This was supposed to be the first season former Arkansas high school AAU basketball teammates Payton Willis and Eric Curry were on the court together again with the Gophers.
Curry was lost for the season with a knee injury in the fall, but he helped to motivate his old friend after Willis missed four games with his own health issues.
The impact Willis was expecting to have after transferring from Vanderbilt was on display with his career-high 21 points in Wednesday's 70-52 victory over Wisconsin.
The Gophers (12-10, 6-6 Big Ten) are hoping Willis can continue to give the backcourt a lift Saturday at No. 22 Penn State (17-5, 7-4). The 6-5 junior guard has been playing all season for Curry, who is a source of inspiration, while waiting until next season to join his friend on the court.
"That's my brother," Willis said. "I always see him in high spirits. He doesn't even have to say anything. He can just smile and that encourages me, because I know what he's going through."
Curry and Willis had known each other since teaming up with the Arkansas Wings basketball team in eighth grade. They faced each other as college freshmen, when the Gophers beat Vanderbilt in 2016.
"It was kind of crazy," Willis recalled. "Coach [Richard] Pitino recruited me hard out of high school. I was supposed to go on a visit there, but I ended up committing before I came on a visit here. There was a possibility of playing together. Eric and I were talking about it."
As fate would have it, Willis decided to transfer to Minnesota from Vanderbilt in 2018.