Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Sylvester Willis Reaches New Heights With Salukis
12/04/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
November, 2001
By Seth Whitehead SIU Media Services
Imagine if you will, Southern Illinois University sophomore forward Sylvester Willis as a freshman at Thornwood High School in Calumet City, Illinois.
Picture a young man, standing a modest 5-foot-6, telling his teammates that he would someday be a starting forward at a NCAA Division I school.
Imagine how crazy that statement would have sounded.
To quote a well-known spokesman for the vertically challenged, Sylvester's teammates probably would have replied to that statement with, "What you talking about Willis?"
But lo and behold, four years later and a foot taller, Sylvester is at SIU, a key part of a team that hopes to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995.
The fact is, not even Willis believed he would be in this situation.
"I didn't expect it to happen,'' admits Willis. "I mean, people always tell you 'you are going to grow, you are going to grow', and you are like 'whatever', but it just happened all the sudden for me. One day I woke up, and I was about 6-foot-3. I just kept growing little by little after that."
Willis grew an amazing 12 inches in four years, going from bench warmer to highly recruited prep star virtually overnight. But along with that sudden growth spurt came the usual growing pains of adolescence.
Willis spent much of his high school career getting used to his body and didn't even become a starter until he was a senior.
Was there an awkward period somewhere along the way?
"Yeah, high school,'' Willis laughs. "It was just weird. People were telling me I was clumsy, but I didn't notice it when I was on the court. It's just how you are. But I look at the old game tape and see how I was ,and that's when I really understood.''
Not only did Willis have to get used to his body, he suddenly found himself playing a new position.
"I had to learn how to play in the post because when I first started, I was about 5-8, and I played at guard," he recalled. "Instead of floating around on the perimeter, I was now in close to the basket. That was probably the hardest thing.''
Fortunately, Willis started getting his game together in the paint quite nicely - and just in time. During his senior season, Willis averaged 11 points and seven rebounds, earning SICA all-conference honors and a chance to play in the Chicago City vs. Suburban all-star game.
"That's really when I started getting comfortable with my size and accepting it,'' said Willis. "I started getting my coordination and started putting everything together basketball-wise.''
Despite his relatively modest prep stats, Saluki coach Bruce Weber saw Willis' potential and lured him to SIU. Already a fine defensive player with a reputation for playing hard all the time, Weber saw Willis' potential to develop into a fine all-around player.
Willis showed glimpses of that potential during his freshman season, starting 16 games and averaging 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.6 minutes of play.
His offensive game is still a work in progress, but many feel Willis can put up very respectable numbers based on his size, strength and scrappy play alone.
"I am still struggling with it a little,'' said Willis of his size. "Coach Weber says that I am still getting used to my body. I have only been 6-7 for three years of my life, so I am still getting used to it. It will take some time.''
Willis' role on the 2001 version of the Salukis could be any number of things: starter, sixth man, or a little of both - but coming as far as he has come in a short amount of time, Willis understands the most important thing is team success.
"I want us to win the conference, the conference tournament and get to the NCAA Tournament," he declared. "Not just get there, I want to win some games and make a mark. We also want to win all our home games. Personally, I just want my minutes to go up, I don't care whether I start or not, I just want to play more minutes. I don't really look much at statistics, I just go out there and play. I just want to be a contributor and give the team some solid minutes.''
If the Salukis grow as a team as much as Willis has grown as a person, both physically and mentally, watch out.
