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!

Tournament time - What effort was in Vegas, stayed in Vegas - Season recap part 4

 

With the field for the Mountain West Championships finalized and UNLVs ever friendly home court, it looked to be a good tournament with two exceptions, BYU and SDSU were still dominant and still in the way. The draw put us facing Air Force in the quarter final, a team we had beaten in both matchups but we still played ugly basketball against previously. One of the measuring sticks of which Rebels team was appearing in the post-season would be how we played against Air Force this time.

The Falcons drew a 6 seed, the Rebels a 3. While it was likely the Rebels would get an at-large bid come Selection Sunday due to the finish to the regular season, Air Force needed to win the MWC tournament for a shot at the NCAA tournament. The Rebels out-hustled and out-muscled the Falcons to a 69-53 victory. The two people UNLV wanted to count on for production, Chace Stanback and Tre’von Willis, each had 20 points in the win. UNLV showed efficient offense production, shooting 50% from the field, and an impressive 55% from three. One troubling statistic was free-throw percentage, shooting only 65% on our home court (although UNLV didn’t have a ton of attempts). In other news, the Rebels impressively defended the bucket, tallying 8 blocks. This appeared to be the kind of team everyone wanted to see showing up to the tournament – great outing by the Rebels and certainly better than the other performances against Air Force this season.

UNLV then would have to deal with San Diego State, again on our home court. Unlike BYU, who was not playing the caliber of basketball they had been pre-Brandon Davies (if you’re not familiar, google Brandon Davies), SDSU was still firing on all cylinders. Each of the two previous matchups were agonizingly close, and could have favored the Rebels were it not for our shameful shooting percentages.

While the third meeting, this time in the MWC Semi’s, started off slowly for the Rebels, it became a close and interesting contest. As posted previously, here’s is how the Rebels hung with the Aztecs, but then lost the game:

   - 1st Half -
- Slow start for UNLV
- 3 ball not falling like previous games
- UNLV intensity very good, scrambling for loose balls, trying to make things happen
- SDSU early-on shooting at 80 pt pace
- Lots of turnovers
- UNLV makes its first run 2/3rds of the way through first half
- UNLV takes lead 5:35 left in half
- Stanback / Willis having great shooting nights again
- UNLV makes a critical error - intentional foul by Hawkins leads to 4 point swing
- Last 90 seconds of half terrible for UNLV, SDSU scores at will
- Aztec lead 10 PTS at half

   -2nd Half-
- Rebels 7-0 run to start half
- Quintrell big for us
- Rebels back within 2 @ 14 minutes in 2nd half
- WE HAVE NO ANSWER FOR KWAII LEONARD
- Both teams making their FTs
- 4 minutes to go 66-66 tie, K. Leonard picks up 4th foul
- We have lead at 2:53 mark
VERY TENSE from 2 minutes onward
- We score, we foul them, they make their shots
- Game tied
- Bellfield throws a pass to Stanback that's a bit too low, picked off
- DJ Gay takes ball up court, at least 3 rebels defend the shot from around FT line, 2pt lead Aztecs

Sequence on last play
5 seconds left, UNLV in-bounds ball, no time-outs left
- not looking like we are moving with any sense of urgency
- Willis / or Stanback takes last shot well defended from several feet behind 3, misses
- Buzzer sounds, Quintrell Thomas misses layup after buzzer

UNLV ends up losing the game 74-72. Another close loss to the #6 SDSU Aztecs. Again, like the previous games – it was winnable down to the last few seconds. It was heartbreaking to see SDSU, even though they were amazingly talented that season, beat the Rebels 3 for 3. The benefit was that all eyes were on this match-up, everyone saw the Rebels play the Aztecs tough, and losing to the #6^th ranked team in March isn’t a tragedy, even on your home floor.

Selection Sunday came, and while predictions were across the board as to where the Reb’s would land, at least they all had us getting into the tournament as an at-large bid. UNLV was selected as an 8 seed in the Southwest Regional to play Illinois, a 9 seed. In a bit of repetitive history, we drew the bracket that featured perennial favorite Kansas. Everyone believed that the Rebels could best Illinois and that we could perhaps look forward to another meeting with Kansas. Oh how wrong we all would be.

