Magnet school for talent

Friday, July 14, 2006 | 7:39 a.m.

Based on the recent influx of big-time players from bigger-time football programs, it's safe to assume that UNLV head coach Mike Sanford has done an outstanding job of selling his program on the recruiting trail.

But Sanford and his staff aren't the only ones with a sales pitch.

Just listen to Aaron Straiten, a heralded junior college wide receiver from City College of San Francisco and the gem of Sanford's second recruiting class. He had schools such as Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona and Texas A&M courting him before he finally settled on UNLV.

While the Rebels coaches made him feel as if he would be a good fit with the program, Straiten said, the reason he ultimately signed with UNLV was the steady influx of top-notch players who have relocated to Las Vegas.

Rocky Hinds, the quarterback who transferred from USC, began the parade of prospects defecting to the desert. He was followed, in short order, by defensive backs Eric Wright (USC), Mil'Von James (UCLA) and Tony Cade, who played on the 2004 Oklahoma team that lost to USC in the national championship game.

UNLV "didn't have the greatest success before, but we see the talent rolling in," Straiten said. "When you see one player come, you say, 'Oh, he's there?' and then you've got another player that's coming in, and you say, 'OK, that's two players.' "

With a quartet of transfers - Hinds, Wright, James and Cade - UNLV reached critical mass for Straiten.

"I'm like, 'Man, that's some talent right there; let me go in there and join in with the group,' " he said.

The UNLV head coach first met Straiten back when Sanford was Utah's offensive coordinator. Existing relationships play a big part in being able to lure such quality athletes to UNLV, Sanford said.

"I think it's the combination of each of these kids' circumstances and then the relationships that we've built over the years with high school coaches," Sanford said.

"I think it's also where we're located, in close proximity to California, and the opportunity is there for guys to transfer here from Pac-10 programs (when) things don't pan out for them the way they had hoped they would."

Sanford and his assistants also have been successful in selling their vision for turning around the program to potential recruits. UNLV has won only four games the past two seasons and has had one winning season (2000) in the past 11 years, but that didn't scare off Straiten.

"Your players have got to buy into your (philosophy) in order for the program to be successful," Straiten said. "If you look at what he's done at programs that he was at, none of them were quite doing good when he got there, but eventually he turned that program around and now I see that happening here with Vegas."

More important, Straiten said, is that Sanford is concentrating on bringing in players who have been a part of a successful program in the past - either in high school, junior college or another university - in an attempt to develop a more positive attitude within the team.

"I told the coaches that were recruiting me that I'm not going to come here to lose," he said. "I think with all the players that are here they didn't come to lose, either. I think that's what you need: players who know how to win and are not going to settle for losing."