Christian Wood - Orally commits to UNLV

Christian Wood orally commits to the UNLV 2013-14 class

(Video fixed 10:30a.m.)

Points of emphasis about his recruitment

• Appreciates the reputation and tradition at UNLV
• Believes UNLV is young and on the rise
•  Looked at the Rebels due to AAU coach’s relationship with Stacey Augmon
• Says looks forward to having Augmon as a mentor, aspires to be similar type of swingman player, appreciates him having helped develop Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith
• Appreciates that Augmon was a NBA player, what he brings to the table
• Wanted to pick a school close to home (Palmdale, CA)
• May attend Finlay Prep this coming season
• Major point (hidden in plain sight): Looks at the UNLV coaching staff and sees the former coaches of both Jimmer Fredette and Kawai Leonard, both NBA lottery picks

Profile

Christian Wood is 6’8”, entering his junior year, and plays power forward currently at William J. Knight High School in Palmdale, CA. As exhibited in his game footage he has an excellent 3-point-shot and dunks with regularity and authority. He has been described as extremely athletic for his size, and has been compared with Kevin Durant for body type. Overall, he has been described as a cross between Austin Daye and Tracy McGrady. By his own admission, he needs to build strength so he can rebound and fight for loose balls. Missed all but three games of last year’s high school season with a broken wrist. At his age, growing taller is still within the realm of possibility, but even if he does not grow another inch, he is the correct size for a power-forward. His shooting range will draw the defense out, allowing better looks for his teammates. He has the potential to be a 1^st team all-MWC type of player, and a good shot at being selected and competing at the next level. This is excellent news for UNLV and for Christian Wood and his family, he figures to be a prominent key to the Rebel’s future.

Rankings

• Scout.com lists him as a 4-star prospect, 33^rd best player overall and 9^th best power forward
• Espn.com lists him as a 4-star prospect (94 points), 37^th best player overall and 11^th best power forward
• Rivals.com lists him as a 3-star prospect
• Neil Neves @ Coast 2 Coast recruiting believes by the time 2013 arrives Wood could be the #1 west coast prospect.

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Video

Interview done by West Coast Hoops – May 22, 2011 (Topic, recruiting, people who influence his decision)

http://www.ihigh.com/westcoasthoops/video_895653.html

Christian Wood and others at Pangos spring showcase:

http://blip.tv/ballislife/katin-reinhardt-stanley-johnson-zena-edosomwan-jordan-bell-christian-wood-showout-at-pangos-spring-showcase-5230769

Highlight mixtape

Highlights from 2011 Memorial Day tournament (he’s wearing #3)

Nicknames, Schedule Addition, Link to Hutson Interview, Rebel Legends Party

Updated Sunday 10:28 A.M.


Nicknames for up-tempo style

I'm kind of a nickname guy, so I am proposing some for the new up-tempo Rebel’s offense, maybe even some for the defense.

Option #1 – Run TMC

For those who have been into basketball for the last twenty years, this saying will bring back memories of the Golden State Warriors for which the nickname was coined (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin) which was actually a play on Run DMC. In our context, run clearly symbolizes the running, up-tempo style of offense, and TMC stands for the Thomas and Mack Center – our home court. By bringing back a ‘blast from the past’ nickname it is ideally suited to the retro-style shift that the Runnin’ Rebels are making with this juiced coaching staff. Print the shirts, have the cheerleaders scream “RUN” and the crowd scream back “TMC” in quickening pace – that’ll get things moving – it’s a winner.

Option #2 -  Rice-Rockets

Do I really need to explain it?

Option #3 – Lightning in a bottle

Don’t know why I thought of it, its been used in other contexts. The words make me feel good and I think it could fit. Maybe it should be a nickname for the bench players,  “open when you need of a quick burst of energy”. Sweet.

For the Defense

Option #1 – Amoeba 2.0

Coach Rice is a student of Tarkanian, played in his system, coached in his system. High likelihood that some form of the Amoeba defense returns. That said, this time he has the likes of Justin Hutson, and Stacey Augmon to make it even better. Amoeba 2.0 is fitting and pays tribute.

Option #2 – Pound The Ground

This takes us back to the days only a few years removed, where to psyche the team up our guys would slap the court to motivate themselves and their teammates to play lock-down defense. I’m sure it was equally demoralizing to the opponent. While the Defense has been respectable since that time, it really made it fun to watch and showed the passion and heart the players put into their defensive craft.

Option #3 – Man On The Run

Fast break points lead to transition opportunities for the opposing team, because they then try to play ‘your game’ and get the basketball back up the court as soon as possible after a bucket. Man on the run symbolizes having to get back on defense after our new and improved offense schools people. Although Coach Rice had a less athletically talented team at BYU, and that was a major motivator for not paying man-to-man defense, there is sure to still be some man-to-man because our guys do it well, hence the name still fits. 

