Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.
UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger has landed a verbal commitment from one of the nation's top 100 high school prospects.
Joe Darger, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound swingman from Riverton, Utah, is going to announce today that he has chosen the Rebels over Colorado State and Utah State, according to his father, John Darger, who has been in Las Vegas this week touring the campus.
Darger, who told the Sun in July at the Nike All-American Camp that he was leaning toward UNLV, is rated the nation's 85th-best prospect by respected prep basketball talent scout Bob Gibbons of Lenoir, N.C. He has taken several unofficial trips to UNLV during the summer to meet with Kruger and his staff.
"He's planning on putting together a prepared statement on why he chose UNLV," John Darger said.
Darger was offered a scholarship by Mountain West Conference rival Utah during his junior year but decided to look elsewhere when longtime head coach Rick Majerus stepped down near the end of the 2003-04 season because of health problems.
Gibbons, whose All Star Sports recruiting publications are considered to be among the best in the business, said he thinks Darger is a top prospect.
"I saw him play with his high school team in the Smith's Ragu Classic last December in Salt Lake City," he said. "He's a total team player. He shot the ball really well and is a highly skilled player. He's kind of in the mold of a Jason Kapono (who starred at UCLA). He has a very high basketball IQ.
"I'd say he's one of the top 12 small forwards in the nation."
It's against NCAA rules for Kruger or his assistants to talk about Darger or any other recruit until he signs a national letter of intent. Darger is expected to do that during the early signing period in November.
This could be a big week for Kruger as his team prepares for its Labor Day weekend exhibition tour in Vancouver.
Jovan Adams, a 6-foot-1 guard from Houston Gulf Shore High School, is scheduled to take an official recruiting trip to campus. Gibbons calls the slick-passing Adams "the best pure senior point guard in the country."
Arkansas, which is rumored to hold the early lead for Adams, Oklahoma and Washington are among the other schools pursuing Adams.
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