Fresno State basketball recruit arrives with a deadly past. ‘This is his second chance’

In some ways, the red flags wave furiously and in every direction, a warning for Fresno State to avoid bringing aboard a player like Zaon Collins with a deadly past.

In other ways, Fresno State’s newest basketball recruit shows signs he just might have the drive and determination to prove he’s much more than the worst moment of his young life and that he can get his life back on track while excelling on a public stage.

But does Collins deserve a second chance? And should Fresno State be the place that offers him that opportunity?

Those are questions folks certainly will ask after Fresno State quietly brought aboard one of the most controversial signees in program history.

Fresno State coach Vance Walberg wrestled with those questions, too.

It’s not like Zaon (pronounced Zay-on) got caught lying, cheating or stealing.

Collins killed someone.

He was involved in a fatal car crash four years ago and sentenced to 90 days in jail as part of a guilty plea agreement for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm in his hometown of Las Vegas.

Family members of the deceased victim said the penalty wasn’t severe enough.

In the eyes of a court, though, Collins paid his debt to society.

“The biggest thing is, yes, he made a bad mistake and it’s a very sad situation,” Walberg said. “Do you penalize the guy for the rest of his life?”

Walberg — in an effort to put together a competitive and ultimately a winning basketball team in his first year at the helm of a coaching job that he’s long coveted — decided it was worth the risk.

Collins is competing for a starting spot in the Bulldogs lineup.

Before the fatal crash, Collins was rated a Top 50 national high school player.

But after more than two years going through the court process followed by time in jail, Collins was no longer viewed as a prized recruit; he was a high risk.

Some colleges that inquired about Collins after he played one season of junior college basketball never actually followed through with an offer.

Fresno State is crossing its fingers that Collins is worth the gamble.

“I’m not a bad person,” Collins said.

All the while, Walberg is banking that his good will and relations formed through years of coaching locally has helped him build enough trust in the community that he can extend this second chance to Collins without much backlash.

Fatal crash details

The deadly car crash happened during the middle of Collins’ senior year of high school.

It was Dec. 30, 2020, less than a year into a COVID-19 pandemic, and during a time when many places, including Las Vegas casinos, were shut down, and Nevada residents were sheltering in place.

Basketball games were held sporadically. For those in Nevada, players often had to wait until their unofficial high school teams were invited to out-of-state games in Arizona.

Practices weren’t conducted consistently, either. But Collins always was excited whenever he learned one was being held.

On the day of the crash, Collins, then 19 years old, drove himself to basketball practice. He was running late, according to the Pahrump Valley Times.

In an extensive, sit-down interview with The Bee, Collins recounted some details of the crash.

He said it occurred at a three-way intersection that had no stop signs and along a back road about a mile from his home. The victim in the crash lived even closer.

Collins was heading north in the right lane of two-lane traffic. Another car was heading north, too, and a few car lengths ahead of Collins in the left lane.

A third car, which was driven by the victim, was traveling south and trying to make a left turn.

“Just remember a car just flew out in front of me,” Collins said. “I don’t know if he’d seen me or not. But he tried to go and stop.”

According to Las Vegas Police, Collins was driving a 2016 Dodge Challenger and speeding at 88 mph in a 35-mph zone when he struck the 2016 Hyundai Accent.

Video footage and photographs of the aftermath showed the subcompact sedan crushed from both sides — struck on the passenger’s side by the muscle car and smashed into a concrete wall on the driver’s side.

The driver of the Hyundai was Eric Echevarria, a U.S. Army veteran who had gone out to get food for his family and was almost home, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Collins said he was unharmed from the crash but transported to a local hospital on the insistence of responding police officers. Collins was arrested for reckless driving and suspicion of DUI.

Specifically, high on marijuana.

A grand jury eventually would decline to indict the basketball star on a DUI charge.

And Collins has been adamant that he’s never intentionally taken recreational drugs, though he conceded he accidentally ate gummy bears laced with weed while at a friend’s birthday party weeks prior to the crash.

“I wasn’t high,” Collins said. “I never did drugs one day in my life.”

The other man involved in the crash died.

Echevarria, who spent nearly 20 years working as a custodian for a Las Vegas-area school district, was 52 years old. He left behind a wife, one biological son and four stepchildren.

“I remember getting out of the car and checking on him,” Collins said. “That’s the last thing I remember.”

At the end of his 2 ½-year case that was described in the Las Vegas Review Journal as taking “a number of twists and turns,” Collins apologized for his actions. The victim’s family was not present.

“I’d like to start off by saying my sincerest apology to the family that was involved and impacted by this accident,” Collins said in July 2023 while in court. “I understand that I hurt many people with my accident by recklessly driving.”

Collins revealed that he has spoken to therapists to help him figure out how to move forward since the deadly crash.

“I try not to think about it,” Collins said. “It’s not easy.”

Program’s troublesome history

Collins joins a Bulldogs basketball program with a history of having players with questionable pasts.

So much so that Fresno State has spent years trying to overcome a renegade reputation.

Some of those notorious incidents at Fresno State happened before Collins was even in kindergarten:

• Former basketball player Terry Pettis was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison; he had dropped out of Fresno State shortly before the shooting in April 2004.

• Former basketball player Avondre Jones was convicted of threatening a man with a samurai sword hours after a game in 1998.