Schedule Addition

This is totally preliminary and speculative, but either the December 7 or January 7 game (both should be home games) will be against the Canisius Golden Griffins of the MAAC. Because of the unconfirmed nature, the schedule page will not update quite yet. If true, you heard it here first. 


Source - their fan boards seem pretty certain about playing UNLV, likely December 7th. 


Justin Hutson Interview

Justin Hutson recently gave an interview to ESPN 1100, mostly about Kawai Leonard and the draft, but some about Rebels
Link (doesn't work with google chrome)

Rebel Legend’s Party

Those of you who went down to Hooters for the Rebel Legends party were surely not disappointed. Notable Rebel celebs in attendance included Moses Scurry, Eldridge Hudson, John Flowers, Kevin Kruger, Wink Adams, Romel Beck, Steve ‘Chop’ Jones, Kaspars Kambala, Trevor Diggs, Warren Rosegreen, Chancellor Davis, Dave Rice, Donovan Stewart, Bobby Florence, Freddie Banks, Christian Popoola & David Hollis. It was a fun time, well managed, well attended, and free – can’t beat that. Thanks to RebelSwag for putting on an event which hopefully will become an institution among Rebels fans and Las Vegas in general. 

Met with several of the people noted above, hoping they’ll be amenable to interviews in the near future. Here’s a few pictures I snapped:

Rice, Rice Baby....

Both the LVRJ and LV Sun are breaking that Dave Rice has been selected as the next UNLV Men's Basketball head coach. With the way many in the media have talked over the past week, the eventual winner was really never in question, although post-interviews many thought and hoped Theus had pulled off a coup. None the less, Rice is the chosen one, congratulations to him! Lets all focus on the future.

UNLV has announced the formal introduction (press conference) will be 4pm Monday, and the fan reception @ 5pm. in the Cox Pavilion. I can't make it (but would love to be there), if anyone is planning on going please send all commentary and pictures taken from the event to rebelreign1@gmail.com and I will be sure to post it here, front and center.

As far as Dave Rice's staff, there is additional speculation that his assistants will be Stacey Augmon and Justin Hutson.

                                   

Stacey Augmon

Most should be familiar with Stacey Augmon, former member of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels from 1987 - 1991, member and major contributor to the championship team. Augmon was also a teammate of Dave Rice.

- Augmon went on to become a lottery pick and was taken 9th overall by the Atlanta Hawks. He enjoyed a lengthy career in the NBA where he played 15 seasons and 1001 games, ending with averages of 8.0 ppg and 3.2 rpg.

- Augmon also was a member of the 1988 Olympic Team that earned a bronze medal in Seoul (the last team the USA fielded comprised only of NCAA players). 

- He ended his NBA career by becoming the player development coach with the Denver Nuggets. He is still employed by the Nuggets in the same job.

- Stacey Augmon was inducted into the UNLV hall of fame in the class of 2002.

Justin Hutson

Justin Hutson is probably not someone you are familiar with, he currently works for San Diego State University as an assistant coach. Hutson, who is also the team's recruiting coordinator, is instrumental in player instruction, skill development and assisting in all areas of the Aztec's program.

- Was credited in large part for being able to identify and land Kawhi Leonard as well as Chase Tapley.

-  Huston's coaching speciality is guards, in 2007, he helped Richie Williams rank first in the MWC in steals, second in assists and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio. He was also instrumental in Brandon Heath ranking second in scoring, sixth in assists, third in steals and three-point field goals made per game and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio. The last three seasons, he has tutored D.J. Gay as he has played in all 103 games (83 starts), we all know how phenomenal he has been this past year.

- Huston has also been credited with helping SDSU with tough-as-nails defense. The last three seasons, Hutson has taken on the role of defensive coordinator and helped the Aztecs rank first in the MWC in scoring defense and steals in 2008-09, and in scoring defense and rebounding defense in `09-10. On a national level, SDSU had one of the stingiest defenses in 2009-10, allowing just 61.8 points to rank 36th among all Division I schools.

- Huston's success existed before SDSU. Hutson served as an assistant coach at Cal Poly. The Mustangs went 10-19 in 2005-06, doubling their previous season's win total. He was responsible for recruiting the 2006 Big West Freshman of the Year and landing two freshmen on the Big West all-freshmen team, along with bringing two first-team all-Big West selections and the defensive player of the year to San Luis Obispo in 2006-07.

- Before arriving at Cal Poly, Hutson served as the head varsity coach at Bakersfield High School where he led it to a CIF Central Section Championship and four appearances in the playoffs in four seasons. His 2004 team was ranked as high as No. 22 in the nation and fourth in California and his 2003 squad finished the season with a 25-5 record and won the section title. Prior to entering the high school ranks, he was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Cal State Bakersfield, for two seasons (1999-00).