Unselfish attitude helps ‘Dot’ connect

Steve Addy

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2000 | 10 a.m.

When the Rebels bolted into the locker room after beating Utah on Saturday night, escaping just before their fans commandeered center court, no one was smiling wider than Sylvester Dotson.

It did not matter that the junior power forward from Detroit had played only three minutes, his shortest stint all season. It didn't matter that Dotson's stat line had zeroes in all the wrong places, or that he had almost as many fouls (two) as minutes.

You'd have thought he had scored 20 points or grabbed 15 rebounds for the first time, or played 25 minutes, as he did four games ago against San Diego State.

But that's just Dotson, the big guy with the easy smile. He was happier over UNLV's biggest win of the season than he was unhappy about the brevity of his opportunity. That's exactly the sort of unselfishness required of a substitute whose minutes vary greatly from game to game -- often through no fault of his own.

"When it's my turn, I have to produce no matter if it's for five minutes or 20," said Dotson, commonly known as Dot. "I don't always know when I'm getting in, and that's tough, because you have to keep yourself ready all the time. But that's the role I have, and I accept it."

That line is sure to bring a smile to Bill Bayno's face. The coach sees the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Dotson as a "glue" player -- somebody who fills the cracks -- and sometimes the Rebels do not require much glue at his position, especially when Dalron Johnson or Ike Epps is playing well.

In his first Rebels season since arriving from Kilgore (Texas) College with guard Trevor Diggs, Dotson is averaging exactly four points and four rebounds in 17 appearances, including his only start Dec. 28 against Eastern Kentucky. He has scored in double figures once (11 against Austin Peay) and topped 10 rebounds once as well (11 against San Diego State).

"Dot's been great. He's been ready when we needed him," Bayno said. "It's been tough for him because some days his number is called for 20 minutes and other days it's three minutes. But he has accepted his role and he hasn't complained."

The Utah game is a convenient example. Dotson did not get in the game until 15 minutes in, then was yanked after committing a quick foul. Even against the Utes' big lineup in the second half, Dotson played only two more minutes.

Epps got the key minutes at the end and he contributed two big defensive plays in the final two minutes: a blocked shot and a tie-up. Over on the bench, Dotson was waving a pretty mean towel.

"When Ike stepped up, Dot didn't get selfish about it. He was glad for Ike in that game and he was happy for Chris Richardson when he played well at New Mexico," Bayno said. "You need your bench guys to have that kind of attitude."

Dotson said, "Hey, if Ike's got it going good, we should keep him in there."

It has taken Dotson a long time to get to UNLV since the Rebels recruited him in 1996 as a prep star at Detroit Cooley High. Dotson verbally committed to Michigan State, but when Dotson was a non-qualifier academically, the Spartans backed off.

Dotson signed with Central Michigan as a Prop 48 casualty, but transferred to Kilgore before he became eligible at CMU. In two years at Kilgore, the Rangers had a 54-11 record, and Dotson and Diggs comprised an inside-outside duo.

After UNLV signed Diggs last year, he helped sell the Rebels on adding Dotson.

"We were looking for another big rebounder and Trev talked Dot into coming here," Bayno said. "Cyp (assistant coach Glynn Cyprien) had seen Dot all season and we liked him."

Dotson's transition to Division I has been steady. Though he sometimes gets lost on defense and his foul shooting is languishing at 37 percent, he's second on the Rebels with 13 blocked shots and is shooting 58 percent on field goals.

"Dot's more confident in himself than he was early in the season," Kaspars Kambala said. "At the start of the year, sometimes he'd get the ball in the post and be kind of unsure about what he wanted to do. Now he knows what he wants to do and how to go about it.

"When Dot is out there with me, our lineup is more physical. We know guys aren't going to come through the lane and do whatever they want. They're going to get bumped around a little."

REBEL NOTES: Diggs had to leave practice Tuesday because of flu symptoms, while Epps was back after missing a day because of a swollen jaw. ...

Kambala, on the Rebels getting some votes in the AP poll: "It doesn't mean that much to me. If we get in the top 25, it will be good for the school and get our name out there. But I would be lying if I said I followed the polls." ...

Mark Dickel is second in the nation in assists per game (8.7) and third in total assists (166). Oklahoma State's Doug Gottlieb still leads both categories (9.3, 195).