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Notebook: Willis, Jasper hoping to be at full strength in time for Thursday
Willis confident ankle will be at 100 percent in time for UNI; Jasper looking confident, hoping for return
Tre’Von Willis of UNLV gets fired up during a timeout in Friday’s Mountain West Conference Tournament game against BYU at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | 2:15 a.m.
Rebels Head to the NCAA Tournament
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del.icio.usFor the first time in 10 years, UNLV received an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament, drawing the 8-seed in the Midwest Region. The Rebels will face 9-seed Northern Iowa in Oklahoma City at 4:10 p.m. on Thursday.
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The last time Tre'Von Willis was in the NCAA tournament, he never had a chance to take his warm-ups off as his Memphis team made a run to the Elite Eight in 2006.
Derrick Jasper started three NCAA tournament games, with the last one coming as a sophomore at Kentucky in 2007. In that 74-66 loss to Marquette, on a weakened left leg, Jasper went scoreless with seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 40 minutes.
Both now want to make impressions in the tournament as juniors for UNLV, but health will determine how much both can do this Thursday, as the Rebels play Northern Iowa at 4:10 p.m. Las Vegas time in Oklahoma City.
Jasper has missed UNLV's last 12 games after suffering a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee Jan. 26 against Air Force.
Willis rolled his left ankle in Friday's 70-66 victory over BYU in the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinals. He returned to play Saturday in the title game against San Diego State, but was visibly limited, scoring 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting in the 55-45 loss.
Even though Jasper looked to be the healthier of the two during Monday afternoon's practice at the Thomas & Mack Center, the prognosis for Thursday might be better for Willis.
"I expect it to be, if not 100 percent, close to 100 percent by Thursday," Willis said. "When it first happened, when I went down, the first thing that popped in my mind was 'not now.' But I don't think about it too much, because things happen. I'm just trying to look at the positives."
If Willis is known for anything other than leadership qualities and production on the stat sheet for the Rebels (25-8), it's his high pain tolerance.
Last season, he battled shoulder and knee injuries for much of the year, while as a junior he dealt with back pain early on, then with another injury to the same ankle when he landed on the foot of a Weber State defender Dec. 17. He sat out one game before returning to action.
"He tweaked it pretty good Friday night, he did the best he could on Saturday," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "That's a credit to him, because when you're playing someone like (San Diego State's Kawhi) Leonard, who's a monster, it's tough enough when you're at 100 percent. When you're not, it may be easier to not be out there. He wanted to be out there, that's a credit to him."
Willis was limited during practice, but Jasper looked better than he has at any point in his career since suffering the second significant injury to his left knee.
In a series of three plays during live drills, he took the ball to the hole each time in heavy traffic. On the first, he rose to the rim for an easy lay-in, he followed it with a sweet dish to Chace Stanback for an uncontested bucket up close, then barely missed a lay-up attempt similar to his first.
"I really want to play really bad," said Jasper, whose confidence appears to be back after feeling things out last week on the practice floor. "I want to play this weekend, and it's hard sitting and watching your team execute well, winning games by a lot. You want to be out there with them. I plan on playing this Thursday, so we'll see how practice goes, and it'll be a good game."
While Jasper sounds as if he thinks he'll be a go in OKC, Kruger said he still believes the 6-foot-6 guard, who is averaging 6.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists this season, will need to be eased back into game action.
"We're not going in expecting him to be the difference that gets us over the hump," he said. "We are going in hoping he can play, but not banking on the results.
"Again, it's one thing to be healthy, it's another thing to have not played in seven weeks. It's not just being able to play, but being effective. If he feels good enough to go a little bit, we'll check that out, but as it's been all along, it's up to Derrick. He's got to feel confident in that knee."
Grandy Glaze
Grandy Glaze is UNLV's first 2011 commit
With four scholarships — and roster spots — to fill after the 2010-11 season, the UNLV men's basketball staff got a dose of good news.
Grandy Glaze, who Rivals.com ranks as the No. 83 prospect in the 2011 class, committed to UNLV on Monday after getting interest from the likes of West Virginia, Florida and several others.
Glaze, a hyper-active 6-foot-6 power forward, was most recently in Las Vegas over the summer playing for Team Takeover Canada.
