At six feet, seven inches, 215 pounds, Men’s Basketball Center Trevor Gaines is an intimidating person on the court: Grabbing rebounds out of the air, swatting away sure lay-ups at the last second. That is where the intimidation ends. Off the court he is a quiet, soft-spoken CDAE major with a love for poetry, Jay-Z Unplugged and turkey bacon subs (with extra mayo).

Gaines, a senior at UVM, led the Catamounts in rebounds and was a unanimous first-team, all-America East selection while eladding his team to a regular season America East conference title.

“This year we did a lot for the program as a whole. Last year we were 12-17 and we weren’t taken seriously enough,” commented Gaines. “Now we’ve made a name for ourselves which has really boosted our confidence.”

Every year he has gained more and more confidence which has brought his game to where it is today. He is able to see what he is capable of every day, and every day he is wanting to take himself one step above that. Much of his confidence was due to Gaines’ leadership role which was highly effective on the 21-8 team this year. Leadership was something that he took very seriously as a second year captain, and he knew that he had to step up to the challenge.

“I knew that I had a lot of people looking up to me and relying on me to do my best,” Gaines said of his final year as a Catamount. “The fact that you have that leadership role really brings you to a higher level as a player. I try to lead by example and help the team bring our game to a higher level.

As a native of Farminton Hills, Michigan, Gaines grew up idolizing the Michigan Fab 5 of the early 90’s. Trevor has done his best Chris Webber impression here at Vermont, averaging a double-double in points and rebounds this season. During his senior year at Farminton Hills High School he led his team to a district championship while becoming the school’s all-time leader in blocks and rebounds.

On January 26, it was one big home coming for Gaines when the team traveled to the Crisler Arena in Michigan to take on the Wolverines in front of 11,243 fans.

“Being able to play against Michigan was an absolute dream come true. It is a feeling like no other to grow up and watch every game and then go out and be able to play on the same floor. And having all my friends and family there too was really special. It was definitely a feeling like no other.”

Despite the 75-62 loss to Michigan, Gaines and the team took away much more than any other loss. They knew that rather than being a team who would go into games with a decided disadvantage who would wave the white flag early, they were not going to lay down and die. They knew that they could go into any game with any team in the nation with the chance of beating that team. This “we can beat anybody” attitude allowed the team to win 13 conference games to go with their regular season title.

As sad as UVM will be to lose this asset to the team, everyone will be keeping a close eye on Gaines in hopes of more success in a basketball jersey. He hopes to continue on with playing basketball whether is be in the NBA, overseas, or in the newly formed NBA developmental league.

“I am confident I have the ability to keep on playing after college. I am just looking for the best opportunity and I will see where that takes me.”

Chances are, Trevor has already created that opportunity for himself.