Roster Preview: 2012-13 Forwards

The Forward spot has been a place where the Rebels had limited depth, and now still have limited depth. Looking at 2011-12, the primary forwards were obviously Chace Stanback and Mike Moser. With Stanback graduating and Moser thankfully returning for what will likely be his final UNLV season (barring injury), the question is who will run alongside Moser? Several of the 'forwards' have previosly been penciled into the center spot by virtue of someone is needed there (Carlos Lopez, Quintrell Thomas and possibly Khem Birch) and have been previewed several weeks ago - but who is left to be the next Chace Stanback? Who will give some relief so that the guard heavy roster isn't outmatched by taller more physical forwards? Let's take a peek.

Mike Moser

Mike is a wildly talented and driven player who had much more ups than downs last year, but the teams success and demise rose and fell with his performance, by and large. Was there a game that was lost when Mike Moser played very well? Yes - that aborition at TCU where we lost 102-97 (Moser had 22 pts, 8 rebs) but by and large in the vast majority of the losses Moser was underperforming, as was the rest of the team. 

In his first season with the Rebels, he had to deal with sudden extreme expectations having been named as a Naismith Player of  the Year Candidate very early on, having to deal with injuries, and then having his shot fall off as the season progressed. This is a lot for anyone to deal with, especially someone who is new to the system, and playing for a coach who wasn't the one who recruited you. All in all, Mike Moser's Junior year should be one of high expectations - as he's all but a lock to play in the NBA provided he shores up a few shortcomings, and the Rebels perform well. 

What Moser does well - He is tall, athletic, and hard to guard. He has an interesting set of tools in his toolbox, being that he can block shots, he can easily dunk or catch the lob for the ally opp. He can also steal and defend as well as anyone - and of course, we have the rebounding. As a solid double digit scorer as well as rebounder, he is the heart and soul of the Rebels. Coach Rice had said that the Runnin' offense is successful when there's high pressure defense, and rebounding so that a fast break can take place off of a missed shot. That's Moser's bread and butter. Ken Pomeroy made an interesting observation mid-season, stating essentially that Moser was a statistical anomaly given his offensive rebounding prowess and three point shooting percentage. Link This could be chalked up as a good thing or bad thing. As a good - to make an easy, popular reference, Dirk Nowitski is 6'11", is often the tallest guy on the court, yet he can shoot the three like a guard. For the same reason that Nowitski is a rare player, a guy like Moser who can pull down boards like nobody's business isn't presumed to normally have the ability to shoot a three pointer with much consistancy. Why? Because great rebounders are normally taller players, and taller players (like Dirk) don't normally shoot the three well (or free throws for that matter). Moser is a great player, and what's great about the Rebels is even though Moser is this, that and the other kind of awesome - you don't expect him to be the Rebels leading scorer that frequently. That's because our roster is still stockplied with great players, even more so than last year. 

What Moser doesn't do well - he's still not as bulky as other dominant power forwards who project well to rebound well in the NBA. Easy example - Drew Gordon (UNM) has the body necessary to occupy space, and not give ground to other forwards. Mike Moser has upper body muscle, but he lacks bulk in the hips and legs especially that may have contributed to his fatigue later in the season. Getting back to the statistical anomoly that Ken Pomeroy pointed out, the bad side of that is it shows that Moser may have been too comfortable shooting the three pointer. No secret, UNLV over Coach Krueger's tenure has been a team in love with the long ball, and the 'streak' has been somewhat of a constant reminder of the importance of shooting the three - but the team's leading rebounder should maybe shoot a whole lot more layups and short range higher percentage jumpers. Example, Mike Moser's three point percentage was 33%, he made 44 of 133 attempts. Total field goal percentage was 45% he made 184 of 409 attempts. Subtract out his three point shooting, and we get a 2 point percentage of nearly 51% . His three point attempts accounted for 32.5% of his shot selection. Clearly, three pointers are worth more than two pointers, but making only 1 of 3  from deep versus 1 of 2 from within the line potentially means he could have been a more effective player - less reliant on the three. My evaluation of what Mike needs to do to get better and become more complete, is to hit the weight room and build more lower body muscle, still maintain his quickness, and build on his short to mid range game. If Mike does improve like he's capable of, he is a lottery pick. 

