Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Bayno’s recruits praised

The final lists are still a few weeks away, but the early returns indicate UNLV struck gold with its 1996 recruiting class.

Several basketball scouting services rank the Rebels in the top five, and that was before Bill Bayno locked up JC forward Fred Williams and before guard Mark Dickel distinguished himself in an all-star game.

"It could be the best when it all shakes down," said Bob Gibbons of Charlotte, N.C.-based All Star Sports. "I'm excited about UNLV's class. On paper, it's obvious Bill Bayno's done a tremendous job. He has got all the components -- a point guard, perimeter shooters, big guys and the athletes. He has it all."

Tom Konchalski, who runs the HSBI Scouting Service in New York, said, "It's a very strong class. One of the best in the country.

"But is it the best? I don't know that at this point. There's still a lot of kids out there who haven't signed yet. But regardless of what happens, UNLV will have one of the top classes."

Both Clark Francis of HoopScoop and Van Coleman of Future Stars have UNLV in their top five.

Bayno was expecting to hear such talk. He knows he can't stop it. But he can certainly downplay it.

"It's nice, but all it means we have to do something with it," he said of the newly acquired talent. "Now, our work really begins."

* DICKEL IMPRESSES: Nobody made a bigger splash at last week's Nike International Hoop Summit than the 6-foot-1 Dickel. He turned a lot of heads with his speed, ballhandling ability and perimeter shooting. In 20 minutes, Dickel scored 12 points, had two assists, just one turnover and played good defense in helping lead the International stars past a team of prep All-Americans, 103-94. Konchalski was one of the many who came aay impressed by what they saw. "He looked excellent," Konchalski said of the New Zelander. "He's quick and he can really push the ball up the court." Gibbons said Dickel could be the key to UNLV's recruiting class. "The point guard is tantamount to a pitcher in baseball or a quarterback in football," he said. "Dickel showed tremendous poise and he sees the court extremely well. He wasn't intimidated one bit." "I've played against great players before, so I was ready," he said. "The toughest thing was we only had three guys on our team who spoke English, so it was hard to communicate. But we got through that. "Being in the States and spending the week with families in Charlotte was a great experience. I'll never forget that. Everyone was so friendly." Dickel is currently in the Bay Area visiting friends. He will take his SAT next weekend and plans to arrive in Las Vegas in early May. "I'm real excited about getting to Vegas and working out with the guys," he said. "I'm here (in America) for good."

* ROSEGREEN MVP: Warren Rosegreen took a little time off from his football comeback to pick up some basketball hardware at Wednesday's team awards banquet at the Tam Alumni Center. Rosegreen, who was an honorable mention all-Big West selection and led the conference in rebounding, was named the recipient of the Arthur Newman Most Valuable Player award as well as the leading rebounder award. The 6-7 junior said he still wasn't sure what his plans were regarding football. "I'm going to finish up spring ball, talk to my family and my coaches and make a decision," he said. "Right now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do." Senior Clayton Johnson was the team's leading scorer while freshman Ben Sanders was selected as the team's Most Improved Player and junior Sunshine Smith was tabbed as the Outstanding Defensive Player. Junior Kevin James was selected "Mr. Hustle" while sophomore Grant Rice earned the team's Academic Award. Senior Wes Reed was named winner of the Coaches' Award.

* SCHEDULING UPDATE: The 1996-97 schedule is close to being finalized as UNLV has added Jacksonville to its home slate while Northern Arizona is back on. UNLV will host Jacksonville Nov. 26 while Northern Arizona comes to the Thomas & Mack Dec. 30. In addition, UNLV will host Southern Utah Dec. 18. Still to be determined is an away game on Dec. 5, a nationally televised home date Dec. 21 and a TV away game on Jan. 25. UNLV's other two nonleague road games are Dec. 7 at UC Irvine and Dec. 14 at Nevada-Reno. UNLV's first Western Athletic Conference game is Jan. 4 at Texas Christian. The first WAC home game is set for Jan. 9 against San Diego State.

* WILLIAMS IS IN: Fred Williams' national letter of intent arrived the other day, officially giving UNLV its seventh member of its recruiting class. Williams, a 6-7 forward who averaged 16 points a game at Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.) Junior College, chose UNLV over Georgia, Pittsburgh and South Alabama.

* LEE BACK ON COURT: Sophomore center Eric Lee is back playing ball after undergoing back surgery in late December. However, Lee is still rehabbing the back and will not be cleared to return to the weight room until sometime in June. In addition, he is not involved in any contact. "He's running pain-free, and that's the important thing right now," said trainer Jerry Koloskie. "I just don't want him to rush things. There's a lot he still needs to do and we don't want him to have any setbacks.

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