Stanford's Reid Travis — the last of Minnesota's "Big Three" playing in college basketball — has grown from Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year, to all-conference, to All-America preseason lists this year, as the top scorer and rebounder returning in the Pac-12 Conference.
The 6-foot-8, 245-pound DeLaSalle product is the top player from Minnesota playing college basketball this season. He is coming off a breakout season, but he is still waiting for his individual success to translate to victories for his program. The Cardinal last made the NCAA tournament in 2014.
"It shows that hard work is starting to get recognized," Travis said of the accolades. "I was fortunate to achieve those things in high school and it meant a lot more, but now more so I just want to win. That's the biggest shift in my mind-set."
Travis was part of the Big Three in Minnesota's 2014 high school class, which included Tyus Jones (Duke) and Rashad Vaughn (UNLV), both of whom are now in the NBA. Travis hopes to join them one day at the next level, but he will play at least one more season as Stanford's all-conference big man. The redshirt junior was granted a medical hardship waiver after missing the final 22 games of the 2015-16 season because of a leg injury, but he bounced back strong to average 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds last season.
"I think I've grown a lot," he said. "The blessing and curse of injuries is that you really get to settle down and have patience to figure out exactly what you want to do with your game. So those first two years of college, I had a college body when I came in, but I worked on being more successful and a takeover college player."
Four other Minnesotans to watch
J.P. Macura, Xavier: Former Lakeville North standout averaged 14.4 points in his first season as a full-time starter for the Musketeers, who reached the Elite Eight in March.
Kyle Washington, Cincinnati: After transferring from North Carolina State, the 6-foot-9 former Benilde-St. Margaret's athlete averaged 12.9 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Bearcats as a junior.
Geno Crandall, North Dakota: The DeLaSalle product teamed with fellow Minnesotan Quinton Hooker to lead the Fighting Hawks to their first NCAA tournament appearance last season.
Zach Lofton, New Mexico State: A Columbia Heights grad, the 2017 Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the year transferred to his fourth Division I school after attending Illinois State, Minnesota and Texas Southern.