Demetris Morant

The Bishop Gorman incoming freshman has a daunting decision ahead of him - burn a redshirt year or try to crack the rotation. The general evaluation of Morant is that he is a hyper athletic player who has tons of above-the-rim ability, is a one man block party, but who's offensive game is under developed. This carries slight risk for the Rebels, as improving under the tutelage of Dave Rice means building an offensive repertoire. Weighing heavily on whether to take a red shirt year depends largely on minutes available now, and whether dipping his toe in the water right away and potentially not being as successful as possible could mess with his confidence. Time and circumstance will tell on that point. The other similarly tall players who he may compete for minutes with, are the aforementioned Mike Moser, Quintrell Thomas, Khem Birch, Carlos Lopez, and Bryce Jones - who is a tallish tweener guard at 6'5" (Michael Jordan was also a guard, and 6'5"). The other big question is whether he'll be playing the 4 or 5? Throughout his stay at Bishop Gorman Morant was put in the center position. As a center, he's undersized - but UNLV has a history of success with undersized centers (Lou Amundson, Joel Anthony). My gut reaction is that he will take the redshirt, and then breakthrough better when Quintrell Thomas has graduated and Mike Moser has left for the NBA. 

Bryce Jones

Mr. Competetive, but also Mr. Misunderstood - he's the USC transfer who has waited out his redshirt year and is poised to make a big spash on the court this year. I'm mentioning him in the 'forwards' category because my take on the rotation (guard heavy) would likely having him match-up with a forward, and at his height he would be capable of guarding a forward up to perhaps 6'8". The line on Bryce is that he sometimes has been the best player on the court in many practices last year - no small feat given how good the team was through the majority of last year. The same complement was paid to a man by the name of Mike Moser - and look how good that turned out. Bryce Jones left USC because of playing time, and an altercation with another teammate. With some temperance on his live or die playing attitude, he will either push others to succeed, or be toxic to the chemistry of  the team. My thoughts are that the coaching staff assembled have enough experience and knowledge to be able to gauge his + or - , and will adjust based on that. Yes, we have a history of transfers, but we also kick malcontents to the curb - see Emmanuel Adeife. 

For Bryce to be a successful player, everyone needs to wipe the slate clean, recognize who he is, what he's been through, and what occurred and brings him to the Rebels. Then, purely evaluate him based on what occurs while he wears the Scarlet and Gray. Bryce Jones has the ability to be a special player, a scoring powerhouse, and a confident give-it-all-you got baller, a complete player. He just needs to have the maturity to work within Coach Rice's offense, be unselfish when someone has a better shot than he does, and to celebrate his teammates as much as he can. The offensive load left by Chace Stanback must be picked up by someone - and Bryce and Khem Birch are the most likely candidates to handle the task. 

(Want to know where Carlos Lopez, Quintell Thomas, and Khem Birch were discussed? Click here)

Becoming known as a pro-prospect: Stanback and Bellfield compete at Portsmouth Invitational

Yet another diversion from analysing the roster, but the opportunity to report on an event that involves two recent Rebels and hasn’t been reported hardly anywhere else is worth talking about.

The Portsmouth Invitational is a tournament which has existed for 60 years, and invites graduating seniors to play in a round-robin style tournament which spans 4 days and fields 8 teams of players. Invited to the tournament this year from our 2011-12 Rebels is Chase Stanback and Oscar Bellfield.

Chace, who was among  the leaders in the NCAA in 3 point percentage, was also invited to the 3-point contest at the NCAA final, and played in the all-star game as well. Oscar has been a fixture in the Rebels lineup over the past four years, and has regularly logged more minutes on the court than any other Rebel. The Portsmouth Invitational, as well as assumedly tryouts for NBA D-League teams (should the draft not quite work out) will be a major stepping stone for both Stanback and Bellfield .

