Trevon Chislom, UW-Whitewater men's basketball coach Pat Miller and the rest of the Warhawks team are excited to give Derek Gray's mom, Traci Pine, the chance to be the last person to cut down the net after the Warhawks' WIAC tournament win at UW-Oshkosh. The DG4 on her hat signifies her late son's initials and uniform number. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com

By Ryan Scott
D3hoops.com

The biggest presence on this year’s UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team isn’t there at all.

All-American Derek Gray died last summer after collapsing during a staff showcase game at one of the Warhawk summer camps. Many of his teammates and coaches were present.

“Your first job is to be there for his family any way you can,” says head coach Pat Miller. “Your second job is to prepare your players. We engaged our players. We’ve had great support from the community and from our counseling services on campus.”

In addition to dealing with Gray’s death and the trauma surrounding it, Miller and his Warhawks had to reconstruct a team very much built around Gray’s talents and abilities.

“He was our leading scorer, our leading rebounder, our best defensive player,” says Miller. In addition to his physical contributions, Gray was a leader and connector, a personality the team could rally behind.

Miller adds: “He really had a unique ability to connect with everybody — all his teammates, the managers, whoever he met. He was a great guy. He made time for people. He was kind. Derek is a huge motivation for our team. We don’t talk about it a lot, we don’t say, ‘let’s go play for Derek,’ it’s known.”

The team does four push-ups before every practice (Gray wore jersey number four); they break the huddle with ‘DG4’ and they honored him during a special game this season.

What could have been a very bad year, though, has become a testament to the legacy Gray left behind.

“It’s amazing how guys have stepped up and improved,” says Trevon Chislom, a four-year junior (Whitewater has no seniors in the regular rotation) who’s taken on much of the leadership mantle in Gray’s absence.

Chislom cites sophomore Jameer Barker, who has had to move into the point guard/playmaking role Gray occupied, as one teammate who’s stepped up his defensive abilities and grown into a stronger all-around player.

Miller points out Chislom’s growth. In addition to being a physical presence down low, he’s expanded his game to become a reliable three point shooter (almost 50% with about one make per game), which stretches the defense and creates space for teammates.

The other key was freshman Miles Barnstable, who came in and started right away. He’s been working hard to improve his defense and will be a huge part of whatever success Whitewater achieves this weekend at Randolph-Macon.

Miles Barnstable, along with his brother Delvin, have been huge additions for UW-Whitewater this season. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

There’s no big bruising forward on this Whitewater team, as we’ve come to expect from Warhawk squads in the past, but they retain their physical style, focused on getting to the rim and the free throw line.

That being said, an 11-for-25 barrage of outside shooting was essential to getting past Case Western Reserve last weekend and securing them a place in the Sweet Sixteen. It’s very clear this team is developing faster and expanding their abilities more quickly than anyone, even they themselves could’ve ever expected.

Barnstable was joined by his older brother, Delvin, an All-NACC performer at Marian before his arrival at Whitewater, and Carter Capstran, who is really just hitting his stride after recovering from a broken leg.

For many of us outside Wisconsin, Whitewater seemed to come out of nowhere. Without Gray, very little was expected of them - certainly not an eight win improvement on last year’s 15-11 record - plus there was the deceptive 4-3 start.

Those three losses were close ones, to Hope, North Central, and La Crosse, very good indication that this squad had the pieces to succeed if they could put everything together.

But that required a change in mindset.

Chislom relates a story from last season, when much of the team was out with COVID and they faced a trip to Oshkosh with just eight or nine players available. “We got into the locker room and someone asked coach if we had Derek. He said, ‘yes,’ and we all knew if we had Derek we could go there and win.”

This team is no longer dependent on any one player. They work together and support each other. The scoring is spread around, the defense and the leadership, too. Players have taken on roles and pushed themselves to grown and improve.

It’s easy to think, “If this team is this good now, what would it have looked like with Derek Gray?” Miller noted on Hoopsville that there’s a sense of guilt that comes with thinking this way. Obviously Gray’s loss hurts more because of the person he was and the love he had for his teammates, family, and community, but that question is also a testament to the player he was and the work he put in to constantly improve his game.

Perhaps the 2022-23 Whitewater squad would’ve been No. 1 all season and favorites for the national title if Derek Gray were still alive, but maybe part of his legacy is how his life and memory have inspired a team to become more than was thought possible.

I don’t believe “everything happens for a reason.” Some things are terrible and senseless - like a young life cut short. I do believe, though, that good can come out of tragedy, that things can be better after suffering. That doesn’t justify the loss, but it does somehow redeem it.

Whitewater faces another challenge on Friday: a Johns Hopkins squad that combined a balanced offensive attack with a stifling defense. It will take every bit of what the Warhawks have learned this season to advance to the next round.

Perhaps there’s some solace that the Bluejays will also be short their best player. Tom Quarry’s season ended a month ago due to injury. But he’ll be there, cheering on his squad. Derek Gray won’t be on the bench for Whitewater, but he will be just as present.

As Miller says, “He’s not with us, but he’s with us.”