Offseason musings: Former Rebel Tre’Von Willis cashing in on his likeness

By Ryan Greene

Published Friday, May 13, 2011 | 1 p.m.

Updated Friday, May 13, 2011 | 3:40 p.m.

During the slow summer months, Sun UNLV beat writer Ryan Greene will periodically check in with a series of notes and opinions from around the athletic department.

Over the past two years, in stores around Las Vegas and bookstores on campus, Nike-produced No. 33 UNLV jerseys were available for sale, and several of them could be seen in the stands at Rebels home games.

Surely, UNLV didn't bank off Tre'Von Willis' likeness nearly as much as, say, BYU did off Jimmer Fredette's No. 32, but Willis is cashing in on it himself now that his eligibility has expired.

It's completely legal and looks pretty smart, in my opinion.

An advertisement on craigslist.com was posted Thursday afternoon along with a photo of 13 game-worn Willis jerseys from the past three seasons. They're selling for $150 apiece, cash only.

For UNLV memorabilia collectors, it's a pretty sweet deal, especially considering that on top of the reasonable price, the ad claims that the jerseys will be signed by Willis himself upon request.

It's unspecified in the ad just how many will be sold, but it's stated that not all of them are up for sale, meaning that Willis will keep a few for himself or his family.

Willis, a 6-foot-3 guard from Fresno who transferred to UNLV after playing his freshman season at Memphis, was a first team All-Mountain West performer as a junior, but an early suspension and knee surgery combined to slow his momentum to start his senior campaign. Willis averaged a team-high 13.2 points in 29 games this year and finished his career as UNLV's 16th all-time leading scorer, but he never quite looked like the Tre'Von Willis of old for more than a game or two at a time in the 2010-11 season.

He said late in his senior year that, despite persistent knee problems over the past couple of years, he'd still like to play professional ball somewhere next season. Willis also has a young child to raise, as he and his girlfriend — former UNLV women's basketball player Erica Helms — welcomed their daughter, Tremiyah, into the world back in September.

More on the Augmon/Manning comparison

In my Wednesday story on Stacey Augmon's arrival at UNLV, I threw out the name Danny Manning as an example of what Augmon's hire as a UNLV assistant coach can mean.

In a nutshell, he offers a sparkling résumé as a player both at UNLV and as a 15-year NBA veteran that could be used well by the staff on the recruiting trail. It will also offer UNLV a significant bump when it comes to overall player development.

Manning was also a former All-American and national champion in his playing days at Kansas before playing in the NBA for more than a decade. He was brought onto the Jayhawks' staff by Bill Self a few years back and has been a major factor in the program's success on both of those fronts. Most notably, he's an outstanding developer of big men. I know that UNLV junior Quintrell Thomas, who transferred in after one year at KU, told me early last season about how much he gained from working with Manning in just one season.

All of this reminded me of a story as to why it's a fitting comparison.

It was 2007, and I was getting set to cover the Big 12 tournament title game between Kansas and Texas in Oklahoma City. The seat I was in was right in front of where the Longhorns were warming up, and that's when Kevin Durant stopped about 5 feet in front of me after chasing down a loose ball.

He looked down to the other end of the floor for a moment, where Manning was running through drills with the Kansas bigs, paused and said out loud to no one in particular "How cool is that?"

Kevin Durant. The Kevin Durant, who was barely even alive when Manning was in his prime.

So even though most of the players Augmon will recruit will hardly remember him as a player, reputation goes a long way, and just remembering Durant saying that about Manning solidifies to me that this could be a potential home run of a hire for Dave Rice.

Any publicity is good publicity, right?

It was confirmed this week that UNLV's 2011 football opener against Wisconsin, on Thursday, Sept. 1, will be televised by ESPN, marking the program's first appearance on the Worldwide Leader since 2004. They were on the ESPN family of networks twice in the 2005 season.

Wisconsin will be loaded, plain and simple. UNLV will likely be about a 3-touchdown underdog heading up to Madison, and deservedly so. It will be the first career start for whoever Bobby Hauck trots out at quarterback, and UNLV projects to be a bit thin on both the offensive and defensive lines. On the other side will be the defending Big Ten champs, who thumped the Rebels last year, 41-21.

However, this is a major get for an athletic department trying to find ways here and there to get out from under the Mountain West Conference's current TV deal that, despite what anyone tells you, leaves the league brutally underexposed nationally.

Even if UNLV loses in Madison, though, there's something to gain other than publicity. Moving the game to Thursday night gives the Rebels two extra days to both recover and prepare for what will be a winnable game at Washington State on Sept. 10.

Final notes …

— There have been several inquiries into the status of the Mendenhall Center, which will be the new practice home for the UNLV men's basketball program. From what I'm hearing, the new target period for its opening is mid-October. The foundation has appeared to be in place for quite some time, but after driving by on Thursday, there appears to be significant progress of late, without he outer walls now going up.

— UNLV is still awaiting word from USC transfer Bryce Jones and Utah transfer J.J. O'Brien. Jones is still considering San Diego State and Gonzaga, as well, and word is that Kansas, with its four open scholarships, is now somewhat involved, too. O'Brien, despite being slowed by injury last year, apparently impressed many in the MWC, as Colorado State, New Mexico and San Diego State are all in pursuit, too. Neither, though, appears to be in much of a rush to decide.

— Rebels guard Anthony Marshall is still a couple of weeks away from returning from surgery to remove a cyst from his left wrist. The junior-to-be is a prime candidate to have a breakthrough season in Rice's uptempo system next year in a combo guard role.