Point break

SUU guard knows position’s importance

By DAVE DeMILLE
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

With the Mid-Con season getting underway tonight against Oral Roberts, the T-Birds will need a steady hand running the offense, and senior point man Jay Collins has been doing the job for the last two seasons.
Collins, a history major from Farmington, N.M., is second on the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game on 50 percent shooting, and is second in the conference with 5.3 assists per outing. He serves as perhaps the most consistent performer on the squad, having started all 12 games and steadily producing.
“The point guard has to be a leader,” Collins said. “It’s important to be unselfish and not worry so much about scoring points or statistics. You need to spread the ball around and get everyone involved.”
For one night especially, Collins showed what he brings to the team. Playing big in a road win over New Mexico, the team he grew up following, he scored 17 points and dished out 5 assists in the 69-57 win.
Playing less than two miles from his home in Farmington, Collins gave the friends and family that came to watch something to cheer about.
“That was a great game,” Collins said. “It was good to get the win against them, especially with 20,000 people there watching. Growing up in New Mexico, everyone wanted to play for (the Lobos), and it was a great feeling to go in and win like that.”
Growing up, Collins led Farmington High to a district championship his senior season, winning district MVP by averaging 23 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists per contest.
He then earned all-america recognition at Cochise Community College before coming to SUU to play for a winner under head coach Bill Evans.
“I had a couple of options after junior college,” Collins said. “I decided to come to SUU because the team had just gone to the (NCAA) tournament and I liked coach Evans and the school.”
Collins would like to play for as long as possible, at whatever level, and eventually go into coaching.
Collins fashions his game after Dallas Mavericks point guard Steve Nash, a player renowned as one of the smartest playmakers in the league and one of its top shooters.
“I love Steve Nash,” Collins said. “His game is just unbelievable. He shows that you don’t have to be the most athletic guy to be a good player.”
Nash is also known for his hair, a shoulder-length and dirty

 

SUU senior point guard Jay Collins dribbles up the court during practice. Collins was named to the preseason All-Mid-Con second team and currently ranks second in the conference in assists per game with a 5.3 average.
ERIN MADSON / UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

fashion statement that has almost become his signature, and until recently, Collins had started growing his hair out.
“I shouldn’t have cut it,” Collins said. “I had to cut it because it was getting into my eyes while I was trying to play.”
Understanding that basketball is a team game, Collins selflessly sacrificed personal style to help the ’Birds win, and that affiliation with teammates continues on and off the court.
“The team chemistry is really great,” Collins said. “We’re all good friends, and we hang out together. Practice is fun for us, and we like playing together.”
Starting at 7:05 p.m. today, Collins will have a chance to help the team get used to winning together.