Saint Preux creating a buzz after redshirt season

By Ryan Greene

Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 | 2:30 a.m.

Following one practice late last week at Rebel Park, senior receiver Renan Saint Preux was the last one off the field, going through a slew of extra pass-catching drills.

After another, he was again the last to leave, this time taking some extra time to soak his bones and muscles in a tub of ice water.

Can't blame the guy for savoring every last moment of his UNLV career, which hasn't unfolded in the most typical of fashions.

After playing his first three seasons in the program, Saint Preux redshirted during his fourth campaign and returns for 2009 recharged in more ways than one.

"I learned a lot," Saint Preux said. "It's my last year and the coaches know that this was my best summer by far."

Saint Preux improved across the board.

He's up to 192 pounds -- 8 pounds more than he was carrying on his 6-foot-1 frame a year ago.

He can now do 10 reps on the bench press at 225 pounds, compared to his previous mark of four.

He's healthy. That's a big one. A partially torn meniscus is now healed following a knee scope, and a nagging hip injury he's had since high school has subsided -- one that threw off the entire right side of his body last summer.

"I think his perspective is really good," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "I think not playing made him really hungry. I think he had a good spring, but I'd say he had a great summer.

"He sees it as his last go-round, he wants to make it count and that's great for us."

Sanford and his staff aren't the only ones who have taken notice.

Several teammates, when asked to pinpoint a name to keep an eye on as a sleeper of sorts for the upcoming season, have been quick to point out Saint Preux, who had 35 receptions for 254 yards in his first two seasons as a Rebel before not recording a grab as a junior in 2007.

"I definitely have noticed his hunger, his route-running, his cuts, his after-practice work," said teammate and fellow wideout Rodelin Anthony, who also played with Saint Preux in high school in Immokalee, Fla. "He stays there as long as he has to.

"I can expect it, and I wouldn't be surprised. I saw what he could do in high school. He's a phenomenal receiver. He's tough, he's stout, he's strong."

Saint Preux's motivation for his final season of football is also fueled by some personal loose ends that were sewn up during his redshirt year.

Academically, he's on track to graduate this year.

Also, the burden of worrying about his father's health from nearly 2,500 miles away is no longer there.

Markinise Saint Preux, who provided for his family for years by doing anything from picking oranges to working construction, is now in remission after a battle with prostate cancer.

"My dad's tough -- that's what I love about him," Renan said. "Everything's good now. Now he's just an old man laying in the couch.

"He put a roof over our head, and that's what I love him for, that's why I'm out here."

Markinise is now retired and Renan is poised to return the favor with one year left at UNLV.

"I appreciate this more than anything -- it kind of motivates me more," he said. "My first goal is to get my degree, because I want to take care of my family. I see what my dad's been through, now it's up to me to take care of him. All the work that he put in for me, it means a lot."

Of course, the strides Renan has made both during and since his redshirt season won't guarantee reps in a loaded receiving corps. But it certainly won't hurt.

Saint Preux is vying for balls thrown his way behind the likes of Ryan Wolfe, Phillip Payne, Anthony and Jerriman Robinson.

But Sanford believes that if the fifth-year senior maintains his course, the work and the wait will be worth it.

"He's just got to keep competing," Sanford said. "And if he produces, he'll play. It's about production, it's about what you do on the field, and he's gonna play if he keeps doing what he's doing."