Robinson has his eye on two more top quarterback prospects

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 | 10:25 a.m.

Ex-Arizona State QB Elliott interested in Rebels

New UNLV head coach John Robinson landed verbal commitments from two quarterbacks during his first major recruiting weekend last week.

But with only one returning quarterback on scholarship, sophomore Chris Hayward, Robinson apparently isn't done trying to fill the large void at the position.

Two more quarterbacks, including Arizona State transfer Chad Elliott and Quincy, Calif., High School's Matt Ray, are among the 16 recruits scheduled to visit UNLV this weekend.

Most Division I football programs have at least five quarterbacks on scholarship. It is believed Robinson would like to have at least four on campus for the start of fall practice next August.

Jason Vaughn (6-4, 205) of Middle Georgia JC verbally committed to UNLV last weekend and will enroll in school next week and take part in spring drills. Ryan Hanson (6-2, 210) of Los Alamitos (Calif.) High School, the Orange County Register's Offensive Player of the Year, also accepted a scholarship offer last weekend.

Elliott (6-3, 195), who visited Minnesota last weekend and is also strongly considering attending a junior college next year -- "It would be nice to get about 400 passes in some place rather than just sitting around for a year" -- decided to leave Arizona State following his redshirt freshman season even though he actually started one game for the Sun Devils.

Elliott completed 39 of 73 passes for 365 yards, one touchdown and threw three interceptions. The Sacramento Bee's Offensive Player of the Year at Sacramento's Grant High in 1996 after passing for 3,175 yards, 47 touchdowns and just three interceptions, Elliott decided to leave Tempe when it was apparent that local favorite, sophomore Ryan Kealy, would be the ASU starter the next two years.

"They liked me up there but Ryan Kealy was their guy," Elliott said. "I felt like I proved in practice that I was a better quarterback than Ryan, but it was like the coaches didn't want to look."

Elliott did get to start a game against Stanford, but was yanked in favor of Kealy midway through the contest. He came off the bench to turn in solid performances against both USC (16 of 32, 157 yards) and Notre Dame (6 of 8, 47 yards).

"I left Arizona State on good terms," Elliott said. "I think Coach (Bruce) Snyder may have even recommended me to Coach Robinson."

Elliott, who will have to sit out a year per NCAA transfer rules if he enrolls at another Division I school, said he enjoyed his visit to Minnesota last week even though temperatures reached as low as minus 16 degrees during his trip.

"They did everything real nice there," he said. "They took me to the Metrodome and showed some of my high school and Arizona State highlights on the scoreboard. They took me to the locker room where they had a jersey hanging with my name on it. And I had a hostess to show me around the campus during the day."

Elliott, who may also take a recruiting trip to Hawaii, said the main reason for taking a visit to UNLV was the recent coaching change to Robinson.

"John Robinson is the reason I'm visiting," he said.

"When he called he was very impressive on the phone. He sounds like he's made a strong commitment to try and turn that program around."

Ray, a four-sport star at Quincy (Calif.) High School, located about halfway between Reno and Chino in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, is the nephew of legendary 49ers and Stanford head coach Bill Walsh, a longtime friend of Robinson's.

Ray completed 139 of 221 passes for 2,686 yards and 30 touchdowns in leading the Trojans to a 10-1 record and a Shasta-Cascade League title. He already has visited Boise State and also has a trip planned to Portland State.

Another potential quarterback prospect, Brad Van Pelt (6-3, 195) of Santa Barbara (Calif.) San Marcos High School and the son of former Michigan State and New York Giants star Brad Van Pelt, is scheduled to visit UNLV Jan. 22-23.

Cheyenne High School QB/WR/DB Lawrence Turner (6-0, 180), the Sun's Offensive Player of the Year, will also visit UNLV this weekend as will tight end/H-Back Ryan Claridge (6-3, 215) of Almont, Mich., the brother of USC all-Pac-10 offensive lineman Travis Claridge.