UNLV Rebels shine at annual Fan Jam

Steve Carp

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 1998 | 12:15 p.m.

It was easy to tell Chris Richardson was comfortable on the basketball court. Anybody willing to jump over a chair occupied by a teammte so he could dunk has to be at ease with himself.

Of all the members of the 1998 UNLV recruiting class, the 6-foot-7 Richardson probably holds the most intrigue. While great things are expected of Shawn Marion and every Rebel fan knows that Desmond Herod can fill up the basket and Galena High's Matt Siebrandt has played against teams from Southern Nevada and can bang with the best of them, little is known about the lanky freshman from Corpus Christi, Texas.

Until Tuesday.

Not only did Richardson wow the 2,000 or so who showed up at the Thomas & Mack Center for the team's "Fan Jam" by winning the dunk contest, he moved effortlessly and played with poise and confidence during the Scarlet and Gray scrimmage.

It made a positive impression with the crowd, which included John Calipari, the New Jersey Nets head coach and former boss of UNLV coach Bill Bayno when the two were at Massachusetts.

"I'm relaxed now," Richardson said after the 20-minute game won by the Scarlet, 37-30. "I knew there'd be some adjustments and the guys on the team told me not to worry and keep my head up."

It's a far cry from the first week of September when Richardson made his initial appearance on the court in the North Gym during the individual preseason workouts. He was uptight, pressing, trying to do everything perfectly to please Bayno. Instead, he was missing shots he'd normally make and his footwork was awkward.

So his teammates and coaches told him to relax. And the more Richardson relaxed and let the game come naturally to him, the better his play was.

"I had fun out there tonight," he said after the scrimmage. "I think it was just adjusting to the coaches and getting used to what they want."

Bayno said Richardson's basketball growth will be ongoing.

"Chris is still learning to play," he said. "He makes plays in the open court, but he's still learning when he should go and when not to go. But he did some good things out there and he's working hard in practice. I think he's a lot more comfortable now than he was a month ago."

As for the team's overall performance, Bayno said the proof is in the practices.

"I caution you not to get too excited about anything you saw out there tonight," he said. "I was much more pleased with our practice earlier in the day. Overall, we've had some very good practices and I think our chemistry is better than it was last year at this time, and we were real good last year early."

Junior point guard Mark Dickel didn't suit up as he is still nursing a sprained right ankle. Center Issiah Epps also didn't play after pulling his right groin muscle earlier in the day. Epps is expected to practice today while Dickel should be back on the floor by Thursday or Friday.