UNLV still hoping to land 2 top prospects

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002 | 10:45 a.m.

UNLV football coach John Robinson was scheduled to discuss his 2002 recruiting class with the media today at the Lied Athletic Complex. As of late Tuesday night, the Rebels were still waiting for the final word from two top prospects.

Wide receiver Kellen Taylor (6-feet, 190) of City College of San Francisco and defensive tackle Loa Emmsley (6-3, 280) of Fresno City College had not officially told the UNLV coaching staff of their decisions. They were waiting until the start of today's national letter of intent signing period.

Taylor, one of the nation's top JC wide receiver prospects, visited Oregon over the weekend and was expected to choose between the Ducks and Rebels.

Emmsley, a former prep teammate of Rebel linebacker James Sunia at Honolulu's St. Louis High School, verbally committed to UNLV during his recruiting visit but has long been rumored headed to Boise State.

The Rebels received a bit of bad news Tuesday night when Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne running back Ronnie Smith (5-10, 160), an honorable mention Sun Super 11 pick and arguably the top recruit of this year's class, confirmed he would sign with Nebraska despite committing to UNLV earlier.

Smith, who rushed for almost 1,400 yards and scored 19 touchdowns as a senior, spent most of the season as a backup to another Division I running back at Narbonne, Marcus O'Keith, who is expected to sign with Cal today.

"(Nebraska) said they needed someone to come in who can make plays," Smith said. "It was a tough decision. I loved UNLV. It had a lot of pros going for it. But so did Nebraska. And I'd get better exposure and a chance to maybe play for a national championship there."

UNLV's coaches weren't the only ones sweating out the choices of key recruits today.

There were also rumors circulating Tuesday night that BYU's top defensive recruit, Super 11 second team pick Haloti Nagata (6-4, 300), a defensive tackle from Highland High School in Salt Lake City, had switched to Oregon.