Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Their chemistry on the basketball court is exceptional, their success is unparalleled, and their legacy, while yet to be finalized, will go down as one of the most impressive in local basketball history.

But most of all, the phenomenal foursome of Zac Claus, Drew Gillette, Bradley Willis and Donald Willis have just been a fun bunch to watch play together for the past several years, taking the local basketball community on a magical journey the likes of which this area has never seen before.

“They’ll be remembered as hall of fame caliber players and some of the most genuine people that have ever populated this program,” CR head coach Ryan Bisio said. “I mean, how much can these guys give?”

After two incredible seasons that saw the Corsairs win back-to-back Golden Valley Conference championships for the first time in the program’s 55-year history, the fab four’s stay at CR is winding down.

And as they get set for the playoffs, which tip off on Tuesday night, the local community will get one more chance to see them play together and soak in the atmosphere of their incredible success and the manner in which they captivated local fans.

Three of the four — Claus and the Willis twins — have been playing together since they first picked up a basketball as fifth graders at Rio Dell Elementary, and they continued to be teammates at the high school, AAU and collegiate levels, with Gillette joining the crew as a sophomore at Fortuna High.

As high school seniors they won 30 games together, the most ever by an H-DNL team, and they carried that success over to CR, where all four are tied for most ever career wins ever at the local community college (42) as well as winning percentage (.792).

Not surprisingly, they all feature heavily in the program’s all-time records, with all four among the top five in career assists.

Claus, who led the state in assists this year with 7.8 a game, has obliterated the all-time record at the school with 327 career assists.

Donald Willis is third all-time in career assists with 177 and he is the Corsairs’ all-time steals leader with 88, while Gillette is fourth in career assists with 137 and Bradley Willis is fifth with 135.

“And they’ve done it with such great sportsmanship,” Bisio said. “They exude the intangibles we value at CR.”

Each has played his own role in this remarkable success story.

“I feel like everybody brings something to the table in their own unique way,” Gillette said. “It’s all about how we complement each other.”

Playing together for as long as they have has been a major factor in their development, as has their camaraderie on and off the court.

“They’re all easy to be around, and they’re all really funny,” Claus said of his three long-time teammates, all of whom frequently hang out together when they’re not playing. “We always have a great time laughing together.”

Gillette believes their easy-going relationship has helped them gel on the court.

“We don’t take each other too seriously and I think that’s reflective in how we play,” he said. “We keep it fun.”

The identical Willis twins naturally have good chemistry on the court, and it’s caught some of their opponents off guard.

“There’s been a couple of times when I have two people guarding me and he’s open,” Bradley said with a chuckle.

Basketball is also something that have enjoyed together since the very first time they picked up a ball.

“It was instant,” Donald said of his love for the game. “It was just really fun to be out there playing. It just felt natural.”

This season has been a challenging one for the players, as it has been for many teams in every sport, with COVID presenting unforeseen logistical difficulties and numerous postponements.

But the players have persevered and they appear to be peaking at an opportune time, playing their best basketball of the season on the way to winning nine straight games heading into Tuesday’s playoff game.

“I think we’re really confident going into the playoffs and I think we’re playing our best basketball right now,” Gillette said. “I think whatever happens, we’re going to be in a good position.”

“We’re very excited about it,” Claus added. “We’re happy with where we are, but not satisfied.”

“We definitely hope to go all the way,” Bradley Willis said. “We definitely think we can go all the way.”

All four also believe they each have benefitted tremendously and evolved as players from playing with the others for as long as they have.

“With the twins, knowing where they’ll be on the court is a really big asset for me, and playing with the twins obviously has helped me quite a bit as a player,” Claus said. “And Drew, I feel, is the best shooter in California. The assists are easy when you’re playing with him.”

This year has also seen the addition of freshman center Jon Nchekwube, who slipped seamlessly into the lineup and was named conference MVP and to the all-state first team.

“He’s brought so many things to our team,” Donald Willis said of Nchekwube, who is the second straight conference MVP and all-state selection at CR, following in the footsteps of Thomas Nelson, who also benefited from playing alongside Claus, Gillette and the Willis twins.

As for what they’ll all remember from their time playing together at CR and Fortuna?

“Honestly, it’s going to be the extra stuff you don’t talk about in the moment,” Gillette said. “Hanging out with your friends.”

Donald Willis says that two moments in particular stand out for him.

He says winning back-to-back conference titles at CR is “definitely something we’re proud of,” before adding with a chuckle that he’ll always remember the night they were snowed in at Lassen and the team played in the snow storm together.

All four outgoing sophomores also paid tribute to the coaching staff at CR, including Bisio and assistant Justin Claus, who is Zac’s older brother and has been a huge influence in his development at every step of the journey, as well as that of his teammates.

“Justin, since high school, has been great in developing all of us and teaching us how to play basketball the right way,” Gillette said. 

As for their future, all four will go on to play at four-year programs, although none of them have made any decisions yet, saying they will think about it more after the season and that they are focusing instead on closing out as strong as possible.

But there is a possibility all four will continue to play together and they have already had a couple of four-year programs reach out to all four.

“We’ve talked about it and we’d love to stay together because we love each other so much and have been playing together for so long,” Bradley said. “But we’re still focused on the season right now.”

“That would be great if it ended up happening,” Donald said. “It’s on all of our minds, of course.”

“It’s definitely something I would really want,” Claus said.

No matter what happens in the future, one thing is for certain — this group of sensational sophomores have enjoyed playing alongside each other as much as the local basketball community has enjoyed watching them play together.

“This group of guys are very special,” Bradley Willis said. “And I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.”