Now, let’s get to what actually occurred at the tournament. Chace Stanabck was put on a team named Cherry, Bekaert & Holland – an accounting firm who likes to put their name on things, obviously. Oscar Bellfield was placed on a team named Portsmouth Partnership, named after a non-profit dedicated to promoting economic growth, leadership and education within the city of Portsmouth. What’s in a name – nothing.

Chace Stanback


The initial game for Chace came against a team named K&D Rounds Landscaping. Chace took the bull by the horns and capitalized well from the field. He shot poorly from three, but still made 50% of his shots. Not sure how closely the refees were calling this one (likely not much because it was an exhibition for scouts), but Chace didn’t get to the foul like to attempt any baskets – meaning his stat line had no padding.

Here's what Ryan Maddox of NBADraft.net had to say about Stanback's performance:

"6’8” Chace Stanbeck (UNLV) stood out immediately. His final numbers won’t wow you (11 points, 2 boards, 1 block), but I’d be shocked if this kid doesn’t at least have a cup of coffee in the league sooner than later. Going 5-10 from the field, he simply would not be sped up and played a consistent, effective pace all night. Hit a catch and shoot three on a kickout in the early going. Drove hard to a kill spot from the FT line extended off two dribbles and rose up over his defender and buried a jumper. Not a lot of wasted motion/energy with this guy. Could be more vocal/demonstrative – especially in a setting like this. Went 1-5 from deep tonight but mechanics/shot selection both check out. Shot over 45% from distance during the season. Want to see him matchup with Kevin Murphy tomorrow. Has the size to guard 2s/3s at the next level – could be a huge mismatch for opposing 2s with his length/range."

Here are his stats for game one:

Game two:

In the second game, which his team lost by two points to Portsmouth Sports Club (not Oscar's team) Chace shot pretty well from the field, and all of his stats were respectable. He had the same amount of points as in the first game, but took two additional attempts. Given that Chace's team lost, they then went to the consolation game for third place. Low and behold, they were to compete against Oscar Bellfield's team. Here's the stat line:

Oscar Bellfield

Oscar started the tournament off with a rocky overall performance. Fortunately for his team, they won the game despite it. Oscar was in a funk shooting-wise, and only hit one shot all game despite seven attempts. Disappointingly, his assist to turnover ratio was 1. These were very un-oscarlike numbers, maybe he was just a little too used to runnin Coach Rice's offense to play the generic ball dished out by the 'Portsmouth Partnership'. On to game two, here is the statline:

Game two

Having basically mulliganed the first outing, expectations were 'no where to go but up' right? Well, sort of. Oscar again only made one basket in the outing, but at least he didn't have any turnovers. So, three assists to 0 turnovers makes for a good average. Bellfield's team would not get another shot to make it to the tournament game because they were blown out by 'Roger Browns' by 20 points. BUT, this set up an intriguing matuchp Oscar Bellfield's team would face Chace Stanback! Intriguing! Here is the statline:

Trading Places - Oscar plays against Chace

In the name of making a name for yourself in front of Mitch Kupchak (L.A. Lakers), Daryl Morey (Houston Rockets) and Rick Sund (Atlanta Hawks) to name a few, a match up between two UNLV players occurred, and although it wasn't Shawn Marion vs. Joel Anthony in the NBA finals, it is still a noteworthy occurrence. 

Leading up to the game, we had Chace Stanback playing good basketball, and Oscar not-so-much. Would anything change? Would Oscar tell his players how to throw Chace off his game, or vice versa? Clearly, because they play different positions they wouldn't go head to head. The take away from this game was that things changed for both Chace and Oscar, a dramatic change for both. 

