Willie Deane didn't feel like celebrating. At Purdue's annual banquet last spring, the surprise Big Ten scoring champ (17.3 ppg) took home MVP honors. But all Deane could think about was the Boilermakers' 13–18 record and the embarrassment he felt for himself, his team and, most of all, his coach.

"Willie hated last year," says Gene Keady. "He sensed some of the guys didn't care."

	Deane wants a second shot for himself, and his coach.

Deane's not having it anymore. The 6'1" senior, never known as a defensive dynamo, vows to re-establish the black-and-blue tone set by Brian "The Custodian" Cardinal when the Boilers gritted their way to the Elite Eight in 2000 (their last Dance). Deane, who watched as a transfer that year, will operate with a stronger supporting cast now that 6'3" stopper Kenneth Lowe (medical redshirt) and 6'11" Notre Dame transfer Ivan Kartelo are ready to play. "We need to have a different mind-set," Deane says. "I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get to the Tourney."

A fairy-tale ending would be especially sweet when you consider where Deane's story begins. The spry combo guard had just two scholarship offers entering his senior year at Schenectady (N.Y.) High, both from D2 schools. Then he led his team to the Class A state title, earning a ride to Boston College. But after the Eagles suffered through a 6–21 season in 1998-99, Al Skinner told Deane (5.3 ppg) he would no longer be needed with the arrival of super prep Troy Bell. "We recruited Willie as a distributor," Skinner says, "and he's obviously a scorer."

Deane wanted to transfer to a Big Ten school near his family, which had moved to Fort Wayne, Ind. But his modest prep rep never reached the Midwest, and he says Skinner referred him to D3 schools. "I was like, 'What's in your mind? Do you think I stink?'" Deane recalls. (Skinner denies referring him anywhere.) So Deane's father wrote a letter to every Big Ten school to see if his son could walk on. Only two responded: Illinois said nope; Purdue said come visit.

"I get five to 10 people a year walking into my office and telling me their kids are better than my kids," Keady says. "Four times in 22 years, including Willie, they've been right."

Now Purdue is making right in return. With NCAA sanctions robbing Keady of a scholarship in 2001, he asked Deane to pay his own way last season. (Deane had been on scholarship his sophomore year, in which he averaged 8.6 ppg off the bench.) But after watching Willie become the most productive walk-on in America, Keady had no choice but to give the kid a free ride again.

And yes, that's worth celebrating.

This article appears in the September 16 issue of ESPN The Magazine.