If someone made a list of lopsided spankings handed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament, UNLV would have to be on the receiving end of that embarrassing list. While the final score was 73-62, the game was nowhere close (similar to the Oregon game of years past). The Rebels started slow, and never took off. Illinois played basketball and scored at will. Our impressive Defense couldn’t save us. Our occasional offense was left in Las Vegas like a piece of missing luggage. Tre’von Willis blew out his knee and was of little use most of the game. Nobody else was able to help stop the massacre. Illinois shot nearly 60% from the field, UNLV almost 39%. Poor free-throw shooting and three point shooting were back. Illinois was the Globetrotters, UNLV was the Generals. UNLV was made fun of on the national stage, called by commentators “the walking Rebels”. Sadly, there was nothing to be proud of in this game.

With the perspective many months away from live basketball gives, and the events that have transpired in the meanwhile, maybe everything happened for a reason. While the initial blow on April 1, 2011 that Coach Kruger was leaving to rehabilitate Oklahoma’s basketball program was a turbulent time, the final product looks to be awesome – a coaching and recruiting dream team like few programs possess. Surely, had the Rebels progressed to the second round of the tournament, even the Sweet 16 again, Coach Kruger would likely have left anyhow and still would be overpaid by Oklahoma – its just too much money to refuse. Coach Kruger put the basketball program back in order, and now Coach Dave Rice is here to push us to the next level. While SDSU and BYU enjoyed their glory last year, it is the Rebels time to shine this year. Its not because BYU is gone (and much weaker) and SDSU is missing a lot of the keys they had, its because the Rebels needed to try something other than defense-defense-defense and the occasional wardrobe change motivation. The team had grown stagnant, but shows promise. We need to run, and have hired someone capable of making it happen. Last season was the final chapter of Lon Kruger basketball at UNLV, and by our standards it was neither good nor bad. I’m positive I’ll be writing a different recap next year where nobody ventures to call the Runnin’ Rebels “walking” again.

Be sure to check the new picture tabs for pictures of Runnin’ Rebels Weekend

Also, look forward to the season preview coming soon!

Here are some videos for season recaps:

ESPN scouts player talent: How are the Lon Kruger and Dave Rice recruiting efforts stacking up?

By Jason Taylor

RebelReign Contributor

(reblegrad95)

The Runnin’ Rebels were rich in talent and victories from the 1970’s through the early 1990’s.  Under Coach Jerry Tarkanian, they produced four final four visits, and a national championship team that is held in regard as one of the best teams ever assembled.  The Rebels were such an impact to college basketball that HBO Sports recently produced a documentary recounting the UNLV era (Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV).

Things changed, however.  Robert Maxson, UNLV’s residing President at the time, set his crosshairs on Tarkanian.  The two tangled, and eventually, Maxson was successful in pushing the legendary coach out.

Maxson’s effort to “clean the program up” immediately produced a partially secret contract that landed Rollie Massimino as Tark’s replacement.  Fans were far less than tearful when the pair hit the exit doors a few years later.

Subsequent years produced glimpses of hope.  UNLV made it back into the NCAA tournament in 97’ under Coach Bill Bayno, and the program landed a few NBA level recruits over the years, but the Saturday nights at T&M just weren’t what they used to be. 

Much of the solution ended up being simple enough.  They hired Lon Kruger.  He began recruiting, and more importantly, coaching, and the team now looks back at a span where it has made it into the NCAA tournament 4 of the past 5 years. 

  

Much of the talent assembled has come by way of transfers, but it is amassing, regardless.  UNLV certainly has a good recruiting trajectory at the moment, but where do the Rebels actually stand now, and where are they headed with the new Rice recruits?

Investigating this question, individual player data have been extracted from ESPN.com, and applied to teams.  ESPN has a list of Top 100 recruits, and it has a grading scale for each player that falls on the national recruiting radar.  The scale criteria can be found here, but basically, scores over 92 mean a player will likely make an impact at high major schools, players scoring over 82 are predicted to at least play roles at mid major schools, and scores over 70 mean they should likely play division 1 basketball. 