Looking at the statline, Chace - who had been having fantastic performances totally fell off. He jacked up way to many shots, and connected on about a quarter of those  tries. In contrast, Oscar was measured, and shot the ball much better than he did in the first two games. Bellfield couldn't shake the turnover bug, and again had 3 giveaways - but so did Chace. The better team on this particular day ended up being Oscar's, which resulted in an overall third place finish for his team. Here's the box score:

Conclusion

Chace had 2 of 3 good games, and performed as a reliable scorer in those games. He wasn't dominant, but for a GM who is looking at the Portsmouth Invitational to potentially pick up players in the draft or free agency - dominance is really going to be overstated at this level anyhow. The last impact player to come out of the Portsmouth Invitational was Jeremy Lin - but the reason that he is a phenomena is partly because of the challenges of being branded 'lesser' from the gate - Oscar and Chace will face similar difficulties moving forward. Chace likely maintained his value in this tournament and may inspire a GM to take a chance on a hard to guard player who can shoot the three, all be it in a streaky manner. Oscar had one lackluster performance after another, and likely didn't make much of a mark on the radar. Over the years, Oscar has single handedly won games for the Rebels, and done some pretty amazing things. Hopefully the scouts may take a chance on him in the D-league,and he gets the chance to run the point for a new team sometime soon. Although you cannot find a very good recap of the Portsmouth invitational, hardly any photos, or video of it -  it sill mattered, and it featured two of our favored sons. So, to Chace and Oscar - best of luck to you moving forward. 

Coming full circle on recruiting: Update on Dantley Walker, as well as the news of the past week

Taking a break from the three part series previewing the roster of 2012-13, there is much to talk about as well as summarize that occurred on the recruiting front. Before discussing that which many of you already know, let’s get an update on Dantley Walker, future member of the Rebels for the 2013-14 year.

Dantley Walker Update

Dantley Walker: Man on a mission

For those of you familiar, Dantley Walker – prolific scorer from Panaca, NV committed to the Rebels, but as a Mormon he elected to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This delays his arrival at UNLV as a freshman two years. I had the opportunity to interview his father/assistant coach Greg Walker last year, and get updates from time to time. The information we had previously, was that his mission was to be in Spokane, Washington – and he was fortunate to get an early start so that he didn’t have to begin his colligate career, then leave and come back to it two years later. He was clearly excited to go on the mission, and to be a Rebel.

Since we’ve last updated, Dantley Walker has been on his mission for nine months now, and is doing very well. He loves serving the call of the mission, but obviously misses competitive basketball very much. He served the first five months in Cordeau-d'lene, Idaho, and has been in Spokane, Washington since then. One of Dantley’s goals for his downtime was to keep in basketball shape and do all that he can to maintain readiness for the future. To that end, luck has smiled on him and one of his former AAU coaches from the Las Vegas Prospects, Rick Walter, now coaches at Spokane Falls Community College. Any morning that the two can find the time, he works out with Coach Walter and goes through some serious basketball workouts.

Elder Walker at the
training center

Elder Walker working on the
golf game

Elder Walker showing off the guns

According to Coach Walter, Dantley seems to be maintaining his basketball skills. As far as the hope that he might be playing pickup ball with formidable Gonzaga players – that hasn’t occurred just yet. So far, he plays with other missionaries and basketball players around Spokane. He does hope too hoop it up with Gonzaga players, or Spokane Falls players. As far as physical activity not on the court, he's lifting weights and jumping rope when he can and has added about 10 pounds to his frame since graduating from high school.

Dantley Walker and Coach Walter in Spokane, Washington

I inquired as to whether he’s been recognized (as a UNLV recruit) while out doing his mission work, and he really hasn’t because up there they’re more focused on Boise St, Washing St. U of Washington, Gonzaga, and Idaho St. But, they eventually all find out he’s going to be a Rebel, and think it’s really cool. For those that may not  straight off believe him, they check the internet – especially his YouTube mix tapes and find out quick enough. I also wondered if he regularly got heat (given what he’s doing) for not going to BYU – and Dantley normally appeases their question by pointing out that he is from Nevada, UNLV offered first, and as a matter of fact Coach Rice was very interested in Dantley as assistant coach of BYU. It a great situation he has with the Rebels, going on the mission and then coming back as a scholarship player, but he’s really interested in Coach Rice’s up-tempo system. He also sometimes mentions that the WCC isn’t as strong as the MWC, but has to be careful about saying that in front of the Gonzaga fans.

Yes, Dantley Walker has had some friendly suggestions  to just stay put after his mission and help the Gonzaga Bulldogs – to that his answer is “no way, gonna run and gun with Coach Rice and the Rebs.”

