Wichita State Athletics

Career Summary: Unorthodox but effective forward was an effective bench scorer in his two seasons with the Shockers (2016-18) after transferring from Pearl River Community College... Tallied 698 points and 383 rebounds over 69 games... Averaged 23.4 points per 40 minutes (one of the highest career totals in Shocker history)... Scored in double-figures 36 times and topped 20 points on four occasions... Eight double-doubles... Helped WSU to a 56-14 record (.800) with two NCAA Tournament bids... Member of WSU's 2016-17 team that won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament  titles.

Individual Honors:
2017 MVC All-Newcomer Team
2018 Most Improved Player*
American Honor Roll (Nov. 13, 2017)
* = WSU postseason banquet honor

Team Success:
MVC regular season champion (2017)
MVC Tournament champion (2017)
2x NCAA Tournament qualifier (2017, 18)
 

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2017-18 (Senior): Averaged 10.5 points and ranked ninth on the conference rebounding list at 6.0 per game... Appeared in 33 games with five starts and averaged 18.2 minutes per game... On a per-40-minute basis, ranked third in the conference in both scoring (23.0) and rebounding (14.0)... Team-high five double-doubles... Scored in double-figures 17 times in 33 games... Scored a season-high 24 points to help key a Shocker comeback victory over Temple after the team had trailed by 14 points at halftime... Six double-figure scoring games to begin the month of December, including double-doubles against Oklahoma (20 pts, 12 reb) and Florida Gulf Coast (15 pts, 13 reb)...  Paired 14 points with 12 rebounds in a win over Savannah State (Nov. 28) and closed the month of November averaging 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds... Attempted just one three-pointer as a junior but knocked down a pair in the first half of the first game... Tallied a double-double in the opener against UMKC on Nov. 10  (19 points, 10 rebounds) and became the first Shocker to make the American Athletic Conference's weekly honor roll.

2016-17 (Junior): A versatile scorer and post defender who becomes the latest in a long line of talented junior college forwards to join the Shocker program… The ninth JUCO All-American to play for Gregg Marshall at WSU... Made the MVC’s All-Newcomer team… Appeared in all 36 games with 14 starts… Ranked third on the team in points (9.8) and second in both rebounds (5.1) and blocks (29) while averaging 16.4 minutes… 18 double-figure scoring games, with 13 of those coming over a 16-game stretch between Dec. 6 and Jan. 29… Topped 20 points on two occasions… Registered three double-doubles… Excelled at getting to the foul line and knocked down 74 percent of his attempts (99-of-134)… Shot at a .538 clip from the field… Averaged 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds off the bench in eight November games… Earned his first career start on Dec. 3 at Colorado State and was in the starting five for all but one of the 15 December-January contests… Notched his first career double-double on Dec. 17 when he scored 24 points and grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds against Oklahoma State at INTRUST Bank Arena… The performance versus OSU included a 14-of-17 performance at the foul line (second-most makes by a Shocker in the last 25 seasons)… Tallied a double-double at Indiana State (Dec. 28) when he scored a season-high 25 points to go with 10 rebounds. It was the first double-double and highest scoring total by a Shocker in an MVC debut in over four decades… Returned to a reserve role in February and March and averaged just 11 minutes per game the rest of the way… Had a big performance against UNI on Feb. 18, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds… Scored 32 points and cleared 21 boards in 37 minutes during WSU’s three MVC Tournament wins (an average of 10.7 points, 7.0 rebounds)… Averaged 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.0 minutes in two NCAA Tournament games.

Gregg Marshall: “We think he’s a guy who can come in play big minutes at the four. He does everything well. He can shoot, he can drive, and he can score facing or with his back to the basket. He runs, rebounds, defends and comes from a winning program.”
 
Junior College:  An NJCAA Third Team All-American in 2015-16 for Pearl River (Miss.) Community College in Poplarville, Miss… Chose WSU over Arizona State and also had offers from Marquette, LSU, Oklahoma State and Mississippi State… In two seasons at PRCC, led the Wildcats to back-to-back MACJC South Division championships and 41 wins… Averaged 18.4 points and 10.8 rebounds as a sophomore with 15 double-doubles in 25 games… Reached 20 points on nine occasions… Had a monster performance in the MACJC quarterfinals, finishing with 29 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks while going 13-for-13 at the foul line… Scored a season-high 33 points with 13 boards in a late January win that also netted him conference player of the week honors… As a freshman, averaged 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds for a team that finished 25-5 and won the MACJC state title… Was voted All-Region 23 and All-MCJC South Division… Coached by Chris Oney
 
High School: Enjoyed a breakout season as a high school senior at Madison Memorial, where he was a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Division I All-State selection and conference player of the year in 2014… Was a fourth-team All-State (all classes) selection by the Wisconsin Associated Press… Averaged 17.3 points and led Memorial High to a conference title
 
Personal: Darrlyn Willis, Jr…  Born Jan. 21, 1996 in Madison, Wisc… Son of Darrlyn Willis Sr. and Wendy Buckinghan… Has two brothers and three sisters… Left-handed