Rebels look to go where Stanback has been

By Rob Miech

Monday, Oct. 20, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.

Chace Stanback has had a sweeter NCAA tournament experience than Wink Adams, Joe Darger and Rene Rougeau.

That trio of UNLV seniors has played in a Sweet 16 and has guided the program to victories in consecutive NCAAs for the first time since 1991.

Stanback, one of those veteran Rebels’ newest teammates, went to the Final Four a little more than six months ago with the UCLA Bruins.

“A great experience, unbelievable,” he said Friday after his first official UNLV practice at the Thomas & Mack Center. “Hopefully, we can do that this season and everyone else will know how I felt.”

Adams has queried Stanback about that Final Four run.

“He told me it’s an unreal feeling,” Adams said. “Chace kind of has the glory right now. He’s gone the farthest. That’s a place we definitely want to be. We feel we have the team.”

Leaving the game’s most storied program, which has 11 national championships and played in the past three Final Fours, wasn’t an easy decision for Stanback.

It wasn’t as if he knew he’d be leaving as he sat on the bench during the national semifinal game inside the Alamodome in San Antonio. An enthusiastic crowd of 43,718 overwhelmed him.

Afterward, as he pondered his future, he didn’t see himself prospering in UCLA coach Ben Howland’s plodding, regimented offense.

The decision became easy. Former high school teammate Matt Shaw was at UNLV, and the more they talked the more Stanback liked fifth-year Rebels coach Lon Kruger’s program.

The deal was sealed when Stanback visited Las Vegas, met with potential new teammates, and talked with Kruger about his style and system.

“It came down to me just being comfortable,” said Stanback, 19. “I just wasn’t comfortable at UCLA. I felt like this is a better system for me.”

He said it had nothing to do with his lack of playing time as a freshman at UCLA or an influx of talent, which might leapfrog him in Howland’s hierarchy, in Westwood.

Some have speculated that Stanback’s defense didn’t match Howland’s demands. Stanback has read those musings on Internet sites.

“Yeah, everyone likes to talk,” he said, smiling. “I just feel this system fits me. That’s one thing a lot of people didn’t know. Last season at UCLA, players didn’t get creative on the court. We always ran a set offense.

“Coach Kruger lets people get up and down the court, get creative, do their own stuff and feel comfortable.”

Stanback played in 25 games off the bench at UCLA. He scored 46 points over the entire season. He averaged less than six minutes and two points a game.

Had original plans been kept and dreams played out, Stanback might have started and played significant minutes in San Antonio against Tre’Von Willis and the Memphis Tigers.

However, Willis had bolted for UNLV from Memphis a year earlier. He redshirted at UNLV last season and will be the Rebels’ starting point guard, with three years of eligibility left, this season.

Stanback never left the bench in the Alamodome, where UCLA was ousted from the tournament in a 78-63 defeat to Memphis.

The 6-foot-8 swingman logged 14 minutes, going 1-for-4 from the field, in a first-round, 70-29 thumping of Mississippi Valley State in Anaheim, Calif.

In the West Regional final in Phoenix, Stanback made the most of his 60 seconds of action by sinking a 3-point shot. He never removed his warm-ups in three of UCLA’s games in the NCAAs.

“Really, it wasn’t about the (lack of) time,” Stanback said. “You love the game and want to play, to get out there and compete. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for me. I decided to move on.

“It was a tough decision. UCLA is a great program. I wish nothing but the best for them, the system just didn’t fit me.”

He can’t explain the scene at the Alamodome.

“It’s so incredible,” Stanback said. “I’ve never seen an atmosphere like that. It was just a great experience.”

At UNLV, he is a walk-on. Kruger didn’t have a scholarship available, but Stanback will get one next season when he’s a sophomore.

Sarah Quick, his mother who is a physical trainer in the Beverly Hills area, eased Stanback’s transition to Las Vegas when she made $25,000 in an Internet game this summer.

She navigated a tire with her computer mouse around four constantly moving blocks.

“She had the highest score of the day,” Stanback said. “It was crazy. I couldn’t believe it when she called to tell me. She was so excited. I said, let me get half.”

Quick did better, promising to fund his academic year this season if his desired destination didn’t have a scholarship.

Stanback has looked strong during stretches in limited UNLV workouts in recent weeks and in practice this weekend.

He has shown a consistent mid-range jumper, confidence in his 3-point shot, an explosive first step in half-court sets and savvy rebounding in traffic.

He is his own worst critic when it comes to shooting and playing defense. He is working on his flexibility with UNLV strength and conditioning guru Jason Kabo.

“Right now, I’m working on my ball handling, court awareness and stretching. I’m not very flexible,” Stanback said. “That’s limited me in my ability to get low at times, when I’m dribbling or coming off screens.

“I’m pretty versatile, all from hard work. I want to continue to work on that, work on my weak areas and improve my strong areas.”

An area of Stanback’s strength is being part of a team that reached a Final Four, knowing what it takes to reach the pinnacle of college basketball.

“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication,” Stanback said. “You can’t have any distractions, on or off the court, that take away from us getting better.

“We never had any distractions last season at UCLA. Hopefully, the same outcome happens here.”