Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UNLV hoops notebook: Bowling is right down their alley

FirstLook at UNLV basketball

The UNLV basketball team celebrates its first practice with a special event for fans at Thomas & Mack on the campus of UNLV Friday night. Launch slideshow »

FirstLook with UNLV

To mark the beginning of the basketball season, the UNLV men's basketball team hosted FirstLook 2008 at the Thomas & Mack Center Friday night.

Season is On

The 2008-09 UNLV men's basketball season got underway with a morning practice on Friday.

The competition is fierce and trash-talking decibels have increased lately on the UNLV basketball team.

But this has nothing to do with boxing out and 3-point shots. It’s about strikes, turkeys, gutter balls and smelly shoes.

Many Rebels are bowlers. They threw 14- and 16-pound balls down oily lanes Down Under, during their tour of Australia in June.

Senior forward Rene Rougeau crows about being the best on the team. Wink Adams says he’s right there. Tre’Von Willis believes he’s ready for the Pro Bowlers Association.

That continued Saturday night when a group of Rebels and several recruits repaired to the 64-lane South Point Bowling Center for some action.

“Best lanes in town,” Adams said.

Adams, Chace Stanback and lefty Mo Rutledge played three games. Each won one.

“We’re all talking about a tie-breaker now,” said Adams, who had a high game of “140-something.”

Stanback ended the evening by rolling a 207.

“I didn’t do very well,” said 6-foot-10, 255-pound freshman center Brice Massamba. “Those lanes are too slippery. But I came in fourth out of nine. I think that’s not that bad.”

Massamba was glad that Carlos Lopez, his teammate last season at Findlay College Prep, went along with half a dozen other UNLV commits and prospects.

Apparently, the 6-10, 220-pound Lopez, who will sign his letter of intent next month, isn’t much of a bowler.

“He was terrible,” said Massamba, smiling.

Supposedly at the other end of the spectrum is Willis, who did not throw Saturday night (Rougeau also is picking the right spot) and will only unleash his bowling skills at the precise time.

Willis claims to have a 270 average. “That’s what I’m sayin’,” he said when pressed. When further pressed, he said he recently threw a 255. That, Willis was told, would qualify him for the PBA Tour.

“That’s what I’m sayin,’” Willis said.

While Adams was being interviewed about his bowling prowess, Willis kept saying “Anytime” to a laughing Adams as he walked by.

“I put myself at the top,” Adams said. “The only people who can give me a challenge are Mo and Chace. Chace, he’s pretty good. But I can take him any day. Mo is my only competition.

“I tease my mother and my grandmother all the time. They ask me what would I want to do other than basketball. I say if basketball doesn’t work out I’ll definitely try to pick up on bowling.”

Scrimmage time

On the fourth day of official practice, a hierarchy has emerged on the Rebels squad.

Coach Lon Kruger divvied up his players into three groups for six five-on-five, three-minute, fullcourt scrimmages with three officials.

The group wearing red jerseys looked like the probable starting unit from recent practices; point guard Willis, Adams, Rougeau, Joe Darger and center Darris Santee.

The white jerseys appeared to be the second string; point guard Oscar Bellfield, Rutledge, Wallace, DeShawn Mitchell and center Beas Hamga.

The bulk of the black jerseys were walk-ons; point guard Scott Hoffman, Chace Stanback, Steve “Chopper” Jones, Rob Ketchum, Todd Hanni and center Brice Massamba.

The black jerseys always had a player standing on the sideline.

The result? Each group won twice.

Adams continues to look strong, driving and finishing with either hand as he absorbs knocks. Santee and Rutledge were solid, and Darger will have no problem adjusting to the extended 3-point arc.

Afterward, Darger beat Derrick Jasper, the Kentucky transfer who is redshirting this season, in consecutive 3-point challenges.

Again, Stanback stands out

The play of the day belonged to Stanback, who started the fourth scrimmage game with a powerful two-handed dunk from the left side in traffic.

A transfer from UCLA who will have three years of eligibility remaining starting next season, Stanback said it’s already been difficult sitting out.

“Right now, I’m looking forward to the game next month,” he said of UNLV’s Nov. 15 season opener at home against San Diego. “I can’t play, so that’ll be tough.

“January, about mid-season, will be real tough. But I’ll be on the bench, cheering my team, hoping for the best.”

On home turf

Jim Giron, who played at San Francisco in the mid-1980s, worked Monday’s scrimmage with two other officials.

A Las Vegas resident for the past seven years, he does Pac-10, West Coast and Big Sky conference games. Giron, 45, drew the Thomas & Mack Center for one assignment.

On Dec. 29, 2005, he was one of the three officials who called UNLV’s 79-60 victory over Loyola Marymount.

In his day job, he works for Southwest Airlines. At night, he fulfills his passion. Like many of the finer officials, Giron has a thick skin.

“Some of the things people say can be humorous,” he said before Monday’s scrimmage. “Some can be said very seriously and very directly. You have to be open-minded and let it go.

“Fans are there to be part of the game and we understand that.”

Lotsa wins

Jasper, who doesn’t participate in practice as he allows a surgically repaired kneecap to heal, took about 10 minutes to soak up some sage advice at Monday’s practice.

On the courtside seats, he sat between Riley Wallace, to his left, and Jerry Tarkanian, to his right.

Those bookends represented more than 1,300 college basketball victories. Wallace, the longtime Hawaii coach who retired before the 2007-08 season, is the great-uncle of Rebels guard Kendall Wallace.

If you have to ask about Tarkanian’s history, you shouldn’t be reading this.

Jasper didn’t exactly digest the experience at either side of him.

“I don’t think so,” said Tarkanian. “But I didn’t know him. I know the guy who coached him in the summer leagues. I was talking to Derrick about him. Boy, Derrick’s a big guard.

“It was good today. I think they’ll be real good.”

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