Bandits feature a Rebel flavor, uncertain future

Steve Carp

Tuesday, July 20, 1999 | 9:59 a.m.

Pick 'Em

Players taken by the Las Vegas Silver Bandits during Monday's IBL draft:

1. Dexter Boney, G, UNLV

2. Gerald Paddio, G, UNLV

3. George Ackles, F, UNLV

4. Moses Scurry, F, UNLV

5. Chris Garner, G, Memphis

6. Ira Newble, G, Miami, Ohio

They were the curious, the hopeful, the junkies. There weren't many of them, but they were willing to spend part of their afternoon inside the All-American SportPark to see what the International Basketball League was up to now.

Monday's IBL draft, which consisted of six rounds, didn't attract a whole lot of attention. There were a lot of kids downstairs shooting hoops on the blue plastic Sportcourt, but none of them could tell you about Ira Newble, one of six players selected by the Las Vegas Silver Bandits.

A few may have remembered Warren Rosegreen, the former UNLV star who will be taken in today's eighth round after being selected a week ago as a territorial pick along with former Rebel Moses Scurry and former Rancho High star Michael Johnson.

They were signing for the kids downstairs, even though none of them have signed an IBL contract.

"I hope something happens soon," said Rosegreen, who has been playing in the L.A. Pro Summer League and has a standing offer to return to Korea this fall if the IBL doesn't sign him. "Frankly, I'm a little surprised nothing's happened to this point."

Upstairs, it seemed like everyone had some sort of agenda. Former Rebels James Jones and Reggie Manuel hope to catch on as free agents, so they wanted to make sure coach Rolland Todd knew they were in the house. A couple of basketball types were checking it out as well.

And a couple of fans who like the idea of pro ball in Las Vegas came by, only to be unable to hear the audio as ESPN was dominating the speaker system. In fact, when Baltimore picked in the first round, everyone thought it was Greedy Daniels of UNLV when in fact it was Lloyd Daniels, the one-time Rebel recruit who never played a minute at UNLV.

It was that kind of day.

But even though it was the first true official league function, you couldn't find a dissenting word among the Silver Bandits' staff. Everyone, from president Harry Stokes to Todd to former Rebel Ricky Sobers, the team's vice president for community relations and marketing, felt good about Monday's events.

"I see this as being about opportunity," Sobers, one of the all-time UNLV greats, said of the IBL. "Maybe we can reach out to the youth of the community. These are our fans -- the real fans."

Never mind the team still lacks local ownership or that it has yet to sign a player or that it doesn't have its ticket prices yet. However, it does have the rights to eight players. It does have a logo -- a conglomeration of blue, red, silver and black. And by the end of today, it will have 24 players to pick and choose from, and for those youngsters to root for come late November when the inaugural season tips off at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"It went pretty much the way we wanted it to," Todd said. "We want two or three at every position and we wanted experience. You won't come close to winning this league with guys out of college."

So the Silver Bandits decided to turn themselves into a UNLV alumni squad.

Guard Dexter Boney, who played for the Rebels from 1991-93, was Las Vegas' first pick, the eighth overall. Right after Boney, the Bandits tabbed veteran Gerald Paddio, a member of the 1987 Final Four team. George Ackles, who played center on the 1991 Final Four team, was the third pick, followed by Scurry, who was on the 1990 national championship team.

Rosegreen, who was a member of Bill Bayno's first recruiting class in 1995, is already on board as the eighth pick. With the other picks in the first day, Las Vegas took former Memphis guard Chris Garner and Newble, who played at Miami of Ohio. Both played in the CBA last year.

The first pick overall was another Miami player, Devin Davis, who was taken by Cincinnati.

Todd said he has had some preliminary talks with those already taken by the Silver Bandits. But he said it's still going to be a few weeks before the team signs anyone.

"There's no real rush," he said. "It'll get done."

Eventually, Monday's drafting got done. Craig Fletchall, who had been in town all weekend to take in The Big Time tournament, was one of the few who stuck around to the end.

"It's exciting to see a new league evolve," Fletchall, an assistant coach at Cowley College in Kansas, said. "I can't get enough basketball, so I decided to come over here and check it out.

"I'm skeptical because there are lots of new leagues starting up. But the exciting thing about this is it has a local flavor, drafting all the Rebels. It's a smart move."