Derrick Williams, who came out early this year and was selected #2 in this year’s draft, fell 72^nd in the top 100, and had a Scout Grade of 92.  Kawhi Leonard of SDSU went 7^th in the draft, was 56^th in the top 100, and had a grade of 92 before entering college.   The scores are not always tremendous predictors… Jimmer Fredette, the national player of the year, did not make the top 100, and was graded at a 79, meaning it might be tough for him to get playing time at a good school.  Nonetheless, it is apparent after reviewing teams, that using ESPN’s recruiting information is highly correlative to the success of college teams.

The main question here is, “Does UNLV ‘Got Talent’”?

The recruiting info has been tracked down for every player on 6 selected teams, including UNLV, for the 2011-12 season. The other teams are San Diego State, New Mexico, USC, UCLA, and North Carolina.  These teams have both a range in talent, and have relative importance to UNLV.  UNLV plays USC this year, and has a good chance of meeting UNC if the Rebels beat USC in an early season tournament.  UCLA is seeking some of the same recruiting prospects on UNLV’s list, including Shabazz Muhammad, and UNLV has two important UCLA transfers, Chace Stanback and Mike Moser. 

In order to uniformly assess each team from a recruiting standpoint, the top 8 recruits on each team, according to their Scout Grade, are assembled.  The information tells if and how a player places in ESPN “Top 100”, and what their Scouting Grade was before they went in to college.  The “AVG” column shows what the average Scouting Grade is for the top 8 players.  This gives a good assessment of the strength of the players that will likely see significant minutes. 

USC		TOP 100	SCOUT GR	AVG
MAURICE JONES - G	FR	89	93
ARI STEWART - F	JR	52	93
BYRON WESLEY - G	FR	-	91
GARRETT JACKSON - F	FR	-	90
ALEXIS MOORE - G	FR	-	88
CURTIS WASHINGTON - F	FR	-	87
EVAN SMITH	SO	-	78
DEWAYNE DEDMON	SO	-	70	86.3

Notes:  USC was hit with sanctions, but still has 2 Top 100 players.  Brice Jones would have been another Top 100 for USC, but he just transferred to Rice and UNLV.  He’ll sit this year out under transfer rules.  USC has a very young team.

SDSU		ESPN	SCOUT GR	AVG
GARRET GREEN - C	SR	85	93
JAMAAL FRANKLIN - G	SO	-	90
LABRADFORD FRANKLIN - G	SO	-	90
XAVIER THAMES - G	SO	-	88
ALEC WILIAMS - F	JR	-	88
CHASE TAPLEY - G	JR	-	85
TIM SHELTON - F	SR	-	81
JAMES RAHON - G	JR	-	80	86.9

Notes:  SDSU lost several key players… Kawhi Leonard, Billy White, DJ Gay, and Malcom Thomas.  They are filling holes and landed two transfers of UNLV interest, J.J. O’Brien and Dwayne Polee Jr.  O’Brien chose SDSU over UNLV when Brice Jones committed, and Polee, while interested, never received a hard offer from Rice, even though he was originally recruited by UNLV under Kruger.

NEW MEXICO		ESPN	SCOUT GR	AVG
PHILIP MCDONALD - SG	JR	42	96
ALEX KIRK - C	FR	99	93
TONY SNELL-  SF	FR	-	92
DEMETRIUS WALKER	SO	74	92
KENDALL WILLIAMS  - PG	FR	-	91
DOMINIQUE DUNNING - G	FR	-	90
JAMAL FENTON - PG	SO	-	88
A.J. HARDEMAN - PF	JR	-	87	91.1

Notes:  The Lobos have 3 Top 100’s, and follow them up with a lot of “close behind” talent.  Look for them to have a very good year and challenge for the MWC title.

