Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004 | 11:58 a.m.
They all have their reasons for leaving Las Vegas, but for the local high school football players who went out of town, it would have been fairly easy to get them to stay.
What did their schools do that UNLV didn't? Pay attention.
"Just show more interest. Show that they're important," said Oregon State senior Jonathan Pollard, a linebacker out of Las Vegas High School. "They make it sound like having out-of-state talent is always going to be better. They just need to show more focus on the schools and try to reach out to more schools out there."
Pollard is one of five Southern Nevadans now at Oregon State. Many of them chose the Beavers because they appreciated the small college-town atmosphere of Corvallis, a sharp contrast from the campus environment at UNLV.
"There's less distraction at Oregon State," cornerback Kellen Marshall said. "I kind of thought I was going to be able to get along with players here better than back in Vegas."
Boise State linebacker Dallas Dobbs was recruited by UNLV, but said the Rebels lost interest when he became temporarily unavailable.
"I was going to serve a mission," said Dobbs, who spent two years in Argentina on his LDS mission. "When I said that, they were kind of scared off. That happens quite a bit at BYU and places like that. Things occur, better recruits come out that year, and they don't want to risk putting an investment in a guy that's been out of the game for two years."
Dobbs was originally slated to go Southern Utah, but his signing could be broken in 18 months. Where most colleges told him to call when he was off his mission, Boise State kept in touch -- that was enough to impress Dobbs.
Of course, colleges take a risk with returned missionaries just as recruits do with colleges. Free time is limited, and Utah linebacker Taylor Miller had to be creative on his mission in Honduras to stay in shape before going to Utah. Between when he left and when he showed up for class, former coach Ron McBride, who signed Miller, had been fired and replaced by Urban Meyer.
"During my mission, I'd wake up maybe half an hour early, and I built my own home gym," he said. "I'd carry around a bamboo stick and put it between a wall and a window and do pull-ups. But keeping in shape was definitely a last priority on my mission... it was just something I was able to relieve some stress by getting up each morning and working out."
Miller said UNLV didn't have much of a chance of recruiting him after his impression of the Utah coaching staff. Many former Las Vegans credit their schools' coaching as a big reason for why they left home.
Fresno State lineman Jon Monga, a Foothill graduate, said he was impressed by his coaching staff's committment to the community, and how the community responded. He said that UNLV would benefit from a similar relationship with the community.
"You recruit local athletes," he said. "You build up your audience and get more of the city involved. That's one of the reasons they need to stop recruiting from junior colleges. So many kids are coming out of Vegas and going to D-1 because UNLV doesn't even take a look at them. How many come out of Vegas each year? A lot."
In total, 19 Division I players from Las Vegas are listed as either freshmen or redshirts, but that list includes Marshall, who redshirted his first year and sat out last season with a knee injury, as well as Miller and Dobbs.
"I think the team needs to get better to attract more talent," Corey Williams, a sophomore receiver at Washington. "All the good players from Las Vegas go to big schools like Washington, with a great tradition. (Steven) Jackson went to Oregon State.
"John Robinson's a great coach, he'll start a tradition at UNLV and probably attract players from Las Vegas."
Jackson, a tailback out of Oregon State and now with the St. Louis Rams, totaled 1,080 yards and 60 points in 2003 for the Beavers. Twice a third-team All-American, Jackson was a graduate of Eldorado High School.
Pollard said the addition of his former high school coach, Kris Cinkovich, to the UNLV staff will help bring in local talent.
"He knows the talent around Las Vegas," Pollard said. "He's going to be a good recruiter, he's a smart coach and he knows where there's good talent."
Dobbs said he can't help but think how good UNLV would be if they had kept more local players, and said the Rebels have already made some big moves among local athletes.
"You look at the guys they have recruited, Jamaal Brimmer, Adam Seward, those guys are really tearing it up," Dobbs said. "If they would have gotten Steven Jackson, well, you know..."
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