UNLV transfers prove that transition process can be worth the wait

By Ryan Greene

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

When UNLV recruited transfers such as Tre'Von Willis and Chace Stanback who were looking for second chances in their college hoops careers, Lon Kruger and his staff knew that more seasoning might be needed beyond the redshirt year transfers must take per NCAA rules.

"I think as a staff, our personality is one of challenging and pushing in a positive way, but also understanding that it's a process," Kruger said. "It's not going to happen overnight, and oftentimes, it's not going to happen as quickly as we'd like to see it happen.

"But just keep making progress, stay consistent, keep expecting, but understand that there's a necessary patience level, too."

It isn't as simple as grabbing transfers from programs such as Memphis, UCLA and Kentucky, then throwing them together and hoping they mesh.

The need for time and patience is being proven of late by the productivity from Willis, who Monday was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, and Stanback.

In Mountain West games, Willis is leading the league in scoring at 24.2 points per game, including a career-high 30 points in Saturday's 79-70 victory over TCU. In that same stretch, the 6-foot-8 Stanback is utilizing his dangerous mid-range jump shot and averaging 14.5 points per contest. He's also averaging 6.8 rebounds a night over those six games.

They'll combine to play the headlining role as UNLV (16-4 overall, 4-2 MWC) returns home to face Air Force (8-10, 0-5) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center tipping off at 7:30 p.m.

Of course, both saw growing pains in their early phases at UNLV, and both said that, at times early on, they felt like freshmen all over again.

"I was a perfect example last year," Willis said. "The game was just so fast. You can't simulate that in practice. I'm starting to get in the groove right now. It took me almost until the middle of last year, and you're seeing that with Chace and Derrick Jasper right now — they're really coming into their own."

Kruger said he saw Willis break through that funk last season in a 79-64 home victory over Arizona, when Willis scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists in what, at the time, was the team's most impressive showing of the year.

Where Willis has improved this season is in making those types of performances more of a regular occurrence. His scoring is up from 11.4 points per game as a sophomore to 17.6 as a junior, and that bump has been a byproduct of better efficiency.

His field-goal percentage is up from 37.9 to 49.3, and he's making better use of his trips to the free-throw line, shooting a team-best 86.4 percent as opposed to 73.7 a year ago.

Much of the improvement has been attributed to on-court maturity, which was on full display Saturday as Willis was able to keep from speeding up when TCU made its push midway through the second half, calmly scoring from almost anywhere he wanted on the other end without rushing things.

Stanback's transition has gone a bit faster, which is even more surprising, considering this is the first time he's been relied upon for heavy minutes since he was a senior at Fairfax High in Los Angeles three years ago.

"He didn't play a lot as a freshman at UCLA (5.8 mpg in 25 games), he didn't play any as a sophomore here," Kruger said. "And now, you're playing at a level that's totally different than high school."

In Stanback's opinion, the most overlooked factor in the whole transfer process is the slowing effect that sitting on the sidelines and only participating in practice can have.

"Just not being able to compete or being out there in a real game, with a real arena, crowd, referees, you miss that stuff for a whole year. It's hard to come back from that," he said. "It's hard to get used to."

If history tells anything, Kansas transfer Quintrell Thomas will have the same adjustment next season when he returns to action as a sophomore for the Rebels.

Still finding his role and his footing at this point in his first season of eligibility at UNLV is Derrick Jasper, who made a different adjustment than Willis or Stanback.

Not only did he have not the ability to practice much of last season while building his left knee back up following microfracture surgery the previous spring, but he's no longer simply playing point guard. Instead, the 6-foot-6 Jasper has played four different positions.

Still, he's put up solid numbers, averaging 6.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists a game.

"Us coming from big schools, people put big expectations on us, but as long as we're winning, it doesn't faze me," Jasper said. "It's not really about me, but I know I need to contribute a lot more for us to win big games. So I'm going to keep trying to be more aggressive.

"I'm playing four positions, so it's a big transition for me. I'm trying to get into my own a little bit, but it's all just a matter of me being aggressive, because I know I can do it."

And another lesson drawn from recent history would suggest Jasper is likely to find his groove eventually.

"It's not easy to step right in and just assume that it's going to keep happening," Kruger said of steady production. "You grow into the role a little bit, and it's great to see that progress."

A look at Air Force ...

Already struggling to bounce back from a winless season in Mountain West Conference play a year ago, injuries have only made things tougher for Air Force so far this year.

"Any time, with any team in our conference, if you take two or three guys out of their lineups, it makes things difficult," Kruger said. "(Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds) has battled the injuries as much as anyone in our league has this season. It makes things tough."

The Falcons haven't won a game since Jan. 2, a 72-65 triumph in their non-conference finale against Texas Pan-American.

They'll be without center Sammy Schafer, who has played only three games this season after suffering a concussion and a back injury. He was averaging 7.3 points and 4.3 boards when he went down. Also out is forward Taylor Stewart, who underwent wrist surgery.

In all, 16 players have seen action for Air Force this year.

However, the Falcons did get some positive news over the weekend, despite losing to Utah, 71-54, in Salt Lake City.

Star forward Grant Parker, who missed 10 games with a hip injury, returned in a reserve role and scored four points in 15 minutes. He's the team's leading scorer (15.5 ppg) and rebounder (6.4 rpg) on the season.

One thing Air Force can do well when things are clicking is slow opponents down. The Falcons already this season have held high-scoring opponents down somewhat, allowing only 67 points to BYU in a home loss and 58 to UTEP in a road defeat. In the last meeting between Air Force and UNLV, the Rebels pulled out an ugly 46-43 victory March 4 at the Mack. It was the second-lowest scoring output by UNLV in a victory in program history.

The Falcons rank second in the league in points allowed at 62.9 per game, but are last out of nine squads in scoring at 60.8 per game.