Defensive prospect may pay dividends

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001 | 10:37 a.m.

Don't be surprised if you see some UNLV football coaches walking around their Lied Athletic Complex offices with their fingers crossed the next few weeks.

It's possible the Rebels could be signing a defensive line prospect who could make as big an impact on UNLV's defense as star quarterback Jason Thomas does on offense.

Junior Savaii, a 6-6, 330-pound noseguard from Butte Community College in Oroville, Calif., visited UNLV recently and will choose between the Rebels, Oregon and Washington on national letter of intent signing day on Feb. 7.

How good is Savaii?

"We think he's one of the better prospects around, not just in California, but all the junior colleges around the nation," said Dick Lascola of the Fallbrook, Calif.-based Scouting Evaluation Association. "He's one of the best prospects in the nation."

Mike Leddell, Butte's athletic director who during his football head coaching days there helped develop current Dallas Cowboys offensive line star Larry Allen, agrees.

"He's a major, major college prospect," Leddell said. "He was an outstanding nose guard for us this year who could take on the double-team and still make a lot of plays. We had the No. 1 scoring defense in California and Junior was a major reason why."

One big thing in UNLV's favor is that Savaii is a close friend of all-Mountain West defensive end Anton Palepoi.

"He told me he wants to come here," Palepoi said recently.

However, that was before Oregon sent a Lear jet down to pick up the ponytailed strongman from American Samoa for his recruiting trip. And Savaii, who has first-round NFL pick potential, also is planning to visit Rose Bowl champion Washington.

Lascola is regarded as the premier talent evaluator on the West Coast. More than 90 Division I schools, including Notre Dame, Nebraska and every Pac-10 school subscribe to his service. He gave a big thumbs up to UNLV's two mid-year JC recruits, Pasadena City College offensive tackle Matt Williams (6-7, 290) and Grossmont (Calif.) College defensive tackle Garrett Brassington (6-3, 270).

On Williams, who could contend for John Greer's starting tackle spot in the spring, Lascola said: "We liked him a lot. We thought he was a dominant type of player. He had good size and good body lean. He can really snap his hips and get off the ball well."

As for Brassington, who benches more than 400 pounds, Lascola said: "He's got good size and strength and is pretty good at pushing up the field. He'll also hit you."

UNLV has also received a verbal commitment from local prep product Leon Moore (6-4, 250), an athletic defensive end from Rancho High School.

In other recruiting news, the West Coast's top linebacker prospect, Marvin Simmons (6-1, 205) of Long Beach Poly, was denied academic admission to UCLA and has changed his commitment to crosstown rival USC.

Simmons began his prep career at Compton's Dominguez High School where as a ninth grader he was a teammate of UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas.

And two UNLV signees from last February, La Mirada running back Mike Lemon and Long Beach Poly defensive end Charles Jones, both failed to meet NCAA minimum test score requirements and will likely wind up in junior college.

Another highly touted Rebel recruit from last year's class, wide receiver Larry Shyne, who transferred from Purdue, has left school after experiencing academic problems.