This season as a junior at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., he averaged 20 points and 13 rebounds per game.
Northern Iowa, from another perspective
Not many teams have found a way to get the best of Northern Iowa (28-4), which has inflicted its slow-as-molasses pace on several opponents this season en route to averaging just 54.3 points per game.
One Missouri Valley Conference foe who did, though — albeit once in three meetings — was Wichita State, which triumphed 60-51 at home against the Panthers on Jan. 19.
"The one thing we know when you play Northern Iowa is you have to make perimeter shots, because they do a good job of clogging up the lane, and they're one of the best defensive teams in all of college basketball," WSU assistant coach Earl Grant said on a Monday teleconference. "You've almost got to play a perfect game to beat them. They're really good, and I'm just glad some of those seniors are graduating."
Fans invited to send team off to OKC
UNLV will depart for Oklahoma City from the Thomas & Mack Center at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Fans are invited to show up to the parking lot at the Mack for a send-off gathering.
Discussion: 29 comments so far…
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Grandy Glaze is a fantastic recruit for the Rebs. Great job Kruger and staff! If we can now get fellow Canadian CJ to commit.
Glaze is the type of player that will narrow the gap against teams like SDSU. The fact that they outrebound us by double digits every time is why they are such a matchup problem. This is the type of player Kruger hasn't been able to land yet. This is exciting news.
rose what is your problem with Jasper??? the dude can flat out play and you seem to have an issue with him. have you ever had the type of knee injuries he has had to deal with??? the fact he's gonna even play again is huge. those injuries would have ended most college players careers. the dude is tough and if he plays again this year that would be amazing. either way rose your becoming a parasite not a fan.
seriously rose? why are you always hating? you have that terrible stench of a byu fan. go hate on tyler haws for getting injured already. can't wait for thursday. run rebels run!
Jasper is tepid. The guy is scared of hurting his knee again. Period. You know darn well if Willis had strained his knee 8 weeks ago, he'd have been playing long ago. It's called intestinal fortitude, some guys have it, some guys don't. Jasper USED to have it- he played hurt at kentucky- but now the guy is gun shy. Why is that so hard to understand?
rose why is it so hard for you to understand you dont just comeback this quickly from that kind of knee injury??? i've had the same knee injury and 8 weeks is a very short time period to comeback. Most doc's will tell you 8-12 weeks and sometimes longer to go at full speed. So quit commenting on something you are completly clueless about. your nothing but a parasitic imbecile, so go back to cheering for BYU because your just not a UNLV fan.
Incogburrito- you are the one who know squat about what you are talking about. Unlike you, I actually played college ball (baseball) and played on bad knees my last two years. Don't need a lecture from a guy who played YMCA ball. Jasper has been running at close to full speed for weeks- the guy is now scared to play because he thinks he will hurt his knee more seriously. Some guys have the fortitude to get over that- some guys don't. Jasper is mentally weak. Sorry that bugs you so much. At least I am saying what is true. For weeks I've seen you clowns rip Chopper Jones for being a bum- at least he suits up and plays hard.
Example: Tiger Woods won the US Open with a knee torn up worse than Jaspers. And for mental midgets that try to say you can't compare golf to basketball, try swinging a club with your knee torn up. Woods has INCREDIBLE intestinal fortitude. Jasper should give him a call. Hell, Tiger might even set him up.........
Ha! You cant compare college baseball to college basketball. What a joke. Just shut up already rose you are sound more and more like a jackass each time you post.
Before we get too excited about Glaze check out this video www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNgZyElPgto. He does not look like much of an athlete. ESPN lists him as a 90 rating and mentions that athleticism is not his strength. Not sure that type of player as a 6'6" power forward helps us much against ultra athletic SDSU. Here is hoping that first impressions are way off. See for yourself.
Whatever you say Cashout. What did you play after pee wee football? Loser.
The kid will be a decent contributor. Not a superstar, just a good role player. Rose, So were comparing baseball and basketball and you mention football? Oooook??? Your just one of the sour bandwagon fans who have no idea what they are talking about.
Rose, I played football, baseball and basketball. I can tell you baseball had the smallest use of knees, and basketball had the most having to be able to cut really hard. Its like comparing apples to oranges.
