UK Rewind | Opportunity knocks for Willis

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The fourth subject in our five-part series on Kentucky basketball's returning players is not like the first three. Tyler Ulis, Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee will all likely have larger roles in 2015-16, but they've each already had several moments in the spotlight.

Derek Willis is still waiting for his first real chance to shine. The 6-foot-9 junior forward from Bullitt East, a former Mr. Basketball finalist who chose the Wildcats over scholarship offers from Purdue, Indiana and Louisville, has averaged just 3.5 minutes in 33 college games.

But now, after seven UK underclassmen declared for the NBA Draft and the Cats missed on a handful of high-profile recruits, opportunity is knocking.

THE RUNDOWN

Willis was a star in high school, averaging 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds as a senior after leading Bullitt East to the Sweet 16 as a junior. But in picking Kentucky, he chose to compete for time on a roster full of former stars – most of them five-stars, in fact.

He has so far struggled to get off the bench, especially last season when the Wildcats had 10 future NBA players ahead of him, totalling 41 points and 22 rebounds in two seasons. Coach John Calipari said this summer that Willis felt "anxiety" early in his Cats career.

"Anybody that's trying to break their way through and doesn't know exactly how it's going to play out, you have anxiety," Calipari said. "(But) I think he's gotten better and better. He's done great in school. And he and (Dominique Hawkins) are on like a 'normal' college path. I mean, first couple years you don't play a whole lot, you're trying to bust through your third year, and you're trying to make sure your senior year you're fulfilling your own dreams."

THE GOOD

When Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Lyles, a pair of likely lottery picks, were injured during UK's trip to the Bahamas last summer, Willis averaged 17.8 minutes in six exhibition games against foreign professionals and acquitted himself well, producing six points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

He's a good athlete – see his impressive array of pregame warm-up dunks – and a legitimate "stretch-four" with his passing and outside shooting ability.

Willis has hit six 3-pointers and 15 of 18 free throws in limited game action. At UK's on-campus combine last fall, he posted a 7-foot wingspan, 35 ¹/₂-inch vertical and a 2.97-second shuttle run that would've ranked 12th-best at this year's NBA Combine.

He's also committed to the Cats despite two years of disappointment. Asked last season if he was mulling a transfer, Willis didn't hesitate.

"God, no," he said. "I'm going to stay here four years regardless. I love this place. I'm trying to be self-critical about everything now and just be more focused, just show that I want to be here. I don't think I did that before."

THE BAD

He's not a great ball-handler and needs to shoot it at a better clip. Willis is just under 30 percent from 3-point range in his UK career. He admits to slacking some in practice and when it comes to the all-important work players do on their own.

"Usually, I'm one of the first people out," he said last season. "I'm putting it on myself. I just need to put more effort into the game if I want to play."

And above all, he needs to rediscover the confidence he had back at Bullitt East.

"You build that through the process and enjoying the day-to-day grind of the process," Calipari said. "If you're not confident, then no one on the court is confident with you, and the coach is not confident in you. ... You build that yourself, and there's only one way to do that: through the process of getting better and better and better, which brings great joy to you more than the anxiety of worrying about being great."

FINAL WORD

To be fair, the deck has been stacked against Willis since he arrived at Kentucky. His freshman class included six McDonald's All-Americans. Four stayed last year and four more arrived, and another, Poythress, hung around for his junior year. That's a staggering nine burger boys on one team.

But now the roster is less crowded. This is Willis' best shot at significant playing time, and in theory he's better prepared for that chance than ever. He has no excuse not to be.

"I'm rooting for them," Calipari said of Willis and Hawkins. "... I told them that at the end of the year: 'You better come back here expecting to play. Then you go make it happen.' I can't do it for them."

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.