Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV BASKETBALL:

Hawkins, Marshall ‘100 percent’ set to sign with UNLV

Findlay College Prep’s Carlos Lopez is still making up his mind

Two of the three basketball players who have given UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger verbal commitments for 2009 said Tuesday they definitely will sign letters of intent in November.

Guards Anthony Marshall and Justin Hawkins said they can’t wait to sign on the dotted line during the early-signing period.

However, after practice, Findlay College Prep big man Carlos Lopez hesitated.

“Eighty, 85 percent chance,” Lopez said. “I just want to see. I want to make sure it’s the right choice.”

Verbal commitments are non-binding. Should each stick by their commitments, UNLV will not have a scholarship available for its next recruiting class.

That has become an interesting situation, since prospects continue to show interest in the Rebels despite no scholarships, at this time, being available.

Oak Hill Academy center Tiny Gallon, a Houston native, and Los Angeles Fairfax power forward Renardo Sidney have expressed interest in UNLV and might attend the Rebels’ FirstLook event next Friday night.

That’s the first official start of practice, and Kruger will conduct light drills in a season preview for fans at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Lopez, Marshall and Hawkins also are expected to attend.

Hawkins, a 6-2, 170-pound shooter from Woodland Hills, Calif., recovered from a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee suffered last spring and put on a solid showing at the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas in July. Hawkins' squad, the Compton Magic, took second place.

With 10 underclassmen at Taft High this season, he will be able to showcase his leadership.

And Hawkins is certain he will be a Rebel. He speaks with UNLV coaches once or twice a month.

“Yes, I’m 100 percent sure,” he said. “I haven’t found a reason not to sign.”

Rivals ranks Marshall, a 6-3, 185-pound lefty from Mojave High in Las Vegas, as a four-star recruit and No. 58 in the country.

He said people he’s never met, at school and around Las Vegas, have been telling him how excited they are about him playing at UNLV. He also said he’s certain he will sign his letter of intent in November.

“It took a lot of pressure off and just made a lot of things easier,” Marshall said of committing early. “The fans out here are pretty excited.”

He didn’t take offense, either, to UNLV continuing to show interest in other players. Four players who started last season at UNLV wound up leaving, or getting booted from the team, by the end of the campaign.

“It’s a good thing because you don’t want to get your hopes up all on one person … then they don’t come,” Marshall said. “I’m 100 percent sure I’m going.”

Lopez, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound forward from Lajas, Puerto Rico, sat out Tuesday’s practice with a sore neck, which he nursed with a heat pad.

He didn’t want to make it sound like he’s wavering. He just wants to be certain that UNLV is the place for him.

Lopez is rated as the No. 108 prospect in the nation in his class by the recruiting service Rivals.com.

Sidney is a top-10 national figure, according to Rivals. Gallon, whose given first name is Keith, is rated a top-five center for the Class of 2009.

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