Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

REBELS BASKETBALL:

UNLV gains unique commitment from Israeli forward Karam Mashour

Mashour now awaits clearing from NCAA to join Rebels in time for 2010-11 season

Karam Mashour-Adidas Super 64

Justin M. Bowen

Las Vegas Prospects wing Karam Mashour plays on Thursday, July 22, 2010, during pool play at the adidas Super 64 tournament at Rancho High School. Against Team A.C.C.E.S.S. during the Prospects’ Super 64 opener, he scored 11 points in a 77-63 victory.

Karam Mashour-adidas Super 64

Las Vegas Prospects wing Karam Mashour plays on Thursday, July 22, 2010, during pool play at the adidas Super 64 tournament at Rancho High School. Against Team A.C.C.E.S.S. during the Prospects' Super 64 opener, he scored 11 points in a 77-63 victory. Launch slideshow »

Earlier this summer, after the pursuits of Cory Joseph, Dwayne Polee Jr. and Jonathan Loyd fell through, the UNLV coaching staff was prepared to stick with the roster it had unless something came up.

Well, something came up, and UNLV took advantage of a unique inside track, adding Israeli forward Karam Mashour.

The athletic 6-foot-6 wing has given a verbal commitment to coach Lon Kruger and staff and could begin classes when the fall semester begins Monday.

Mashour is cleared to attend UNLV from an academic standpoint, but the last hurdle is the NCAA completing an inspection of his amateur status. That could be done in the next few days before the start of classes.

If Mashour is cleared, it could take the last scholarship UNLV has available for this season.

The other uncertainty in this issue is the status of 7-foot center Henry Buckley, who is expected to join the program this fall. According to the staff, UNLV still is awaiting word on his academic clearance from the NCAA.

If either Mashour or Buckley does not end up at UNLV this year and has to wait, there will be a spot open for a potential mid-year transfer.

Mashour came to the United States roughly six months ago for an extended stay with his uncle, Jason Awad.

Awad, a loyal 40-year Las Vegas resident, wanted to introduce his 18-year-old nephew to American basketball.

"He told me how much he loves basketball, and I thought just to give him an opportunity, bring him over here," Awad told the Sun in July. "He has so much talent. We put him to practice to play over here, and all of a sudden a lot of schools are looking at him."

The amount of interest that came from schools across the country by Mashour playing in just a handful of tournaments this summer with the Las Vegas Prospects may have expedited his plans to play college basketball a bit.

Mashour, a Nazareth native with experience on Israel's 18-and-under national team, last played for the Prospects in early July at the adidas Super 64 before returning to his country to deal with his visa.

Despite his brief showing in front of college coaches this summer, Awad said 18 schools, ranging from UCLA to Florida, began to call.

But Awad made it no secret that he wanted his nephew to play in Las Vegas for reasons beyond basketball.

A major one is that Mashour is just now beginning to grasp the English language, with help from Awad and his three kids who all are around Karam's age. He's been studying with his cousins at home.

Originally, the plan was for Mashour to attend Impact Basketball Academy this year as a post-grad in preparation for Division-I ball starting in the 2011-12 season.

Instead, he's hoping to get cleared to attend UNLV, where Awad said his nephew will get assistance in the classroom to help bridge the language gap.

On the floor, Mashour's game needs no translation.

It's unclear if he will redshirt in his first season with the Rebels, but with junior Chace Stanback and senior Derrick Jasper firmly entrenched at the wing spots, it is a possibility. While most redshirts use the year to grow physically, Mashour is already more developed than most college freshmen.

His bread and butter is the ability to take the ball from the wing, slash to the bucket and finish from all angles. With his impressive vertical leap, Mashour should also prove to be a threat on the glass for UNLV in the future. He also possesses a nice, soft shooting touch from the outside.

Prospects coach Anthony Brown, despite only having Mashour for a couple of months in his program that also produced UNLV rising sophomore guard Anthony Marshall, didn't need to see him for long to hand down some high praise.

He's also had some impressive small forwards come through his program in recent years, including Nevada-Reno product Luke Babbitt and Iowa State wing Craig Brackins, who both were first-round picks in June's NBA Draft.

"The kid is phenomenal," he told the Sun during the Super 64. "I don't know if he is going to go in the first round, but he's going to be pretty good."

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