As a senior at Saint Peter’s Prep, slightly over 2 miles away from Saint Peter’s University, Trevis Wyche had a fan in the stands that was looking forward to having him as a teammate.
Desi Washington, then a sophomore in his first season with the Peacocks, said he stopped by to watch Wyche play at a few of his high school games. And even before Wyche stepped on campus Washington was relished the thought of playing together.
“I was excited,” Washington said of watching Wyche. “He’s close to averaging a triple-double every game. He’s so good in transition with the ball, and you want that especially as a shooter, so that he can find you in transition and make plays for everybody else.”
Wyche ranked third on the team with 8.3 ppg during his freshman season and averaged just under 4 apg. The two talked during Wyche’s visit to campus, but it was after watching the newcomer play that Washington really got excited.
“I’m the type of guy that will get into the lane, kick it out on the fast break,” Wyche said. “He said basically he couldn’t wait to play with me because it would make his life easier.”
While Washington’s stats might not reflect success next to Wyche, his 13.5 ppg last season was a dip from the previous season’s 14.6, the load of carrying the offense and bringing up the ball shifted to Wyche, which allowed Washington to attack more often last season.
Washington expects Wyche to improve from year one to year two and has already seen it on the floor. The senior said that the sophomore has become a stronger jump shooter after shooting just 34.6% from the field and once he proves that to defenses it’ll open up his game even more.
“I wasn’t surprised at the success that he had,” Washington said of what he saw from Wyche’s first season. “I know he’ll do an even better job, be even more efficient this year and keep getting better as his career goes on.”
One part of the game Wyche would like to improve at is his defense, though he believes that being more vocal on defense will be aided by a year under his belt.
“Last year there were times when I showed some vocal skills and some leadership,” Wyche said. “This year, I feel being a sophomore, I have more of a say in what to do.”
And Peacock fans hope that Wyche’s improvement will help lead Saint Peter’s back into the top half of the MAAC standings this season.
Ryan Restivo wrote the America East conference preview for the 2014-15 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. He covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the America East conference and Hofstra for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
NYC Buckets Archive 