Tre'Von Willis will miss a second game

Turns out Tre'Von Willis is going to have his suspension doubled.

Over the summer, UNLV's star guard was arrested for allegedly choking a female acquaintance. After pleading out to a lesser charge, Willis was hit with a one game suspension by UNLV head coach Lon Kruger.

This drew the ire of the blogosphere, as you might imagine.

The rest of this post can be found at Beyond the Arc.

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Tre'Von Willis dodged a bullet, but Lon Kruger didn't necessarily do anything wrong

We finally have word on what Tre'Von Willis' punishment will be.

If you remember, Willis was arrested back in June after a 28 year old Las Vegas woman accused him of choking her in her apartment. If the police report was to be believed, Willis looked like a real long shot to play this season -- it said he knocked the woman on her back and choked her for three minutes, using two hands and then his foreman, before stealing her phone.

But Willis had a much different story. He gave his side during a press conference at the Thomas & Mack Center this evening:

No choking took place. I originally agreed to go over to the young lady's house. She had promised me a little bit of money. We started to argue a little bit, and from then I grabbed her purse off of the nightstand. That's when she tried to grab the purse from me, and that's when I grabbed her hand. I knew it was wrong. From there I dumped the contents of the purse out onto the bed, and there was no money in it, and then I exited the apartment.

Tre'Von Willis got off easier than expected.
(photo credit: B/R)

Quite a bit different, right?

Willis was able to land plea deal. He received a suspended 90 day jail sentence pending a year of good behavior, must pay a $340 fine, do 100 hours of community service, and attend domestic battery counseling. Considering the accusations, a fine and some community service in exchange for a year of good behavior isn't much.

Neither is the punishment he got from head coach Lon Kruger.

Kruger said that Willis will be suspended for a minimum of 10% of UNLV's games this season, which means he will miss the first three games of the season. The catch? UNLV's two exhibition games count, which means that Willis could very well be eligible to play against Southeastern Louisiana in the Rebel's second game of the season and, more importantly, in UNLV's potential top 25 showdown with Wisconsin on November 20th in the third game of the year. Willis will also be able to practice with the team starting October 15th.

All in all, it seems like Willis dodged a bullet on this one.

This outcome likely won't sit right with a lot of people.

Every time a situation like this arises, I think back to Eric Devendorf. The former Cuse guard received a similar accusation against him during the 2008-2009 season, and Syracuse reacted by suspending from school for the rest of the year. Once the stories were untangled and the truth came out, he was reinstated after missing two games.

In a situation like the ones Willis and Devo found themselves in, can you really trust either side? Men that beat women are despicable, but there are also times where women exaggerate, or flat out lie, about an assault. Knowing this, if you are Lon Kruger, and one of your players -- who, presumably, you trust and have a strong relationship with -- steadfastly denies the accusation, isn't there a large part of you that believes him? Now, when that player gets off with a cushy plea bargain, doesn't that only reinforce your belief?

If this was your son, what would you do? He would get punished for using terrible judgement, getting himself into a bad situation, and committing an unacceptable act. Maybe you take away car privileges, ground him for a month, and implement a 9pm curfew, but you're not shipping him off to military school, right?

If I'm Kruger, and I'm in this exact situation, I'm not so sure I would have done anything different.
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Will Lon Kruger play Tre'Von Willis?

A preliminary hearing has been set for UNLV guard Tre'Von Willis for November 22nd. Willis, who averaged over 17 ppg for the Runnin' Rebels last season, has been charged with one felony count of battery constituting domestic violence-strangulation and one misdemeanor charge of coercion stemming from a June 29th incident.

The problem is that UNLV's season begins 10 days prior to that court date with a game against UC Riverside.

Will Lon Kruger allow Tre'Von Willis to play while facing felony charges?
(photo credit: Daylife)

It begs the question: does Lon Kruger player Willis while he is facing felony charges? If he follows recent history, than the answer is no. Tubby Smith wouldn't play either Trevor Mbakwe or Royce White last season as both had legal issues that needed sorting out. White ended up at Iowa State, where he may or may not be eligible, while Mbakwe is still weighing his options for next season (some believe he will end up in Memphis).

Steve Wolfson, the attorney for Willis, believes he will play this year.

"The police did a preliminary investigation and that is what is the basis of the charges," Wolfson said. "We're doing our own investigation and I'm confident that when all the facts and the truth comes out, that Tre'Von will play basketball this year for UNLV, have a great year, perhaps be the leading scorer again and have a great future."

Unfortunately, the decision isn't up to Wolfson, its up to Kruger.

And even in the City of Sin, its hard to believe that Kruger will play Willis before this trial has finished playing out.

UNLV won 25 games last season and returned just about everyone important. Most believed them to be a top 25 team and one of the favorites to win the MWC. That all changes if they are without their leading scorer and best player.

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UNLV's Tre'Von Willis arrested

UNLV was supposed to be loaded next season.

Of the 11 players that were in the Rebel's rotation last season, nine were coming back, including their top eight scorers. Even with BYU and San Diego State returning talented rosters, most expected Lon Kruger's team to compete for an MWC title.

Now, that prospect is looking quite a bit more challenging.

It started in late April when Matt Shaw, the fourth leading scorer on UNLV, was kicked off the team for testing positive for marijuana. A 6'8" jump shooter, Shaw's ability to spread the floor will be missed, but UNLV would have been able to withstand the loss.

A loss they can't withstand is Tre'Von Willis, a 22 year old rising senior and former Memphis transfer.

Tre'Von Willis was arrested on Tuesday morning.
(photo credit: Las Vegas Sun)

Willis was a first team MWC performer after averaging 17.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, and 3.6 apg last season, but it is tough to imagine that he will be allowed to play next season. Willis was arrested Tuesday morning at his Henderson, NV, apartment after allegedly choking his 28 year old girlfriend. He was charged with felony counts of domestic battery by strangulation and grand larceny, as well as one misdemeanor count of coercion.

"We don't know what happened yet," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "We're always looking for our guys to represent each other and their families and our athletic department well. That's a priority for us that will never change."

He's right. We don't know what happened here, and is the Duke lacrosse case taught us anything, it is that we cannot jump to conclusions without due process. Willis deserves to have his side of the story heard as well.

But if the allegations against Willis are true, its tough to imagine him being allowed to return to the UNLV basketball team. It is conceivable that he could face some jailtime as well.

Without Willis, UNLV will be losing their best player and will head into next season without a true go-to scorer. While there is still talent on that roster, its tough to see the Rebels living up to a top 25 billing and competing for a MWV title.

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