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Father, high school coach of Kentucky forward Derek Willis shoot down transfer rumors

Mississippi State v Kentucky

of the Kentucky Wildcats during the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Rupp Arena on January 8, 2014 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Andy Lyons

With the Harrison twins announcing Friday that they’ll be returning to Kentucky for the 2014-15 season, John Calipari’s cupboard heading into next season is anything but bare. With nine McDonald’s All-Americans on next season’s roster, the Wildcats have as many as any team in the NBA according to a count done by Yahoo Sports.

And with all of that talent, there have been questions from the outside with regards to players who didn’t see much playing time in 2013-14.

One of those players is rising sophomore forward Derek Willis. A native of Kentucky, Willis played in only 14 of the Wildcats’ 40 games and averaged 2.8 minutes per contest. And with the surplus of front court talent returning to Lexington (not to mention incoming freshmen Karl-Anthony Towns and Trey Lyles), the climb for more minutes will be an uphill one for Willis this offseason.

And with that being the case, there was a rumor that Willis was considering a transfer in search for more playing time. However in separate stories both Willis’ father and high school coach shot down those rumors, with the former telling Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio that Derek wants to continue to work in hopes of earning more playing time next season.

Derek knows he has to work hard in the off-season and knows with the Harrison twins and everyone coming back that playing time will be tough. But he believes he can earn it. He just wants to work hard in the off-season, and he knows his time is coming.

With the current climate of college basketball being such that many expect a player to automatically leave at the first sign of adversity (limited minutes, not enough “touches,” etc.), it’s refreshing to have this kind of story come out. Sure the process of earning more playing time will be difficult for Willis, but at the very least the daily competition in practice will only help him in the long run.

And as we saw with performances of Marcus Lee and Dominique Hawkins in Kentucky’s Elite Eight victory over Michigan, it’s important for seldom-used players to remain ready both mentally and physically. Because for as daunting as the depth chart may look, one can never truly predict when their name will be called.

Follow @raphiellej