Punter expected to fill big shoes

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Feb. 8, 1999 | 11:16 a.m.

UNLV has found the punter it hopes can fill the cleats of consensus All-American Joe Kristosik.

Ryan McDonald, a 5-11, 170-pound senior at Putnam City (Okla.) North High School in Oklahoma City signed a letter of intent with the Rebels last week.

"He's looking forward to the challenge of trying to replace their All-American," his father, Steve McDonald said.

The McDonald's sent tape of their son, who averaged 38.0 yards per punt as a senior en route to all-district honors, to UNLV after scouring the Internet for schools who might need a punter.

"We sent them a highlight film," Steve McDonald said. "We knew their punter graduated and that they had led the nation in net punting this year. We also knew that Coach (John) Robinson was going there. He is by and large a coaching legend. That also sparked our interest."

Ryan McDonald visited UNLV two weeks ago and was told then that the school would offer him a scholarship. However, it wasn't determined until Wednesday night whether he would enroll this fall or next January. When a couple of other recruits signed elsewhere on Wednesday, a scholarship became available for McDonald to come aboard in August.

"They called us about 9:30 (Wednesday) night," Steve McDonald. "Needless to say, we were all very excited."

Ryan McDonald is a rare two-step high school punter with good technique and excellent technique. He punted 56 times as a senior and had just 12 returned. Twenty-three other punts were either fair-caught or downed inside the 20.

In his final game against Oklahoma City Mustang High School, he averaged 42 yards on eight punts. Four of those kicks went out of bounds inside the 20, including a 59-yarder that went out at the six and a 51-yarder that went out at the one.

* SEASON TICKETS SIZZLING: The combination of Robinson's hiring, a remodeled Sam Boyd Stadium and the move into the new Mountain West Conference has already resulted in a five percent increase.

Terry Cottle, UNLV's director of community relations, said about 400 new season tickets have already been sold since Robinson's hiring in early December. Not bad considering the team is coming off the first winless season in school history and is in the midst of a 16-game losing streak.

"And we usually don't kick off ticket selling campaign until March, so we're still early," Cottle said. "A year ago we had less than 100 new season ticket orders at this time. So this is real encouraging."

Cottle said UNLV has about 8,000 returning season-ticket holders.

Season ticket packages begin at $50 and can be obtained by calling 895-UNLV.

* TRAMONTANAS TO TIGHT END: With Alhambra (Calif.) tight end Van Brown signing at the wire with Utah, sophomore Peter Tramontanas (6-6, 275), who started several games at tackle last season, is going to be switched to tight end in the spring.

Tramontanas was recruited as a tight end out of Moduc High School in Alturas, Calif., by Oregon State after catching 22 passes for 400 yards as a senior. He'll be asked to drop about 10 to 15 pounds even though he has just 12-percent body fat.

"I just hope I haven't forgotten how to catch the ball," Tramontanas said with a smile. "I'm looking forward to giving it a try."

* BRUINS ARE SUPER: UCLA dominated West Coast recruiting for the second straight year, signing five first team members of the Sun's Super 11 squad and two more second team selections.

USC finished second with three first team picks, including leading vote-getter Kareem Kelly, a wide receiver from Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High School. The Trojans also inked three second team members.

* ALOHA MEANS GOODBYE: After a hectic six weeks of recruiting and organizing his staff, Robinson and his wife, Linda, are going to spend the week vacationing in Hawaii.

The rest of the staff has also been given the week off. Some will use the time to move into their new homes.

"It'll give a few days to re-charge our batteries before we get into the thick of things again," Robinson said.