UNLV gets Anthony back

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006 | 7:15 a.m.

Hometown: Montreal

Age: 24

Height: 6-feet-9 Weight: 260 pounds

Resume: Only played varsity ball his senior season at Dawson Prep ... averaged 9 points, 7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks at Pensacola (Fla.) Junior College in 2003-04 ... averaged 1.9 points and 2.7 boards at UNLV in 2004-05, when he led the Rebels with 1.6 blocks a game ... played in Germany, Italy and Slovenia with the Canadian national team over the summer.

In most every practice last season, UNLV center Joel Anthony played as if he had something to prove to coach Lon Kruger, his teammates and, most importantly, to himself.

When a layup would suffice, he dunked with authority. When Louis Amundson went to the hoop, Anthony took personal offense. Amundson's efforts were regularly thwarted, if not shoved back into his face.

When practice ended, Anthony was just getting warm. He often stayed behind with assistant coaches for more individual work on rebounding and on cuts to the basket or interior moves.

Instead of playing his senior season in 2005-06, Anthony accepted Kruger's advice to redshirt and come back better, and stronger, to help the Rebels this season.

He worked out with a vengeance, rarely smiling. He said it wasn't going to be a vacation.

"That's really all I had," Anthony said. "It was really important to me. It's why I went out there every day with intensity and focus, to do everything I could to make myself better and help my teammates.

"There was definitely that hunger during practice."

Kruger saw it, but he said only one person felt it - Amundson.

"Louis will tell you, Joel took him on every day," Kruger said. "Louis had no off days. He had to battle to hold his own. Joel definitely blocked his shots, and Louis got better every day."

Thanks, in part, to Anthony's resistance and tenacity, Amundson is challenging for a spot on the Sacramento Kings roster.

Anthony, 24, is itching to play in a game that matters, even if fans might not remember the 6-foot-9, 250-pound sho t blocker.

When last seen two seasons ago, he scored 6 points at Brigham Young in March and followed with eight rebounds against Wyoming at the Thomas & Mack Center. Those have been his highlights as a Rebel.

Before last season, Kruger saw a crowd of senior big men - with Amundson and Dustin Villepigue starting and scant playing time for Anthony. Since Anthony hadn't used his redshirt season, the coach envisioned a much-improved Anthony for this season. Kruger admitted that it was one of the more unusual redshirt requests of his career.

Anthony, with more than a bit of reluctance, accepted the strategy. A few times, he talked about not exactly understanding the rationale behind sitting out and the difficulty he had sitting on the sidelines in street clothes during games.

But he kept his steam internal, taking it out on Amundson, Villepigue or anyone else who dared challenge him in practice.

"He really, really was ready to get after it," guard Michael Umeh said. "I probably haven't seen someone so anxious in a while. It's exciting to see what he's about to do. He's really, really hungry."

Anthony was raised by his mother, Erene, a school principal who has since retired, in Montreal. He never knew his father. He only played varsity ball his senior year at Dawson Prep, and he arrived at UNLV with one season of junior college experience in Pensacola, Fla.

His progress last season, however, caught the attention of Canadian national team coaches, and he played for his country in tours of Germany, Italy and Slovenia.

When the Rebels started practice last weekend, Anthony flashed a few smiles in talking about this season. Those were more than he showed during the entire last season.

"It's just a great feeling," he said. "It's been a long, long wait for me. I'm happy to finally get the chance to go out there and finish out my senior year."