Rebels plan to adjust lineups

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 | 10:28 a.m.

UNLV basketball coach Charlie Spoonhour confirmed that he will tweak his starting lineup and rotation for two exhibition games because of the suspensions that two Rebels will serve at the start of the season.

Center J.K. Edwards and forward James Peters, two of UNLV's biggest and most-experienced players, will be suspended -- Edwards for the team's first six games, Peters for the first three

UNLV plays exhibition games against the Los Angeles Stars (Nov. 10) and Houston Superstars (Nov. 15) at the Thomas & Mack Center. It opens its 2003-04 season on Nov. 21, at home, against Delaware State.

The Rebels will host their annual Scarlet & Gray intrasquad game Saturday night at 8 at the Mack.

The UNLV women's team's annual intrasquad scrimmage was Wednesday night at the Cox Pavilion.

Two transfers, junior forward Randee Henry and junior center Amy Loftus, were the leading scorers with 12 and 11 points.

The Lady Rebels have exhibitions planned for Nov. 11 and Nov. 14 at the Cox Pavilion. The regular season begins for coach Regina Miller on Nov. 21, at Cox, against Centenary College.

Spoonhour said he will mostly go with that short-handed group in the two exhibitions, to prepare it for what awaits it in those first half a dozen games to start the season.

"That's the way I'm planning on it right now," Spoonhour said. "I won't start (Edwards or Peters) for the exhibitions. We'll start somebody else and bring them off the bench."

Edwards and Peters were suspended for using an unauthorized telephone calling card that made its way across campus. About 10 percent of the 500 students who used the card were athletes who mostly lived in dorms.

"'Jamo' and J.K. will, obviously, play, because we'll need them the rest of the year," Spoonhour said. "But they'll probably play less minutes than they normally would."

Expect senior shooting guard Demetrius Hunter, junior point guard Jerel Blassingame, and fellow juniors Odartey Blankson and Romel Beck to likely start in those two exhibitions and at the start of the season.

Sophomore forward Louis Amundson and junior swingman Andy Hannan should also play prominent roles. Spoonhour, however, hasn't decided, and he might opt for a quicker lineup, at times, that involves new guards Michael Umeh and John Winston.

"I still want them playing," Spoonhour said of Edwards and Peters. "We'll always play games to win, but we also want to see everyone play."

Williams said he plans to ink a written commitment next month, during the early-signing period. With the proper paperwork, he will enroll at UNLV for the spring semester and practice with the team.

He will be eligible next season and have two seasons remaining on his clock.

"I'm real excited, especially with my two players already here," said Williams, 22, who won a state junior college title last season with Blassingame and Beck.

Williams had been considering the University of San Francisco, where another LACC teammate transferred, before Spoonhour and crew pursued him "at the last minute," Williams said.

"This will be a great chance for me to come in here and play some more with my point guard," Williams said of Blassingame. "The two of us have talked about that a lot. All three of us know each others' games very well. I am very excited about coming here."

The Rebels will have two more scholarships to give for their next class.

Gondrezick, a former Rebel who had his No. 25 jersey retired in 1997, recently signed a similar three-year deal. UNLV games are heard on ESPN 920-AM.

"There aren't many (radio partners) in the country who will have been together for 14 years," Korach said of the duo likely working, at least, through 2005-06. "I'm proud of that."

Korach, 51, wife Denise and the couple's daughter Emilee have lived in Las Vegas since 1992. He recently finished his eighth season as a radio broadcaster for the Oakland A's.