Jason Wills

[SixtiesAggie]

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Print Email this Article By Darrick Ignasiak
Special to the News & Record

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"Athletics is a part of therapy for us all."
Carolyn Wills,
Mother of N.C. A&T player Jason Wills, whose father battled leukemia for the third time in 2005GREENSBORO -- For Jason Wills' family, March Madness starts in November. A 6-hour drive from the Wills' home in Upper Marlboro, Md., doesn't stop Paul and Carolyn Wills from seeing their son Jason play basketball for N.C. A&T, starting with the first game of the season.

The Aggies' road schedule isn't a hindrance, either. The Wills family has watched Jason play for A&T in New Mexico and Arizona. When he was in high school, they went to Hawaii to see Jason play.

"We don't look at the expense when it involves family," Paul Wills said. "It brings us together. It's a mini-vacation."

Only an emergency or illness will keep them from attending the 6-foot-6 junior forward's games, and that's what happened in 2005. Jason's father was diagnosed with leukemia for a third time and was hospitalized for three months. Now he's in remission.

"He's doing well," Jason Wills said. "It will probably come back, but right now I'm not thinking about it. He is a survivor. The toughest man I know. I take after him."

Having his dad in the bleachers behind the Aggies' bench always motivates Jason.

"His dad just wants to see his son play," said Jerry Eaves, the Aggies' coach. "That's why they do what they do."

Paul Wills, 56. first was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. After a period of remission, the disease returned in 2003, only to go into remission again.

The illness kept him from attending A&T games in 2005 and it drove Jason on the court. At one game, Jason's mom told him to do it for his dad.

"I told him to play his hardest," Carolyn Wills said. "His dad was fighting to live."

Jason went out and scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Aggies to a victory against perennial MEAC power Hampton.

While hospitalized, Paul Wills wanted to see his son play badly. So the hospital staff and his wife got A&T game tapes from Eaves.

"It was hard personally not to see him play," Paul Wills said.

Carolyn Wills and Jason's 86-year-old grandmother, Bessie Crittendon, traveled to most of Jason's games when Paul was undergoing treatment.

"It was a wonderful distraction," Carolyn said. "It would give me a break from whatever was going on and keep things stable, then back to the grindstone."

When the Aggies took on Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 16, 2006, Paul Wills was still hospitalized. But the hospital had ESPN2 and he got to see his son play live.

"It was fantastic," he said. "A lot of the doctors and nurses were in the room watching it with me. You could hear me all up and down the hallway."

Wills did his father proud in the game, hitting two free throws with four seconds remaining and scoring 20 points in a 69-67 victory.

"That was icing on the cake," Paul Wills said.

"Then they came in and did all types of tests on me."

Paul continues to go for check-ups every six weeks.

"It's difficult," Carolyn Wills said. "Hopefully, it taught Jason to deal with adversity and accomplish what he needs to."

With Jason averaging 14.8 points and a team-leading 7.5 rebounds per game, basketball helps the Wills family focus on the positive.

As Carolyn Wills said, "Athletics is a part of therapy for us all."





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Joseph Rodriguez/News & RecordJason Wills COPPIN STATE AT N.C. A&T
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Corbett Sports Center, Greensboro
Records: Coppin State 5-7 MEAC, 7-17 overall; N.C. A&T 7-6, 11-14
Tickets: Call 334-7749.
Women's game: 2 p.m.
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[Maxell]

That was a really touching story. Human interest stories like this bring us closer to the players that wear the blue and gold and create a bond that makes you want to cheer even harder. Seeing or hearing Wills' name will now be a little bit different than before. This is exactly the kind of thing I suggested in a thread about preparation to football season.

Good article.

[AggieMike]

Good article but it should have been in the A&T paper

Darrick is my co-editor and he's been giving me stories on Corbett's son and some other former player when the student body cares more about somebody who actually goes here.

Great article but I'd rather have seen this in the Register and Corbett's son in the News & Record

[Bornthrilla]

Darrick is just being smart and career-minded. The A&T Register looks good on a resume but the News & Record might lead to a full-time gig one day.

Plus, a whole lot more people will view the article if its published in the N&R.

[hawkeye]

It's a game.........

We have kids like Wills and Hernandez that have to deal with real life issues while trying to play ball and get an education. They're winners no matter what happens on the court.

[Aggie One]

So true Hawkeye. We too often forget about the kids and talk in terms of wins and losses like they are gladiators here just for our enjoyment. Kids like Adrian Carter sho's coming to us this fall, raised by his grandmothers and granddad, a great kid with toubled parents but a rich loving extended family around him.

We, as alumni, need to embrace our all of students, not just athletes and set an example from sharing the knowledge of our own life experiences and help give them the nurturing that they need heading into adulthood to help break the cycle of mindless genocide we encounter everyday as a people.

[AggieMike]

It's a matter of priorities, he's gonna be at the N&R for years (he already has a job there). I think he should focus on what he gets PAID for by A&T, because I would have much rather ran a story on Jason than Darren Corbett, who the hell is Darren Corbett to a student at A&T?