Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Ray Brewer:

Get excited: This could be the year for the Rebels

UNLV Basketball Team Players Scrimmage

L.E. Baskow

UNLV’s Rashad Vaughn drives the ball against teammate Dwayne Morgan during a scrimmage on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The hype quickly went overboard in anticipation of the 2012-’13 UNLV basketball season.

The Rebels had highly regarded freshmen in Anthony Bennett and Katin Reinhardt. They returned a four-year point guard in Anthony Marshall and a preseason All-American in Mike Moser on the wing.

They were ranked in the preseason for the first time since the UNLV Final Four teams of the early 1990s. So desperate for a deep NCAA Tournament run for their beloved Rebels, many fans went out of control in their optimism.

Some thought an appearance in the second weekend of the tournament was realistic. Others even predicted the Final Four.

Seems silly now, doesn’t it?

A new season begins Friday against Morehead State, and even though this edition of UNLV basketball also has talented players and plenty of reasons to get excited, there is reluctance from fans to jump on the bandwagon.

While I understand being guarded in your enthusiasm after suffering through the past two underachieving seasons, the lack of hype for Friday’s opener is still puzzling. Shame on you.

UNLV basketball is our town’s darling and the reason we go crazy, win or lose, each winter. We love the Rebels. We want them to transform back into a perennial winner but prefer to cheer from a distance until they prove themselves.

Beat North Carolina and the town goes overboard in their support. Lose to UNR and Fresno State like they somehow managed to do last season, and games are played in a half- empty Thomas & Mack Center.

Well, guess what?

You can be optimistic. You can get excited. These Rebels might be better than you think.

Fourth-year coach Dave Rice has been rightfully criticized for the Rebels’ past poor play, including a 20-win campaign last season and being passed over for the National Invitation Tournament, and sputtering two years ago to a first-game NCAA exit despite lofty preseason expectations.

Rice has been an inadequate game-day manager and couldn’t control players on a team rife with poor chemistry. And if former Rebel Demetris Morant, as he claimed this week, is correct, Rice also does a poor job developing players.

But, no matter how harsh your evaluations of the coach, you can’t dispute Rice’s strength. He’s an elite recruiter and has built a roster of four- and five-star prospects. This year’s team includes high school All-Americans and players who soon will be in the NBA.

Eventually, Rice’s recruits are going to mesh and have one of those memorable seasons fans are waiting for. It could be this season.

Seriously.

Rivals considers the recruiting class of Rashad Vaughn, Goodluck Okonoboh, Dwayne Morgan, Jordan Cordish and Patrick McCaw as fifth best nationally for 2014.

It’s five freshmen full of potential who need a few games to develop. They aren’t Michigan’s Fab 5 from the early 1990s, but they aren’t a bunch of two-star recruits or fringe prospects, either.

They are players who picked UNLV over college heavyweights. Not just one player; five players.

Two years ago, I warned fans not to get their hopes up, saying much had to go right for lofty expectations to be met. Turns out, little went right in 2012-’13.

Moser was injured early in the season and never panned out. He transferred to Oregon and now plays in Europe. Reinhardt proved tough for Rice to manage, shooting way too much and eventually transferring to USC. Marshall clearly didn’t bond with his teammates, unable do to what a four-year guard should — lead.

This year’s team has that leader in San Francisco transfer Cody Doolin, a senior who is a pass-first point guard. He’s already shown the willingness to mentor younger players, giving UNLV the stability it previously lacked. Past teams were full of individuals and lacked togetherness. This year’s team appears to be different. It appears to be a team.

Go ahead and be excited. These youngsters, and the veteran Doolin, might give you a memorable winter.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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