Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

UNLV BASKETBALL:

New Mexico now in the mix for Polee, who will decide in early April

6-foot-7 wing says he is still wide open, will “most likely” take visit to Albuquerque before making decision

Polee Visit

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Los Angeles Westchester High forward Dwayne Polee Jr. joins the UNLV student section during a Nov. 28, 2009 game against Louisville at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rebels upset the 16th-ranked Cardinals, 76-71.

Dwayne Polee 2008-09 Highlights

Click to enlarge photo

Los Angeles Westchester High forward Dwayne Polee Jr. is escorted to the UNLV student section during the second half of UNLV's game against Louisville Saturday, November 28, 2009 at the Thomas & Mack.

Those waiting feverishly for a collegiate decision from Westchester (Calif.) High senior forward Dwayne Polee will have to wait a little bit longer.

Probably a couple of weeks.

The 6-foot-7 wing, who last week was named the Los Angeles City Section Player of the Year by a local media panel, told the Sun on Tuesday night that news likely will come in the second week of April.

Polee led the Comets (32-3) to a second consecutive Division I state championship Saturday. His parents, Yolanda and Dwayne Sr., then made the trip up I-15 on Sunday morning and spent the day talking with the Rebels' coaching staff.

Rumors began to swirl late last week that he would be making an announcement soon after the final game of his high school career.

"There was no truth to that," Polee said. "My parents went down to UNLV to talk to the coaches, but nothing's really happened."

Polee averaged roughly 20 points, nine rebounds and two blocks a game this season for Westchester and capped his run as a prep baller by leading the Comets to a 63-56 victory over Newark Memorial in the Division I championship game in Bakersfield, Calif.

"It did mean a lot," he said of his Player of the Year honors. "But at the end of the day, I was just happy to have a good senior year and win a state championship."

He's not short on potential suitors at the next level, but is down to deciding between four programs — UNLV, Oregon, Georgia and New Mexico.

He added that, right now, there is no leader among that group for his services.

New Mexico, which won a school-record 30 games this season under third-year coach Steve Alford and won the Mountain West Conference regular-season title, is the latest addition to that list. Polee said that Alford and his staff began pursuing him within the last month.

Polee also said that he will "most likely" take a visit to see the campus in Albuquerque before coming to a final decision.

His official visit to UNLV was in late November, when he watched the Rebels knock off then-No. 16 Louisiville at the Thomas & Mack Center, 76-71.

New Mexico potentially could have several open minutes for the taking next season.

The Lobos lose just one player — senior forward Roman Martinez — to graduation. However, they could also be without junior guard/forward Darington Hobson.

A Las Vegas native, the MWC Player of the Year and third team AP All-American, Hobson said in a Monday press conference that he is still 50/50 on whether to test the NBA Draft waters.

Martinez and Hobson were the only Lobos to average more than 30 minutes per game this season.

Alford already has a relatively stacked recruiting class set to head to campus next season. On top of the addition of 6-foot-8 UCLA transfer Drew Gordon, who will be eligible to play at the end of the fall semester, the Lobos have 6-foot-10 center Alex Kirk, 6-foot-7 forward Tony Snell and 6-foot-2 shooting guard Kendall Williams — a former UCLA commit — lined up.

UNLV still has one scholarship open for next season, as it returns all five starters from a team that went 25-9 and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years. Of the 11 members of UNLV's regular rotation this season, nine will be back, plus the Rebels will benefit from the addition of 6-foot-8 Kansas transfer Quintrell Thomas and 6-foot-11 redshirt freshman Carlos Lopez.

The coaching staff's other main target to fill that spot is Findlay Prep guard Cory Joseph, who Rivals.com ranks as the No. 7 recruit in the 2010 class. He can be seen on ESPN at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the McDonald's All-American game, played in Columbus, Ohio. Joseph then will re-join the Pilots in Baltimore in time for this weekend in the ESPN Rise National High School Invitational.

Joseph is still considering — in no particular order — UNLV, Minnesota, Villanova, UConn and Texas.

For more on this story as it develops, stay tuned to lasvegassun.com/rebels.

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