Dantley Walker will be back from his mission in July, 2013, and will begin practice at UNLV shortly thereafter. Best of luck to Dantley Walker and his family, he is perusing and admirable endeavor in the name of his faith, and that’s a quality trait to have. He’ll be more mature and focused, and hopefully will run point for the Rebels when he is ready to suit up.

Shabazz no more


Although there were many reasons that it would make sense for Shabazz Muhammad to join the Rebels, he cut UNLV from his list of five shortly before the McDonalds All-American game. Incidentally, he was MVP of that game, and won the dunk contest.

For whatever reason, Muhammad chose UCLA – a storied basketball program, that has become an embarrassment to its former glory, harbors a coach who nobody can say has any discipline over his players, hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in the past two years, and has been the jumping away point for numerous promising recruits – who go on to do great things elsewhere (Chace Stanback UNLV, Mike Moser UNLV, Drew Gordon UNM, Matt Carlino BYU). A lot has been said, straight out in the media that Muhammad, or rather his family, was essentially bought and sold under the guise of an Adidas shoe deal. For what it’s worth – I honestly hope not. While UNLV is not an Adidas team (Nike last time I checked), the choice of UCLA over the likes of national champion Kentucky, or Duke which is a perennial favorite and sucks up more TV time than anyone makes no sense whatsoever. UCLA holds no advantage over UNLV in terms of basketball prowess. On this subject, this is perhaps the only time I’ve ever agreed with that San Diego loving troll Ed Graney of the LVRJ on this point – we don’t need Shabazz Muhammad. No reason to be bitter towards him on this, for not choosing UNLV – but the angst I have (as well as many others) is about the stupidity of the choice of UCLA.

Mashour has left the building

Israel native Karam Mashour has declared his intention to leave the Rebels in search of a team that will give him the chance to crack the roster and play solid minutes. For a guy with the work ethic that he has, first to arrive and last to leave practice, as well as his unfettered support of his teammates throughout a season that allowed him less playing time than the season before – it’s sad that we couldn’t utilize him better.

His highlight of his career was the baseline dunk against the University of Central Arkansas. Less than a month later, came the lowlight – refusing to play garbage time minutes. It’s understandable why he’s frustrated, he played for the Israeli U19 national team, and supposedly was an athletic freak on the Las Vegas Prospects. Since arriving at UNLV, he’s not done anything but play garbage time for the most part. Mashour – a Kruger recruit and scholarship holder, showed more promise coming in, and was never given the chance to put that on the floor in front of the fans.

There certainly is a duality to this kind of problem – UNLV has largely been successful over the years, even back to the Tark days because of transfers. There is an ebb and flow of players who are constantly in search of playing time, or a system that better suits them or highlights their talent. Some people are searching for a challenge, others are looking to be a big fish in a little pond, instead of a little fish in a big pond. We get it, basketball is like life – sometimes things don’t work out as planned.

Karam Mashour, for certain, helped the Rebels the past two seasons, and surely improved his skills for practicing with and against a nationally ranked team. Hopefully, this experience serves him well wherever he plays next, and when he gets back to Israel and no doubt try his hand a pro-ball there. Good luck to Karam, and thank you.

In pursuit of Anthony Bennett

Numerous sources, LVRJ, LV Sun, Vegas Seven, have all noted that Anthony Bennett is the biggest prize left in the recruiting sphere, and the Rebels are hot on his trail trying to make his colors Scarlet and Gray.

I am cautiously optimistic that he will become a Rebel for several reasons 1) there is significant room now and in the future for a large power forward in our offense, 2) friendship with Khem Birch, 3) the Rebels are a damn good team worthy of his kind of talent, 4) excursion to his homeland, Canada this summer.

Hopefully Anthony Bennett does not feel any kind of distain that all the talk over the past year or two has been about Shabazz. Reality check – any town that has the consensus #1 pick will get a little crazy over him, especially so when we have a very good basketball team that could potentially land him.

Fact #2, Las Vegas is very high on Findlay Prep, and UNLV would love to land or retain as many Findlay Prep players as possible on the regular. The Runnin’ Rebels is the perfect landing spot for Anthony Bennett to spend 1-2 years bettering himself as well as the Rebels in pursuit of a championship and a pro-career. Anthony Bennett – WE WANT YOU TO BE A REBEL!

