Willemsen well worth the effort

The full-court press Jim Hayford employed during the courtship of his wife Robin worked so well he decided to use the same relentless tactics with the recruitment of Colin Willemsen.

“I recruited Colin as hard as any player we’ve ever recruited,” said Hayford, in his seventh year as the head men’s basketball coach at Whitworth University. “It was kind of like my wife. I wore her down until she married me, and I think I wore Colin down, too.”

Hayford, whose Northwest Conference champion Pirates (20-6) will entertain Occidental (22-5) in today’s 7 p.m. second-round NCAA Division III tournament showdown in the Fieldhouse, figures he made at least five trips to the Bay Area two years ago in an effort to convince the 6-foot-6, 200-pounder to become a Pirate.

Willemsen was a sophomore at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif., at the time and was also on the recruiting radar of nearby San Francisco State and the University of California, East Bay. He ended up buying into Hayford’s sales pitch and ended up at Whitworth, but not until Hayford ratcheted the recruiting pressure up an extra notch by involving university president William Robinson.

“I asked Bill to come with me to the airport to pick up Colin’s parents when they came to check out Whitworth,” Hayford said. “It’s the only time I’ve ever asked him to do that, and I think it probably made a good impression.

“Bill convinced them that any money they might spend that wasn’t covered by Colin’s academic scholarship would be money well spent, so he gets the assist.”

An important assist at that, considering the contributions Willemsen has made to the Pirates’ program since arriving on campus in the fall of 2006.

As a junior last season, he played an important sixth-man role, averaging 25.2 minutes, 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds as the Pirates finished 24-4, won the NWC title and advanced to the second round of the D-III tournament before losing to Washington (Mo.) University 63-61.

This year, with the Bucs having lost four starters to graduation, Willemsen took over as a full-time starter and was recently named to the All-Northwest Conference first team after averaging 13.6 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds. He also led the Pirates with 30 steals and finished second on the team in assists, with 92 – an average of almost four per game.

Because of the closeness of their coach-player relationship, Hayford is comfortable taking a few digs at Willemsen, particularly when explaining his effectiveness as a scorer.

“He has this funky shot – kind of a knuckleball – that is really unorthodox, so nobody knows how to guard him,” Hayford said. “But really, what Colin does best is he gets to the rim, and he can do that from the post or off the dribble.

“And he’s the best passing big man that I’ve ever coached, so he’s kind of like a point forward for us.”

According to Hayford, Willemsen could have started on a regular basis as a junior last year.

“But with all those seniors, when it came down to James (Jones), Ryan (Symes) and Colin, one of them wasn’t going to be able to start,” Hayford said. “So, since Colin was the most mature, he drew the short straw.

“Hopefully, James won’t read that, but it’s true. And it shows just how classy Colin is. He’ll do whatever is best for the team. And, really, if you look at the minutes he played, he had about the same amount as those other five guys, and he was always playing at the end of every game last year.”

This year, despite his impressive numbers, Willemsen has been overshadowed again – this time by Symes, who put together a NWC player of the year season by averaging 19.4 points and 6.3 rebounds. Considering the two were fierce junior college rivals in northern California prior to arriving at Whitworth, there might seem to be grounds for resentment on Willemsen’s part.

But Willemsen insists there is none.

“There’s really no one I’d rather be in the shadow of than Ryan,” he said. “He’s an awesome person and a great player. I just love playing with him.”

When asked about the Pirates’ success this season, Willemsen said he was only slightly surprised.

“We started off slow and lost our first game (to Chapman), but we bounced back (by winning the Lee Fulmer Classic in Redlands, Calif.). We kind of knew we had the players and that it was just a matter of time before we all got on the same page and started playing like it.

“And now, it seems like were all clicking at the same time – and at the right time, too.”

Considering the heavy graduation losses from last winter, many Pirates fans might not have expected another NWC title or postseason run. But Hayford insists it has been in his plans since the day Willemsen said yes.

“Once he made the commitment to come,” Hayford said, “I knew we had the pieces in place to be a really good team for the couple of years.”