LOOKING IN ON: UNLV BASEBALL

Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

The news that eight College of Southern Nevada baseball players signed with Division I schools during last week's early signing period came as no surprise to those who follow Tim Chambers' successful program.

But the fact that only one of those players - outfielder Tyson Mehlhoff - opted to sign with UNLV should not be construed as a sign that animosity exists between the two programs.

"No, not at all," UNLV head coach Buddy Gouldsmith said. "I get along with Tim very well. Quite honestly, we recruited several of those guys but it's all need-based."

Gouldsmith said he liked the Coyotes' shortstop, Easton Gust, who signed to play at San Diego State, but Gust wasn't a high priority because UNLV already has three shortstops on its roster.

"The gentleman that we did get (Mehlhoff), that was a situation where it was a great fit," he said.

So why do some of CSN's top players - and some local high school standouts - opt to sign with out-of-state programs instead of UNLV?

Many factors come into play, but Gouldsmith said it's partly due to a phenomenon he has battled since he took over the program before the 2004 season:

Players who grow up in the Las Vegas Valley, he said, often want to leave after high school.

Last season, UNLV had only six players on its roster who played their high school ball in Southern Nevada. That is something Gouldsmith is trying to change.

"We're trying to create that in kids 8 to 12, where they do grow up here and they do want to be Rebels," he said. "I don't know that that's always been the case, and I think we still fight that a little bit. It's certainly not due to a lack of recruiting."

Rough schedule

Because of new rules enacted by the NCAA, many warm-weather Division I schools - UNLV included - this year are going to know what the cold-weather schools have been putting up with for years.

UNLV, which used to open its season in late January or early February, now cannot begin spring practice until Feb. 1 and can't play games until Feb. 22. The same dates apply to all Division I programs.

As a result, UNLV will be forced to play more midweek games.

"The impact is going to be in the spring, when we're going to play 17 midweek games in about 13 weeks," Gouldsmith said.

"There are going to be seven weeks where we'll play five games in a week. That's obviously going to put some stress not only on your pitching, it'll impact the players academically because they're going to miss more classes."

UNLV opens the 2008 season at home Feb. 22-24 with a three-game series against Central Michigan.

Long fall

Gouldsmith already has seen the effect of the new mandatory start dates.

Instead of practicing about 18 days during the fall, as they have in the past, the Rebels last weekend finished a 45-day fall camp in which they practiced or played intrasquad games 30 of those days.

"They didn't change the 132 days over the course of the year that you have to use," Gouldsmith said. "You take out those four weeks in the spring where we can't play and that gives you more time in the fall because you can take some of those 132 days and move them to the fall.

"The nice thing about it is it has given us an extended look at some of the younger guys this fall and a chance to look at some guys at different positions."