Rebels bonding on the court in preparation for Bahamas trip

By Taylor Bern

Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016 | 2 a.m.

In a couple of weeks, UNLV’s new-look basketball team will depart for the Bahamas to play three exhibition games. A lot of what the Rebels hope to accomplish on their international trip, which each program is allowed to take once every four years, will be complete before they leave Las Vegas.

“It actually starts more with the practices,” said first-year coach Marvin Menzies. “The trip itself is a culmination of the practices, the preparation for the travel, getting used to what it is to travel with me, then some competition.

“… All those small things are going to add up for us, because we haven’t experienced them yet.”

Nearly everything is new for this group, which brings in an almost entirely new coaching staff with only three players returning from last season. One of those guys, junior forward Dwayne Morgan, won’t be able to play in the Bahamas because of a recent hip surgery, and newcomer Kris Clyburn, a sophomore transfer from Ranger College in Texas, is also unlikely to play as he recovers from a knee procedure.

Both guys are expected to heal in plenty of time for the season, but their absence on the court right now means that Menzies knows that he can’t get a full view of what the 2016-17 roster might play like just yet.

“I still don’t have the whole enchilada in place yet,” Menzies said. “I’m going to have a different beast to deal with (later), hopefully a bigger, stronger one.”

Instead, said sophomore guard Jalen Poyser, the time right now is about bonding and learning about one another. Many of the players have only recently arrived on campus and one, junior guard Jovan Mooring, is still on the way.

The Rebels are allotted 10 practices in the lead-up to the Bahamas, where they will play games against the University of Toronto (Aug. 14) and two teams from the Bahamas Basketball Federation (CTG Knights on Aug. 16 and Providence Storm on Aug. 18). Many programs like these trips because of the extra time to prepare for the season — UNLV traveled to Canada in 2012 and Australia in 2008 — but it’s extra beneficial when a group is as new as this year’s roster.

“We don’t really know what we’re going into because we haven’t played a game yet,” Poyser said.

Poyser, Morgan and senior guard Tyrell Green are the lone returners from last year’s roster. While Morgan originally planned to transfer before changing his mind, Poyser said he never planned to go anywhere after Dave Rice was fired and all three assistants went elsewhere.

“My intentions were to never leave UNLV, because we have unfinished business,” Poyser said. “I feel like UNLV’s a great program, the fans are great, I love the environment.”

And with an unproven roster, Poyser is suddenly in position to become one of the team’s leaders. Menzies said he loves Poyser’s work ethic, and so far what the new coach has learned about the new players is that the coaching staff made good decisions in their judgment of character.

But now they need to find out how well the group comes together on the court, and thanks to this trip they’ll get a head start. The particular lineups or performances in the Bahamas will be informative, but the most important thing for this group right now is simply their time spent together.

“It’s about us learning our guys,” Menzies said. “The combinations I don’t think are as important as actually being on the floor and playing.”

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.