Transfer players give Rebels high marks

Steve Guiremand

Monday, April 29, 2002 | 9:31 a.m.

Deon Burnett rushed for almost 1,000 yards as a true freshman at Washington State. Larry Croom started parts of two seasons for the University of Arizona.

So when it comes to the caliber of Pac-10 Conference football, the two junior running back transfers have a pretty fair idea of what they're talking about. And after completing their first spring camp at UNLV on Saturday, both say their new school and conference match up very favorably.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really see any difference," the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Croom said. "At Arizona, we had a relatively small team. This team might be a little bigger than that one. But I personally don't see any difference in the talent level."

Burnett agreed.

"It's right there," Burnett said when asked to compare the talent level of the Rebels to Washington State. "Everyone thinks that the Pac-10 is where it's at, but the guys here have a lot of heart and a lot of talent. And that's what wins football games. I think we're going to do well this year."

Croom said he felt that UNLV's spring workouts were more competitive than those he experienced at Arizona.

"The intensity is way better here," he said. "For one thing, everybody loves to play here which is good. Arizona ... not saying anything bad about them ... but sometimes the practices seemed like we were just going through the motions. Everybody here seemed like they were looking forward to going out there every day."

Burnett and Croom said it took them a while to shake off the rust after redshirting and playing on the scout team last fall.

"I was way rusty," Burnett said. "I couldn't even get in my stance right at first. I felt like an old man out there. But I think I'll be all right by the fall."

"Learning a new system and everything made it rough, especially the first week or so," added Croom. "But for the most part I think I did all right. But there's definitely things I need to improve on, though."

Burnett and Croom are expected to play key roles as backups to senior tailback Joe Haro in UNLV's revamped offense next fall.

Part of that stems from his improved health. Thomas had shoulder surgery last June that clearly effected his arm strength. And the addition of a fulltime quarterbacks coach, Vince Alcalde, also seems to have paid big dividends.

"I think he has brought his game up a lot," UNLV coach John Robinson said after Thomas completed 7 of 12 passes for 72 yards and one touchdown in Saturday's spring scrimmage. "His mind is more in rhythm now. He seems to go out and performs and just does it."

"I thought spring went well," Thomas said. "I thought we made improvement in the passing game and that was one of our biggest focuses."

Thomas and backup Kurt Nantkes both gave high marks to Alcalde.

"He's the biggest improvement to me in the things I've been doing," Thomas said. "He's on me every day, every minute. Every time I get free time he wants me in there to watch film and do the things to make me get better."

"He's just in tune to what we need," Nantkes said of Alcalde. "He's played quarterback, he knows what to look for. J-Rob (Robinson) is a good football guy. He knows everything about every position. But Vince specializes in quarterback and that is very helpful."

As for his arm, Thomas said he's still not 100 percent.

"I still am not there yet on my deep throws," he said. "But I think on my short and intermediate routes I'm fine again."

"I think they all had very good springs," Robinson said.