College life wasn’t always easy for former Newton County Academy standout Tre Collins.
After being an MAIS All-star at NCA, Collins started his college career out at East Central, taking classes to be a paramedic. Collins was redshirted that year and was only able to practice with the team.
But then Collins got the chance to play college basketball at William Carey.
But the 6-foot-5 Collins was no longer the main man, coming off the bench for Williams Carey. But that was just fine with Collins.
“I loved it,” Collins said of playing college basketball at the NAIA school located in Hattiesburg. “Playing four years of basketball at the collegiate level has been a great thing for me. I think the level of play in NAIA is pretty equal to what you see in junior colleges. In junior college, you would see one or two really good players but would also see some Division I players. It’s definitely different. It’s like a job and you just have to stick with it.”
After transferring to Carey, Collins spent the last four years coming off the bench for the Crusaders.
“It was a big change coming off the bench,” Collins said. “In high school, you are generally the first option on every play. But you are playing with a bunch of other guys who were the first option in high school. You’re surrounded by guys like that. But I knew I wouldn’t be that guy at William Carey.”
Collins did get one start at William Carey, against cross-town Southern Miss.
“I only got to start one game and that was against Southern Miss” Collins said. “And to be honest, I would rather come off the bench. I got to play more minutes coming off the bench. It was just a transition from high school. I was just trying to do what I needed to do to help the team. My job was to come in and be a shooter and be the glue. I enjoyed every minute of it.”
This past season, Collins got the opportunity to play with his younger brother Chance.
“I thought that was really cool,” Collins said. “He was my roommate and I got to work with him on being a college player and working through those hard parts when you aren’t getting to play. We thought we wouldn’t get to play together again so it was cool to have that opportunity.”
Collins just finished up his four years of playing but he’s not through with basketball yet.
“I just finished my last year of ball and have part of the year to finish up at school.” Collins said. “I just got employed at Petal and am going to be an assistant basketball coach. That will be another transitional stage but I feel like that’s where God has led me. I will try to coach boys and help them have the same opportunities I have had in life.”
