Black to be back soon after surgery

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 11:01 a.m.

Turns out UNLV starting strong safety Randy Black is going to need surgery to help repair his broken left middle finger after all.

The hard-hitting Black, the unquestioned leader of UNLV's defense, will undergo an operation on Thursday to have two small metal screws inserted in the upper half of his broken finger to help stabilize the fracture.

The good news? Black will likely be back on the practice field early next week and should be able to tackle much better without having the bulky cast that has covered his injured hand the past week.

"It's healing, but with most breaks of a bone it takes about six weeks to heal," UNLV trainer Kyle Wilson said. "The doctors decided that if they went in and put in a couple of screws that it would heal much quicker, and, instead of a cast, he could get by probably with some light padding by as early as next week."

The surgery will enable Black to bend his fingers and also allow him to use his left hand better for tackling.

"I didn't want to put up with a cast for six weeks," Black said. "I don't feel like I can be the player I want to be with a cast on my hand for the first three games of the season. I felt if I could endure the pain of coming out and playing with a cast, I could do the same thing with a couple of screws in my finger."

"He'll at least be able to use his thumb and fingers to grab a ball now," Wilson said. "With a cast, we'd have to cover all of the fingers up. It's basically a club and it's really tough for him to tackle or grab anything."

"I need to use my hands more than KT (cornerback Kevin Thomas) or (cornerback) Jamal Wynn would because I'm basically a middle linebacker in our defense," Black said following practice on Tuesday night at Rebel Park. "I need to use my hands, especially when it comes to tackling."

Wilson said Black should be in good shape for UNLV's Sept. 9 opener at Iowa State.

"He should be very good for that," Wilson said. "Obviously, if he gets it stepped on or if he gets hit with a helmet on it, it's going to be very sore. But I think he'll be a lot better because of the surgery."

Black will have his surgery on Thursday morning at 8:30. He said he expects to be back practicing on Monday.

"Right now it's going to be a lot of pain pills and a lot of running," Black said. "I figure this is something God is putting me through. When I first broke it, I felt like it was a way of God telling me I needed to work my feet and footwork, so he took my hand away from me.

"This is more about just being a man. If you're going to be a leader on the team, how can you prove yourself more than by having surgery and coming back for a game? I don't have no next season, so I don't have time to put anything off."

Things got so bad that Robinson halted a run drill to give his team a rare tongue-lashing.

"You're playing like a bunch of (expletive) losers," Robinson said. "We've taken three steps backward out here tonight. You guys say you want to do what it takes to be winners and then you show up and play like (expletive) tonight. ... This isn't going to get it done."

Then Robinson looked over to the film tower.

"Mark, you still here?" he asked.

With that, strength coach Mark Philippi walked out onto the field and directed the team through 15 minutes of gassers (wind sprints).

When the team was finally done running, the players started to huddle around a still agitated Robinson, who waved them off.

"Get the (expletive) of the field," he said. "I have nothing to say to you."

Should make for an interesting scrimmage tonight at Rebel Park.

Nero figures to challenge for a starting spot. His 10.38 100-meter speed gives the Rebels a legitimate home run threat outside and should open things up inside even more for physical senior wide receiver Nate Turner.

"It feels real good to have pads on again," Nero said. "I have been out here with the guys before (informal workouts), but it's different when you're out there running the routes and going up against a defense. I feel real good about the team. We're going to turn some heads this year."

Nero had been waiting for paperwork from Chaffey JC in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., to arrive at UNLV so that he could be cleared academically to play for the Rebels.

"It was the transcripts that held things up," he said. "I just finished class on Aug. 10 there. It took a while for the grades to get into the computer. Then last Friday we were going to get the transcripts and the computers went down. Finally I got them here on Monday and I was cleared around noon (Tuesday). Better late than never."

Besides being one of the top sprinters in California his senior year at Chino High School, Nero also excelled in the long jump. He finished fifth in the Junior Nationals in Houston before his senior year with a leap of 24 feet, 4 inches.