Down Under trip also a tryout

By Rob Miech (contact)

Friday, June 20, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Leila Navidi

Tre’Von Willis runs drills during practice Saturday at Cox Pavilion. During the past year, a coach has had him bounce two balls at a time, one with each hand, to improve his ball control. Willis is hoping to establish himself as UNLV’s top point guard.

Leila Navidi

Among Willis' body language: "In Tre We Trust" and "God's Gift," as well as his mother's name, Andrea. "These are motivations. An edge," he says of the tattoos.

Opponents will read new UNLV point guard Tre’Von Willis before they even play against him.

His smorgasbord of tattoos includes In Tre We Trust, around a basketball and a cross, on his right shoulder. God’s runs down his right biceps; Gift runs down his left biceps.

There are flames on his arms and wings on his chest. There’s a lion wearing a crown. He’s the king of his own destiny, he says.

A shield bearing a W blocks a sword. Protection, he says.

“Andrea,” his mother’s name, runs down his right forearm. The reason for everything, he says.

“I trust myself,” Willis says. “I know what I can do. I believe in my abilities. These are motivations. An edge.”

During UNLV’s two-week tour of Australia starting next week, the six games the Rebels are scheduled to play against club teams will be most valuable to Willis.

“I can’t wait to see how we play against other competition on the other side of the world,” Willis says. “I’m very excited to get my teammates, coaches and myself rolling.”

He will try to show that those etchings on his body are not mere words, that coach Lon Kruger can trust him with running the Rebels against actual competition.

It’s essentially a point guard tryout for Willis, a half-dozen games to show Kruger and his staff that he knows what he’s doing with the ball — and the team — in his hands, four months before the real season begins.

These are six games to show that he can be the floor general for more than 30 minutes a game, leaving sophomore Kendall Wallace and newcomer Oscar Bellfield to battle for reserve time.

Willis rarely played two seasons ago at Memphis, where his YouTube highlight was a 3-pointer against Tulane, and he redshirted last season after transferring to UNLV.

“It’s not just practice,” says Rebels assistant coach Lew Hill. “Australia is big for him.”

As the Rebels prepared for the adventure with a slew of practices the past week, Willis directed what looks like a solid UNLV starting lineup.

Wink Adams and Rene Rougeau operated on the wings, Joe Darger hovered between the post and 3-point line, and 7-footer Beas Hamga patrolled the paint.

Willis looked comfortable, dribbling aggressively and without hesitation while being hounded by former UNLV players Kevin Kruger, Wendell White, Corey Bailey or Sunshine Smith.

Willis shifted gears and direction with aplomb, dribbling behind his back and between his legs.

Assistant coach Steve Henson polished Willis’ ball control over the past year by forcing him to dribble full court while looking up at the Thomas & Mack Center rafters and making him bounce two balls, one with each hand.

Once, though, Kevin Kruger easily intercepted a pass as Willis sliced into the lane.

“That was very valuable,” Willis says. “Kevin is a very smart player. I’ll learn from a little thing like that. I’ll adjust, like looking him off longer or throwing it quicker.”

The next trip down court, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Willis drove in strong on ex-Rebels center Joel Anthony, slipped in a layup as he was fouled and sank the free throw.

He doesn’t shy away from physical play and relishes deferring to teammates.

“Definitely,” Willis says. “When I feel like it and the lane is open, I’ll try to make a play for myself or my teammates, preferably my teammates. I want them to get in the right position to be successful and fluid.”

He used a keen stutter dribble to catch Dustin Villepigue off kilter and floated in a feather jumper over the 6-9 former Rebel.

He caught an inbounds pass at half court and deftly wrapped it around his back, to his left. The moment Kruger swiped at it, Willis sailed in for an uncontested dunk.

He yanked down a rebound with authority, used five dribbles to cover the full court and zipped it to a wide-open Wallace in the right corner.

“It’s a big challenge for me,” Willis says. “I put a lot of pressure on my shoulders. I have high expectations for myself. It feels like I’m getting my legs back under me and I’m getting my basketball IQ back up.”

The UNLV brain trust believes in Tre.

“He gets where he wants to go and has gotten himself into great shape,” Hill says. “He’s up for the challenge of being the point guard.”