UCLA ESPN SCOUTS GR AVG JERIME ANDERSON - PG SR 49 96 JOSHUA SMITH - C SO 20 96 LARRY DREW II - G SR 29 96 TYLER LAMB - SG SO 28 95 NORMAN POWELL - G FR 52 95 TRAVIS WEAR - F SO 37 94 DAVID WEAR - F SO 36 94 BRENDAN LANE - F JR 69 92 94.75

Notes:  Wow!  Every single one of their top 8 are Top 100 players!  No wonder Chase and Mike felt a bit crowed.  UCLA didn’t have a great year in 2010.  If they don’t do better this year…

UNC		ESPN	SCOUT GR	AVG
JOHN HENSON - F	JR	6	98
HARRISON BARNES - F	SO	1	98
JAMES MCADOO - F	FR	6	98
P.J. HARISTON - G	FR	13	97
REGGIE BULLOCK - G	SO	18	96
TYLER ZELLER - F	SR	7	96
DEXTER STRICKLAND G	JR	27	95
LESLIE MCDONALD - G	JR	32	95	96.6

Notes:  Give witness to a perennial powerhouse.  The ninth UNC player is #22 on the Top 100.  The average grade for this group classifies each of them as likely early-outs, headed for the NBA.  Roscoe Allen, the 55^th top recruit and with a Score of 94, is high on UNLV’s list for 2012, and has narrowed his list to UNC, Stanford, and UNLV.  He’ll feel very crowded at UNC, and may not see any playing time right away there.  He would be the lowest rated of all the Top 100 recruits.  

Now, before reading below, take a guess where UNLV falls. 

Wait for it…

UNLV		ESPN	SCOUT GR	AVG
CHACE STANBACK	Sr	52	96
QUINTRELL THOMAS	Jr	56	95
MIKE MOSER	So	55	92
ANTHONY MARSHALL	Jr	85	91
REGGIE SMITH	So	-	90
CARLOS LOPEZ	So	-	89
KENDALL WALLACE	Sr	-	81
JUSTIN HAWKINS	Jr	-	80	89.3

Notes:  Notice Bellfield didn’t even make the list.  He scored a 66, which means he isn’t even assessed to play division 1 basketball.  It shows ESPN doesn’t know everything, as Bellfield played more minutes than any other Rebel last year, and continues to develop.  Brice Jones is not on the list because he has to wait until next year to play.  Massamba and Mashour didn’t have scores, due to a lack of review by ESPN.

UNLV has 4 Top 100’s, which is more than New Mexico, but the Lobos have a stronger supporting cast according to ESPN, giving them a higher average Scouting Grade.

UNC has staggering amounts of talent.  Looking a bit deeper, of the Top 100’s on the team, the worst was 32^nd in the nation…  Taking the average, it is like saying UNC has been able to land 9 players, each one being the 14^th best recruit in the nation.  Amazing!

Rebel fans can be proud of recruiting efforts, but it is hard to make a case, based solely on recruited talent, that UNLV will return to the absolute top of the heap with immediacy.

Where are the Rebels headed?  Rice has done a great job so far.  We’ll lose Stanback, Wallace, Massamba, and Bellfield at the end of this year.  Two scholarships remain unfilled at this moment for 2012, and as it sits now, we gain 2.5 AVG points:

2012		TOP 100	SCOUT GR	AVG
QUINTRELL THOMAS	SR	56	95
KATIN REINHARDT	FR	60	94
BRICE JONES	SO	69	94
MIKE MOSER	JR	55	92
ANTHONY MARSHALL	SR	85	91
REGGIE SMITH	JR	-	90
CARLOS LOPEZ	JR	-	89
DEMETRIUS MORANT	FR	-	89	91.8
DEQUAN COOK	FR	-	87
JUSTIN HAWKINS	SR	-	80
KARAM MASHOUR	JR	NR	NR

If the Rebels are able to land Roscoe Allen (55, 94), the score would change to 92.4. 

Assuming no additional recruits at the minute, 2013 lands an average score of 91.4 after losing Marshall and Thomas, but adding Christian Wood (34,96).  Dantley Walker, Nevada’s all time leading scorer, has not been rated, so he doesn’t affect the average. 

An additional strong recruit suddenly puts us right up near UCLA’s score for this year.  That, however, assumes an incredible feat for Rice and Co. 

The bottom line is that the Rebels are definitely headed in the right direction as far as talent is assessed.  If a few more recruits fall the right way, the Rebels could legitimately see 7 Top 100 recruits running the floor within 2 years.  That would put the team in some pretty elite company. 

Keep your fingers crossed, and show up.  Fans matter!


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