Rebels lost to Illinois 73-62 in a Southwest Region game at the BOK Center in what was anything but an 11-point margin. It was a 22-point game at halftime, when it was obvious that Illinois was better at every spot.

Better at everything.

Willis' tenure as a Rebel was never going to conclude with a win here given the dominance of Illinois, but how it happened perfectly defined a senior season that never had a chance of equaling his superb junior year.

It was part his fault and part that of an ailing body.

The off-court incident that resulted in Willis pleading no contest to domestic battery and a suspension to begin the season set him on the wrong path, and gimpy knees never allowed him to completely change course, his scoring average decreasing from 17.2 points per game as a junior to 13.5 this year. He shot worse as a senior and grabbed fewer rebounds. He wasn't in any way the same player.

It was the left knee that sent Willis to the bench for good Friday. He heard something pop midway through the first half. He wasn't moving all that well from the start, wasn't helping a team that needed all it could find.

"I'll think most about how much progress he made his junior year," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "That would be the top side. His contributions and leadership during that season. He really grew a lot in a positive way. But whether it was the off-court incident or the injuries, probably a combination of both, it didn't keep going."

Kruger said he asked Willis later in the second half if he could return to the game and the answer was no. The easy thing to do is question another's toughness here, to challenge Willis' competitive spirit. That would be wrong. No one knows his body well enough to do so.

It's also difficult to feign the kind of emotion he showed afterward. Willis was genuinely moved by the thought of his UNLV career being over, trying everything not to break down.

"I just wish I could have been out there at the end, battling to the finish with my teammates," Willis said. "I love this group of guys."

He could be moody one day and engaging the next. He was viewed as selfish by some and a leader by others. He talked out of turn before big games, and yet it was that same boldness that separated him from a locker room bent on following its coach's example of speaking in overly cautious tones.

Willis, for sure, was never boring.

He was arrested for domestic battery in the offseason, had knee surgery, had a child, was fortunate to draw just a three-game suspension for his legal issues, returned at about 50 percent and never felt healthy all year.

The stat line for his final game at UNLV read 21 minutes, five points on 1-for-6 shooting, two rebounds, four assists, one turnover and nearly 18 final minutes sitting on the bench, at times his head covered with a towel.

"I do think the good times here outweighed the bad," he said. "Some days, I thought everyone had my back. Other days, I felt the whole world was against me. I love basketball. It has always been my outlet to a different world. To not be able to play as I have since a child, for my body to let me down so much this season, those have been the loneliest times.

"It has been a good journey. There have been a lot of steppingstones to learn from. A lot of ups and downs, smiles and frowns. I just want to continue progressing in a positive way in every aspect of life. I want to get healthy. I know I can play at a high level. But right now, this hurts. I'm still in shock."

He bit his lip and stared into the distance, his voice cracking and eyes watering.

Tre'Von Willis hardly had a perfect career at UNLV.

Memorable highs.

Extreme lows.

A finish no one felt good about.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.