Jasper is a tough kid, and he wants to play. It's a coaching decision to keep him sidelined for now, and I respect that.
Also with Glaze, we need him for the rebounding. He doesn't have to be terribly athletic in my opinion. He is exactly what we need on the wing to come in and get the boards, not make all the shots.
Can we all just agree to defer to Rose when it comes to knee injuries? He's been part of the pinnacle of athletics (college baseball) and has played through some horrific knee injuries that can only be described as "bad". He's obviously qualified to be the final arbiter on when lesser athletes than himself should be able to return.
Fortitude doesn't heal ligament tears.
As far as Glaze goes, I'm just excited we got a dude named Grandy Glaze on our team. And for the record, Rivals has him at a 94 in Fortitude.
I played in the NBA for 37 years. I make over 45 million dollars a year. I also invented knee surgery. Jasper is not soft. That fact that he is even walking is a medical miracle.
Everyone who disagrees with me is a complete and total disgraceful moron unqualified to share their opinion.
Not cool to question someone's injury. I, too, played in college (football), and when I get out of bed in the morning now it sounds like someone poured cold milk over a bowl of Rice Krispies. Snap, crackle, pop. That's the case because I played when I shouldn't have.
Good for Jasper for coming back when he's ready (even it it's next season), both for the team and his personal well being. It bears repeating that these are kids and they have long lives ahead of them. What they do isn't all about our amusement. I know they have scholarships, but they don't have to hurt themselves so we can feel good about a school's win or preserving our brackets.
Cheer for and support athletes because they make sacrifices to do what they do. Cheer for Jasper because in ten years or so, when he gets up to go somewhere his knees will be stiff and ache. When that happens just let him remember that people cared about him and appreciated his effort when he played and made his body that way.
Agreed. Glaze has the best name we've had on the team since Greedy Daniels or Wink Adams. In general we need to recruit guys that come in with nicknames already.
stupid post Rose. Golf is not a sport. The idea that golf is as difficult on the knees as basketball is laughable.And i very much doubt that you (rose1414) would say those nasty things to the mans face. For a 6-6? tall man knee injuries are even worse.I am a tall guy and had an ACL replacement. I returned to my sport (amateur boxing) too early. patellar tendinitis was the result. I hope Jasper takes his time on the rehab, playing on a weak knee could really be a bad idea.
TAKE YOUR TIME DERRICK!
GOOD LUCK!
Glaze is a junior in HS right? That gives him another full season before we pass judgement on the impact he could make for us.
I love internet tough guys that talk big game through a computer, where there is no possible way they could back up all the smack they talk.
Eff off Rose!
Yeah, me too Jerry.
Definitely can't go wrong with a kid named Grandy Glaze. Maybe he can even grow an inch or two in the year and a half.
Well, rose, consider me a "mental midget" for thinking comparing golf to basketball is unfair.
Not even close!
Glaze looks like a very thick, athletic PF. If he goes after the rebounds, that will lead us to fast breaks and more points. We need someone that loves to rebound and go after the ball.
North Iowa seems like Air Force the way everyone is talking about them. A slow down tempo game that lulls people to sleep and they can get their outside shot down. Well, I hope it's another AF because we beat them both times this year. The Rebels need to be patient on their outside shots and try not to fall in love with the 3 pointer, but if we get into a zone like we've done against BYU twice this year, Northern Iowa is in for a long night.
Our boy A.M is on the main page of espn.com, pretty cool to see him get some recognition.
Hey if Jasper came back aggressive WATCH OUT!.. He had so many opportunities to take the ball to the hole early in the season but tended to pass it off. Whether that was because he didn't trust his knee or because he was looking to be unselfish, I don't know. But, we could really use a bigger more athletic guy taking the ball inside.
IMHO, Jasper adds another dimension if he indeed is completely healthy. I asked, in the Sunday article comments, if anyone knew his status. Thanks for the update, Ryan.
I referee high school basketball in las vegas and have had the chance to meet coach kruger several times and i can say that las vegass {unlv} is lucky to have a class act as their coach, he is the reason that we are getting top recrutes like Glaze, well done coach and best of luck in the tourney