Dye transfers to Mo. school

Steve Addy

Wednesday, May 17, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

Kenny Dye's brief UNLV basketball career is officially over.

The 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Tennessee has transferred to Lincoln University, a Division II school in Jefferson City, Mo. He will have two remaining years of NCAA eligibility.

Dye, who transferred to UNLV from Connors State (Okla.) College last summer, was limited to five games with the Rebels because of a shoulder sprain suffered Dec. 3 against Princeton. He didn't play the rest of the season. He averaged 6.0 points, scoring 15 against Fairfield on Nov. 21.

Lincoln coach Bill Pope said that despite missing most of the season, Dye can easily regain the form that helped him average 24.5 points as a sophomore in junior college.

"He'll probably have some rust, but he can shoot that away," Pope said Tuesday. "It was good for Kenny to be at UNLV for a year, even though he didn't play much. He's gotten a lot stronger and he's put on about 15 pounds. He's gotten to practice against good players, and he's learned there are other parts to his game besides scoring."

But Pope also said his team will depend on Dye for a lot of offense.

"He has an incredible ability to score when the shot clock is down," Pope said. "He is a guy we can rely on for 20 points a game, depending on how many shots he takes. He takes good shots, and he gets to the line. We'll also give him a chance to handle the ball. Kenny has aspirations to play pro ball, and at his size, he'll have to develop his ballhandling a little more."

Dye, who signed his letter of intent last week, couldn't be reached for comment in Memphis.

"I was scared when I got the message," Bayno said from Los Angeles. "But I've talked to Mark and he is going to be all right. He will have to take it easy for three or four days because of the concussion, and he hurt his shoulder a little."

Dickel, who has not returned phone messages seeking comment, is hoping to be invited to the NBA predraft camp in Chicago in mid-June. Bayno is politicking to get Dickel an invitation, but the camp is filling up fast with underclassmen who entered the draft.

"Holcomb going to San Diego is huge, and Meads takes BYU's class to a new level," Bayno said. "I think BYU has one of the top 30 classes in the nation. Wyoming and New Mexico also did very well. Our league is going to be very tough. It has definitely gone up a couple of notches."