ASU visit makes deep impression on JC forward

His official visit to Tempe last week was full of positives. Yet, was it enough to place Arizona State as the favorite for Pearl River Community College's Darrlyn Willis? We caught up with the forward prospect to get his thoughts about his trip and his recruiting process.

"Bobby Hurley is a fantastic guy," Willis said of the Sun Devils' first-year head coach. "Coach Burno and the rest of the coaching staff were great. I loved the players, they were real fun to hang out with. I saw them in practice and they are good . They will surprise a lot of people this year. They have a good looking squad there. They practice very hard, and they are in constant motion and get at it at each other. I liked how they did a lot of skill development too. It all looks fantastic.

"I loved the support I saw at the football game and you can tell that everybody is involved at Arizona State. You see that support and you know they will support in basketball too. Nothing that I saw surprised me about the school. I expected to see all these nice things."

Willis was hosted by Shannon Evans, who is a newcomer for ASU and actually followed Hurley from the University of Buffalo transferring into the Sun Devil program.

"I have to give it up for my boy Shannon," Willis said emphatically. "That's my boy right there. He said that the team needs my help and he wants to run with me because they will be super good with me there next year. I like when I hear non-scripted stuff like that. He's not there making stuff up.

"He loves Hurley and said that he would never have transferred from Buffalo if he didn't love him. He would never sit out this year (due to the transfer) if he didn't love Hurley. That's some strong stuff. That's how I am with my head coach (at Pearl River). If he left I would leave with him. That's a strong bond."

The 6-8 215 Willis hails from Milwaukee and prepped at Madison Memorial High School. In his first year at Pearl River he averaged 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds a game, while making 62.6 percent of his shots and 75.5 percent of his foul shots. He earned All-Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges and All-Region 23 honors.

"I'm a hard nose player that never quits," Willis described. "I'm all-around player that can play the 3 or the 4. I'll get you buckets facing the basket or driving to the basket just depends on how you defend me. I just have a few spots on the court that I like to get to and do my thing."

ASU marked Wills' last recruiting trip ("My knees are telling me no more trips. I'm tired of flying in those small airplane seats", he joked). The forward had already visited Wichita State, Marquette and Mississippi State. Willis sounded as someone who may very well already know his college destination, or the very least which schools stand out more than the others, but declined to make any public statement on that topic.

"I don't want to say anything now because I know I will break some hearts," Willis commented. "I'm just going to wait until I break it (the news) to other schools. I'm definitely signing in November (Nov. 11th-18th). I want to go to a winning school and play in the big games. I'm going to look at a lot of things and I have good people that will help me out."

Willis added that coaches from all the aforementioned four school will visit him at his school prior to the signing period that runs between the 11th and 18th.