Roster preview: 2012-13 Centers

This is the first in a three part series about next year’s roster.

This past season the center spot has evolved with the three returning guys, Brice Massamba, Carlos Lopez, and Quintrell Thomas assuming different roles.

Massamba earned the well deserved trust of Coach Rice, playing harder, smarter, and scoring more than he had under any of  his previous years with Coach Kruger.
Carlos Lopez had a decent season, but the breakout that everyone was anticipating given his flashy moves and universal fan-favorite status among the faithful didn’t materialize due to injuries and illnesses.
Quintrell Thomas was used more sporadically than in the previous years, and was at times very good, and at times a DNP on the stat sheet.

In the coming year, we say goodbye to Brice, and hello Khem Birch, and possibly and Matt Willms. Lets breakdown who’s returning, who may be here, and what to expect.


Carlos Lopez
6’11” 215 pounds and a lot of talent, as well as heart. Carlos Lopez has been an effective big man for the Rebels since he finished his freshman redshirt year. Regarding talent, he has a repertoire that includes fake passes, fancy footwork, a short-to-mid range game - and he brings instant energy when inserted. Nearly a 7 footer, Carlos is also listed as a forward, and throughout the season was played as such by Coach Rice. Not sure whether the change was inspired by the Coach, or by Carlos, but due to the illness and injuries we didn’t get to see enough Carlos to judge whether a move to forward to play along-side another big man was a good strategy, especially in the uptempo Runnin' offense.

Next year I see Carlos either sticking with the center position due to the lack of  experienced alternatives, or Coach Rice playing a modified lineup where the best matched player will defend the opposing team’s center, while offensively the team runs a 3 forward 2 guard lineup, or perhaps at times a 2 forward 3 guard lineup. Regardless of Carlos’s position, I do see it as a breakout season for him. There will be a lot of slack to pick up regarding losing Brice’s numbers, and areas that Carlos can show improvement. For example, Carlos can be a great playmaker for the Rebels – especially since several other players on the floor are likely to draw the double team because of the reputation for offensive potency. Carlos is a good shooter, and for a big man 63% from the field is respectable. But, last season he only had 95 field goal attempts. In contrast, Massamba had 135, and Mike Moser had 409. With his talent, heart, and creativity he has to have some first option plays drawn up for him. His other area of improvement has to be free throw shooting – a traditional sore spot for big men, but 61% isn’t cutting it. Closer to 75% should be his goal this year. As for positives, he’s already a very effective shot blocker, as well as a ball thief. Dependant on the role Khem Birch assumes, I see Carlos Lopez as a very good option for starting center. If not a starter, bringing him off the bench with other energy people makes for a great pace-changer.


Quintrell Thomas
6’8” 245 pounds, he feels the game, and is sometimes the difference maker for the Rebels. The difference from his role with Coach Kruger, is under Coach Kruger he was used in rotating fashion with Brice and Carlos, basically someone would occupy the space until they racked up 1 foul, then the next guy would go in, and so on. This was extremely frustrating to watch, and must have been excruciating to be a part of. The question is, was it better to play in a way where it was difficult to get into the rhythm of the game because of constantly rotating in and out, or playing a bunch in some games and barely at all in others. Coach Rice saw Quintrell as someone who would have match-up problems with the opposing team’s centers, and for that reason he was not played in several games. No doubt about it, Thomas is small to be playing center at 6’8”, but I assume he knew that in transferring from Kansas. Although the roster lists him as a ‘forward’ he really hasn’t occupied that position for the Rebels.  His main physical attribute for playing the position is his physical size – he can take up space, and has the mass not to be pushed off the block. In the last two seasons we’ve seen flashes of great play by Quintrell Thomas, but this past season really calls into question the role Coach Rice has in mind for him in his final season.