• Former Bulldogs star Chris Herren failed multiple drug tests at his previous school at Boston College then went on to fail more drug test at Fresno State. He was sent to a treatment facility in the middle of the 1997-98 season then returned to play for Fresno State by the following season. Years later, a recovered Herren, who now serves as a motivational speaker, admitted he played games for the Bulldogs while high on drugs.

Even in recent years, lawbreaking continued to occur within the Fresno State basketball program:

In May 2023, former basketball player Joseph Hunter was dismissed from the program before ever getting to play for the Bulldogs after he was arrested twice in less than two weeks related to felony weapons charges.

Walberg, who coached locally for 21 years at Clovis West High over two separate stints (1990-2002 and 2017-24) in addition to four seasons at Fresno City (2003-06), is well aware of the Bulldogs basketball program’s previous troubles.

But while history often helps serve as lessons for the present, should Walberg’s own recruiting strategies and level of risks he’s willing to take be impacted by the program’s past sins?

Walberg said his staff spoke with those who’ve coached and are close to Collins to get a better feel of his character before deciding to offer a scholarship.

While others on his staff were intrigued about bringing Collins aboard, Walberg said it took him four to five weeks of contemplating whether to have a player with Collins’ history as part of his first recruiting class.

“I just wanted to look at Zaon and see how badly he really wants it,” Walberg said. “Is he receptive to what we’re expecting from him? He really wanted a chance.”

The coach said he was further swayed after a conversation with Collins’ parents.

“I sat down with the parents, which gave me the opportunity to see how much they want him to succeed,” Walberg said. “If he’s trying to get back on track by himself, that’s tougher. He has family support.

“If there’s community backlash, I’ll take it. People who know me, know the type of person I am. I’ve had kids who were given second chances before. Not as high-profile as this. If (the players) don’t do their job on the court or in school, that’s it.

“It’d be nice to see him have success.”

Right fit for both?

Throughout house arrest and court hearings and especially while locked up, Collins said he tried to keep focusing on basketball.

Always believing and dreaming he would still play Division I college hoops.

Collins would lay in his bed and practice shooting hoops over and over.

“That’s all I’m thinking,” Collins said of basketball. “That was my therapy.”

Once house arrest was lifted, Collins started going back to the gym to play basketball.

And after sentencing and serving 56 days in jail, which was reduced for good behavior, Collins left Sin City to play junior college ball for Salt Lake Community College.

He initially signed with UNLV during high school. But after the crash, the hometown program rescinded the offer.

In Utah, though, Collins could get far from the Vegas drama.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard averaged 6.0 points, 4.6 assists and 4 rebounds and 1.75 steals per game while starting 23 of 32 games at the juco level.

Colleges started showing interest again.

They weren’t the biggest named programs.

During high school, universities like Washington, Arizona State and Vanderbilt all wanted the point guard who helped Bishop Gorman win three straight state titles.

Still, Collins said he was appreciative that Southern Methodist, Green Bay, St. Louis and Arkansas-Little Rock still heavily recruited him out of the junior college level.

None, however, were as aggressive as Fresno State.

“The offers were coming left and right, and (coaches) were telling me to verbally commit, but then they’d say ‘Well, we still got to talk to our president,’” Collins said. “Then they shut it down. You don’t hear from them for weeks.

“Fresno State got straight to it.”

Fresno State was in dire need of backcourt help.

The Bulldogs have 14 new players and return only two from last season’s squad that finished 12-21.

Walberg is tasked with infusing excitement and community interest back into a program that has been to the NCAA Tournament just once since 2001.

Walberg, who in addition to coaching locally spent four seasons as an NBA assistant, is used to winning and working with talented players.

The college basketball landscape also has changed since Walberg last coached at this level while head coach at Pepperdine in 2006-08.

Mining the transfer portal and having money to pay players through NIL deals are the primary keys to getting talent.

Walberg believes Collins is talented.

“Everyone told me he’s a winner and they love playing with him,” Walberg said. “He’s a got a lot of ability. He’s got an edginess to him.

“A lot of people also say he’s about 50% of what he used to be. He’s pretty darn good right now.”

Walberg was further comforted about pursuing Collins thanks to the endorsement of longtime NBA assistant Tim Grgurich.

The veteran coach trained Collins in Las Vegas.

“When you work with Tim Grgurich and he’s telling you he’s the real deal and that you guys should give him a chance,” Walberg said, “we had to look into the situation closely.”

Walberg found out that Fresno State, outside of the athletic department but on the academic side, has a history of helping people who’ve been formerly incarcerated to earn college degrees.

The program is called Project Rebound, which has been around since 2016.

Fresno State’s program is led by director Jennifer Leahy, who was incarcerated herself for 17 years for a crime she committed at the age of 21.

The Project Rebound program at Fresno State has had its share of success stories over the years.

Fresno State is hoping Collins will become another shining example.

“When you’re a young kid and all of the sudden the thing that you want most is taken away, how much do you want to get your life back together and play again?” Walberg said. “Little by little, he’s been getting better and working harder.”

Still, Walberg understands the risks involved.

“Let’s just say: This is his second chance,” the coach added. “And he knows it. Because to be honest, Zaon isn’t just representing himself. It’s myself, it’s the school, the team, the community.

“I hope it works out. We want it to work out.”

Collins, for his part, said he plans to focus just on basketball and school; he’s a mass communications/journalism major.

He added he is thankful Fresno State extended him an offer.

“I’ve never been a troublemaker,” Collins said. “It’s just an unfortunate incident that happened. I know who I am.

“I see this opportunity at Fresno State as a blessing.”