Amundson fills niche at UNLV

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2001 | 9:57 a.m.

Watching young players blossom amid great expectations is one of college basketball's most satisfying thrills.

But that process has lost much of its joy in recent seasons, largely because hot prospects are so eager to get to the NBA.

Even before some freshmen prove worthy of their recruiting hype, their college careers are being timed on stopwatches.

Only a month into his UNLV career, there are no such worries about Lou Amundson, the Rebels' 6-foot-7 forward/center. He isn't a starter and he's unlikely to become one soon. While some recruitniks likened him to Wyoming forward Josh Davis, his signing caused few ripples.

Which only makes it more exciting that Amundson is already becoming a valuable role player for the undersized Rebels.

Instead of being frazzled by freshman nerves, Amundson has made economical use of his 40 minutes in UNLV's last four games with 14 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot. That includes a team-leading eight rebounds against Nicholls State.

Most tellingly, he hasn't suffered from nervous hands as young big men often do. On a team that has already committed 95 turnovers, he has only one. When someone passes him the ball, he catches it.

Of the three players recruited by coach Charlie Spoonhour last spring, Amundson has been the most impressive. Juco center Jamal Holden is playing behind sophomore starter Omari Pearson and Amundson, and Juco swingman Lamar Bigby is on the fringes of the rotation.

Considering that UNLV and Amundson were not each other's first choice, it's been a good relationship so far. He withdrew his oral commitment to Tulsa when coach Buzz Peterson took the Tennessee job in the spring, and he also soured on Pepperdine after it changed coaches.

Having been a second-team all-state pick at Monarch High in Louisville, Colo., Amundson signed with the Rebels after they failed to lure another Juco big man.

"Coming in, I didn't really know how many minutes I was going to get or if I was going to be playing at all," said Amundson, who turns 19 on Friday. "I had goals for myself, but I didn't have expectations about playing time."

While fans are clamoring for freshman shooting guard Ernest Turner to play more, it makes sense that Spoonhour has made Amundson his busiest freshman. Do the math: the Rebels have fewer veteran frontcourt players than guards.

"Sometimes you are forced to do something you'd rather not because of the makeup of your team," Spoonhour said. "We have only one center in his natural position (Holden), which lends itself to (Amundson) playing more. In Ernest's case, we've got (Vince) Booker and other people with experience."

Spoonhour has no specific history of not playing freshmen. At Saint Louis in 1997-98, Larry Hughes started every game, then left to be an NBA lottery pick.

"It depends on the player. Some play, some don't," Spoonhour said. "Larry was our best player and hardest worker from the get-go, and everybody knew it."

Amundson and Turner have discussed their shared experience of being the Rebels' only freshmen.

"We've talked about stuff that affects us, like the first road game and things that are new to us," Amundson said. "I know Ernest is a little disappointed about his playing time, but he's working through it and he'll be all right."

Spoonhour will miss practice today while recruiting in California. ...

Redshirt guard Demetrius Hunter hopes to get clearance Wednesday to begin practicing. He's recovering from surgery to remove bone spurs from his foot. ...

Ex-Rebels coach Max Good has a 2-3 record at Division II Bryant College in Smithfield, R.I.