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St. Joe's Prep grad Trevor Wall pushing the pace for Ursinus

11/12/2022, 7:15pm EST
By Owen McCue

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Trevor Wall’s play and presence radiate through the Ursinus men’s basketball team.

Every rebound he skies for, block that he swats, transition push or no-look/wraparound pass into an open shot, seems to fire up not just Wall but his teammates as well.

“I think I’m an energy player,” said Wall, a 2020 St. Joe’s Prep grad. “My teammates and I, we’re so close, so it’s easy to get excited for them. I kind of feed off energy, so when I get a no-look pass or assist, it kind of gets me going. I’m pretty effective at getting downhill and looking for other guys.”

Ursinus head coach Kevin Small tabbed Wall, a sophomore for the Bears, as an Ivy or Patriot League-level player coming out of St. Joe’s Prep, where Wall was a 1,000-point scorer and an All-Philadelphia Catholic League second team selection as a senior.

Wall made a name for himself in his college debut last season, particularly late in the year, and looks to have continued that upward trajectory early in 2022-23. 


St. Joe's Prep grad Trevor Wall was an all-league player as a freshman last season. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

He put together a 17-point, six-rebound, four-assist effort on Saturday in a 91-77 win over Rosemont, consistently putting pressure on the Ravens’ defense and weaving his effort and athleticism into various other aspects of the contest.

His outlook on the game is part of the reason Small, another St. Joe’s Prep product, was so excited to get Wall to Ursinus. 

“We thought he fit really well, but more than that he fit the things that are non-negotiable,” Small said. “A really great kid, honest, cares, wants to be coached, really good teammate and that’s hard to find when you got great scorers like our two best scorers Ryan Hughes and Trevor and they identify wanting to get others involved and play for others. Our vision, it’s coming into focus really nicely. He’s a terrific basketball player, but he’s also an even better teammate.”

Wall didn’t get to play as freshman (academically) at Ursinus in 2020-21 as COVID-19 wiped the Bears’ and many other small college programs’ seasons. He had the gym available to workout on his own and the team held workouts three days per week in the spring. 

The 6-foot-3 guard was a starter from the start of the season and put up outings of 11, 19, 17 and 14 points in his first four college starts, but he still said it took time to adjust early in the season.

“We had a lot of older guys. It was super helpful to figure out the pace of play through them when we did have some practices (in 2020-21), but practice can only get you so much,” Wall said. “Last year was big in really understanding the pace.”

Small said he and Wall watched a lot of film together through the first third or two-thirds of the season. Around the second time through the Centennial Conference he saw some things start to click with the then-freshman guard.

Wall finished last season averaging 14.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 2.6 apg and was efficient from the floor, shooting .468 from the field and .403 from 3-point range. He was selected to the All-Centennial Conference Second Team.

“I think typical of many freshmen the game just began to slow down a little bit and then the second time through our league, I thought Trevor was just a different player,” Small said. “He’s an all-conference player not on the backs of the first nine (league) games, but the second nine coaches had to dedicate scout to him and that’s what makes you an all-league player.”

Wall’s late season stretch included a 36-point night in a win over Washington College and 26-point outing against Dickinson in consecutive games in mid-February. He closed his freshman season with five-straight double-digit outings. He reached double figures in 18 of the 24 games he played in (all starts) as a freshman.

“I think the second half of the season I started to get a little more confident, started posting a few more good games,” Wall said. “It was a good way to go out.”

Wall said growing up with older brothers Ryan and Evan, who both played at SJP and playing for legendary coach Speedy Morris in the Catholic League toughened him up and brought out his competitiveness — both attributes he’s brought with him to the college level.

On the offensive end, the go-go-go pace he plays at blends perfectly with the Bears’ offensive style of play. Ursinus finished second in points per game (75.0), third in offensive efficiency (1.064) and first in net efficiency (0.252) in the Centennial last season. 

He was constantly speeding by Rosemont defenders in transition on Saturday to help propel the Bears toward a 91-point outing, in which first team all-conference guard Hughes (18.9 ppg last season) poured in 20.

“That’s why I came here,” Wall said. “We have a fast style. It’s fun to play this style. We have a lot of good scorers. We get up and down. We’re still working on the defensive side of the ball.”

Figuring things out defensively is the next step for the Bears, who ranked eight hin defensive efficiency (0.812) last season and finished 13-13 overall and 9-9 in the Centennial. 

It's also the next step for Wall as a player.

His coach is challenging him to be better defensive rebounder and be more connected in the team’s ‘amoeba’ defensive scheme along with other things like putting my more pressure on ball and navigating screens.

Small expects those things to come as well as much more both on and off the court for Wall — a media and communications major who is pondering a coaching minor.

“The journey at the Prep, because I’m a Prep grad, I know the urgency to take D2 offers, to go to Holy Cross, Richmond, Delaware who recruited him for a while,” Small said. “We’re really thrilled that he understood the value of going to a really academic Division III and in a great league because he’s got the chance to be a really special player in the best league in the country but also have a career. 

“That’s some of the things we talked about. I think for him, he’s already taken some big steps since he’s been in Collegeville. We’re excited because we think he’s got a couple more in front of him.”


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