Columnist Dean Juipe: Don’t buy all the hype on recruits

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, March 9, 1999 | 10:03 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

It has already started again.

"He can play at any level," a scouting service representative was quoted as saying in Monday's paper, referring to incoming UNLV basketball recruit Trevor Diggs of Kilgore, Texas.

The inference is that Diggs, a guard, would be a splendid addition to any team. A further implication: He has NBA potential.

Without knowing a thing about him, let's take the scout's word for it and welcome the kid to the Rebels. They'll need the help after Kevin Simmons and Brian Keefe say their goodbyes following UNLV's stay in the National Invitation Tournament that begins Wednesday.

As time passes, the Rebels will add some other newcomers this year and in all probability those young men will have similar credentials and be as promising as Diggs appears to be.

Get enough of these types of players together and the recruiting gurus go gaga.

For example, last fall those in the know called UCLA's freshman class the new "Fab Five," after Michigan's great group of rookies in 1992. Those same experts have given UNLV's recruiting classes high marks the last few years.

The result is that reporters assigned to cover a team like UCLA or UNLV are all but obliged to paint a rosy picture of the future. After awhile, it seems like every incoming player is destined for the pros after a brief interlude in college.

As it pertains to UCLA, its freshmen might have been overrated and they certainly were no second coming of the Fab Five. The Bruins are 22-8 and in the NCAA Tournament, but it's more the result of their sophomores than freshmen.

As it pertains to 16-12 and underachieving UNLV, in hindsight some of its recent additions may have been overhyped. While there's no quibbling with trophies and awards a player may have won in high school, what a team's fans usually fail to realize is that virtually every player advancing to the next level is bringing a host of accolades with him.

For instance, Greedy Daniels of the Rebels was ranked the 27th best recruit in the country when he came out of high school, and teammate Issiah Epps was tabbed the "fifth best big man" by one service.

Those evaluations seem unrealistic in retrospect today.

Tack on offseason stories such as Las Vegans were treated to last summer about Kaspars Kambala attending Pete Newell's Big Man Camp and improving his game substantially, and the results are lofty expectations that can't always be met.

By the time a season starts, the typical UNLV fan invariably has been led to believe there's not a weak link on the team. If a Chris Richardson has been dubbed a "Nike All-Star" then, gosh darn it, he must be sensational and a player whose impact will be immediate.

But here's the catch: Most of what you read about recruits is hogwash or irrelevant. In fact, it could be argued that every recruiting story should have an asterisk attached or a word of warning that cautions the reader of the inherent hyperbole.

It would be an effective disclaimer, and one a coach like UNLV's Bill Bayno would be wise to ask his reporters to lobby for or request from their editors.

Because when their supposed young stars repeatedly fail to deliver as promised or as indirectly implied, people start wondering if it isn't the coach who really is to blame.