Rebels await recruit’s NBA draft decision

Steve Carp

Wednesday, May 6, 1998 | 9:03 a.m.

They're not holding their breath at the UNLV basketball office any longer. But Bill Bayno and his staff would just as soon see Sunday come and go as quickly as possible.

That's the deadline for underclassmen to declare themselves eligible for the 1998 NBA draft. While all indications are that junior college superstar Shawn Marion is UNLV-bound, Bayno won't rest totally easy until it's official.

"It doesn't guarantee anything, but Shawn said he's coming," Bayno said. "He's supposed to be out here in the next couple of weeks."

Marion, who led Vincennes (Ind.) University to a fifth-place finish at the national JC tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., in March, averaged 23.5 points per game over his two years playing for Dan Sparks.

Marion also averaged 13.1 rebounds this season, shot 60.3 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent from 3-point land and 74.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Marion graduated last Sunday. His next basketball stop is Colorado Springs where he is expected to try out for USA Basketball's Goodwill Games team May 29-31. The Goodwill Games will be held in New York City July 18-24 at Madison Square Garden.

"I just got off the phone with him," Bayno said. "From all the information I've gathered, the NBA has told him he should go to school and he told me he's looking forward to getting here, getting acclimated to UNLV and playing with the guys."

Bayno at the Derby

Rick Pitino isn't the only basketball coach who owns horses.

The Boston Celtics coach has company, though it is yet to be determined whether Bayno will one day have a Kentucky Derby horse the ilk of Pitino's Halory Hunter, the fourth-place finisher in last Saturday's Derby.

Bayno recently invested in four yearlings in a partnership that includes former Kentucky Gov. Breton Jones. Elliott Walden, who trained Derby runner-up Victory Gallop, is the trainer.

Bayno was at Churchill Downs last Saturday to see the excitement up close, although he couldn't stay for the big race.

"I had to catch a plane to Chicago for a clinic, so I had to leave five minutes before the Derby," Bayno said. "It was the first time for me and I went with some friends from Las Vegas. It's unbelievable."

Selling Keon

While at the Derby, Bayno and Pitino talked about former Rebel Keon Clark. The Celtics supposedly are interested in the 6-foot-11 center and were scheduled to bring him to Boston this week for a workout and interview.

"Rick thinks Keon might fit their style of play," Bayno said.

Bayno also said he believes both Clark and Tyrone Nesby will be invited to next month's final NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago.

"They'll definitely go to get measured," he said. "As far as participating and playing, I don't know. It's too early to say."

The official invitations won't go out until next week after Sunday's deadline for declaring for the 1998 draft has passed.

Summer trips off?

A few weeks ago, it appeared several UNLV players were going to get a taste of international basketball as part of several all-star teams which were going to tour Europe. But plans have changed, games have fallen through and there's a possibility nobody will be going anywhere.

Kaspars Kambala won't be going to Prague after all as the People To People tour he was scheduled to participate in over in the Czech Republic has fallen through. Instead, Kambala will return home to his native Latvia in a couple of weeks and work out with the national team before returning to Las Vegas later this summer.

Kevin Simmons was looking to be part of an NIT all-star team which was going to tour Italy. However, Simmons is going to summer school instead, so he will be able to graduate on time next May.

Bayno is scheduled to coach an all-star team in June that is headed for Tahiti. However, he still has to put together a 10-man squad before the trip can be taken. He was planning to bring Greedy Daniels and Issiah Epps with him to the South Pacific. But all players have to raise their own money for the trip, approximately $2,300 apiece.

"I've got a list of about 50 players I'm trying to contact right now," Bayno said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to pull it all together and go."

Hoop du jour

* SCHEDULE UPDATE: The 1998-99 schedule is still a long way from being completed. But the Rebels will open the upcoming campaign with three home games at the Thomas & Mack Center, beginning with Sacred Heart, Bill Bayno's alma mater, in mid-November. UNLV was scheduled to host Oklahoma State this year as the return game from the home-and-home series which began two years ago. But the Cowboys may wait a year to return the game, and Georgetown would take OSU's place on this year's slate. No date with the Hoyas has been set.

* GLOVER OUT: It appears New York prep star Anthony Glover will stay closer to home. The New York tabloids have reported that Glover, who starred at Rice High School in Manhattan, will pass on UNLV and attend either St. John's or Seton Hall. As for the lone remaining scholarship, Bayno said UNLV might use it or might hang onto it for next year. The Rebels supposedly are recruiting Mohammad Kante', a 6-10 center from Paris, France. But no date for an official visit has been set. The spring signing period ends May 15.