Because of the size issue, unless Thomas is clearly besting all of the other candidates in practice and in Canada, I don’t see him being the starter. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that he’ll be at his most effective against an opposing player who is 6’10” and shorter.  Both his shooting percentage and free throw percentage ranked among worst at the center position, but he was a more effective shot blocker than Lopez and Massamba (had double what Massamba had, and played half the minutes. Unfortunately for him with all the issues with his foul trouble last season – that problem has been solved, but his effectiveness has diminished, 6.7 ppg in 2010-11, now 4.4 in 2011-12. In the off season, his hands need to improve – if that’s possible. He has had struggles with shooting and rebounding because the basketball does not hold tight in his hands, and sometimes falls out or gets shot poorly. This may be an issue that may never be remedied, but this is his last collegiate season and if he wants to keep playing basketball professionally, these issues need to be overcome. I really want to see Quintrell Thomas have a breakout senior year – much like Brice Massamba did.


Khem Birch
6’9” 220 pounds, Khem Birch is a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh, and a former McDonald's All-American. He will not be eligible to play until after the fall semester, the same way that Reggie Smith was not eligible until this past spring term (or until fall grades were posted). It will be interesting to see how things change once he is inserted into the lineup and ready to play. Clearly, with his basketball pedigree and accolades – he can play. Luckily, if he is as good as his reputations predicts him to be, by virtue of his transfer situation we’ll have at least a year and a half of him playing for us (nobody is going to draft a guy based upon a semesters worth of college ball – unless we go final four and he’s the reason why).

Khem is another guy who would be slightly undersized at the center position. One of the reasons Khem transferred away from Pitt among other issues, was that he did not want to play center. Likely reason behind that – he knows he would not translate as a NBA center, he would be a power forward – which is a well founded conclusion. With someone who specifically did not want to do something, it will be extremely important for Coach Rice not to play him at center, and cause him to disengage because of it. If Birch’s presence in the spring lineup changes anything dramatically, it will likely be the 3F2G, or 2F3G lineup alluded to earlier. What will also be interesting to watch is whether he becomes a starter, even though he hasn’t  played in the fall. I highly doubt it, unless the Rebels have an uncharacteristically poor season up to that point. Great things are expected from this unexpected player, and he may be the gift that keeps on giving if he is able to solidify Anthony Bennett’s presence on the Rebels’ roster.

What’s exciting about Birch, is that he’s shown himself to be a player capable of double-doubles, as well as averaging nearly 2 blocks a game. With an inside presence like that, our rebounding woes should be cured, as well as the paint held much more sacred. Hopefully, no more guards running through the lane like a hot knife through butter. It will be as interesting as anything to see how Khem Birch changes the Rebels midway through next season.


Bryan Glenn
6’11 215 pounds – a lucky find to get a local player who in a non-scholarship capacity fit the bill as a tall center on the scout team. Chances are, unless you’ve been to practices you’ve not seen him play. I’ve not been – so I haven’t seen him play. The fact that Coach Rice hasn’t seen his way to play Bryan Glenn, even in garbage time, shows he has a lot of way to go to crack the lineup. But, one can always hope that he somehow someway becomes a viable center candidate because of his sheer size and all of  the great experience he’s getting playing as the opposing team against the nationally ranked Runnin' Rebels. Even if  that’s a pipe dream, we are still more than happy to have the services of Mr. Glenn helping the Rebels to be great. Thank you Bryan Glenn.


Matt Willms
6’11” 210 pounds, it seems fitting to get another big man from Findlay Prep to replace the outgoing Brice Massamba. According to information online, UNLV is in the running, as well as Providence, Long Beach State, and Marquette. He’s a true center, but has a nice complementary skill set that can cause the defense to respect him outside of the restricted area. From what I’ve seen on mix-tapes, he can follow the action and swoop in to dunk the ball, but he can also stoke a three, at least from high school distance. The biggest knock on Willms, is that he’s rail thin at only 210 (up 10 pounds from the previous season). The facts are that he’s a legit prospect to be a very good center, and UNLV will someday soon be devoid of true centers. Provided everything works out and there are no better alternatives, this should work out. Should the Rebels take Matt Willms, I fully expect him to redshirt his first year due to the current depth at the center position, plus time to mature and get better. Go get Willms!