UNLV coach Lon Kruger talks to his players during a first-round NCAA Tournament game against UNI at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on March 18, 2010.
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010 | 9 p.m.
Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High point guard Jabarie Hinds
Mesa (Ariz.) High point guard Jahii Carson
Things are beginning to heat up in the UNLV men's basketball coaching staff's quest to land a top-flight point-guard recruit as a member of the 2011 class.
A source close to the program confirmed to the Sun on Tuesday that Lon Kruger & Co. will host two candidates to fill that spot on official visits this fall.
The two players headed to town are Jabarie Hinds of Mount Vernon, N.Y., and Jahii Carson of Mesa, Ariz.
Hinds is rated as a 3-star prospect by Rivals.com, and both the No. 23 point-guard prospect and No. 108 overall recruit in the 2011 crop.
The final three schools he's expected to choose from looks like quite the random palette — UNLV, West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Hinds has also drawn scholarship offers, according to Rivals, from UConn, Wake Forest, Louisville and several others.
UNLV's connection to the 6-foot, 160-pound Hinds is that he attends the same high school that produced current Rebels assistant coach Lew Hill. The staff has recruited him for some time now.
He is expected to be on UNLV's campus at some point in September. Kruger and Hill are expected to make a trip out east for an in-home visit before then, too.
Meanwhile, of the several point guard prospects the staff is looking at in the 2011 group, Carson's name arguably carries the most weight nationally.
Carson is a 4-star prospect, according to Rivals, and has the attention of every major West Coast program.
At one point, Oregon State had drawn a soft commitment from Carson, who Rivals has as the No. 10 point guard and No. 49 overall recruit for 2011.
Carson reopened his recruitment not long after and is believed to have Arizona, Arizona State, UNLV and Washington near the top of his list.
A dynamic scorer and floor general at just 5-foot-10, Carson was in Las Vegas twice this summer, first for the adidas Nations training camp, then again for the adidas Super 64.
Sources indicate that he could be in town the weekend of Oct. 15-17, which is the same weekend that UNLV will host its annual FirstLook event and begin practices.
So far, UNLV's lone commitment in the 2011 class is from 6-foot-6 Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep forward Grandy Glaze, who is listed by Rivals as the No. 23 power forward and No. 129 overall recruit in his class.
Behind Glaze, the Rebels still have three more scholarships left to fill for the 2011-12 season. They also have an available scholarship entering the 2010-11 season, leaving open the possibility of adding a mid-year transfer.
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