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FacebookUNLV BASKETBALL:
Hawkins, Marshall ‘100 percent’ set to sign with UNLV
Findlay College Prep’s Carlos Lopez is still making up his mind
Wed, Oct 8, 2008 (2:01 a.m.)
Sun coverage
Two of the three basketball players who have given UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger verbal commitments for 2009 said Tuesday they definitely will sign letters of intent in November.
Guards Anthony Marshall and Justin Hawkins said they can’t wait to sign on the dotted line during the early-signing period.
However, after practice, Findlay College Prep big man Carlos Lopez hesitated.
“Eighty, 85 percent chance,” Lopez said. “I just want to see. I want to make sure it’s the right choice.”
Verbal commitments are non-binding. Should each stick by their commitments, UNLV will not have a scholarship available for its next recruiting class.
That has become an interesting situation, since prospects continue to show interest in the Rebels despite no scholarships, at this time, being available.
Oak Hill Academy center Tiny Gallon, a Houston native, and Los Angeles Fairfax power forward Renardo Sidney have expressed interest in UNLV and might attend the Rebels’ FirstLook event next Friday night.
That’s the first official start of practice, and Kruger will conduct light drills in a season preview for fans at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Lopez, Marshall and Hawkins also are expected to attend.
Hawkins, a 6-2, 170-pound shooter from Woodland Hills, Calif., recovered from a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee suffered last spring and put on a solid showing at the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas in July. Hawkins' squad, the Compton Magic, took second place.
With 10 underclassmen at Taft High this season, he will be able to showcase his leadership.
And Hawkins is certain he will be a Rebel. He speaks with UNLV coaches once or twice a month.
“Yes, I’m 100 percent sure,” he said. “I haven’t found a reason not to sign.”
Rivals ranks Marshall, a 6-3, 185-pound lefty from Mojave High in Las Vegas, as a four-star recruit and No. 58 in the country.
He said people he’s never met, at school and around Las Vegas, have been telling him how excited they are about him playing at UNLV. He also said he’s certain he will sign his letter of intent in November.
“It took a lot of pressure off and just made a lot of things easier,” Marshall said of committing early. “The fans out here are pretty excited.”
He didn’t take offense, either, to UNLV continuing to show interest in other players. Four players who started last season at UNLV wound up leaving, or getting booted from the team, by the end of the campaign.
“It’s a good thing because you don’t want to get your hopes up all on one person … then they don’t come,” Marshall said. “I’m 100 percent sure I’m going.”
Lopez, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound forward from Lajas, Puerto Rico, sat out Tuesday’s practice with a sore neck, which he nursed with a heat pad.
He didn’t want to make it sound like he’s wavering. He just wants to be certain that UNLV is the place for him.
Lopez is rated as the No. 108 prospect in the nation in his class by the recruiting service Rivals.com.
Sidney is a top-10 national figure, according to Rivals. Gallon, whose given first name is Keith, is rated a top-five center for the Class of 2009.
Discussion: 24 comments so far…
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Now we know why coaches never stop recruiting.
Wow. Carlos sounds like he doesn't plan on signing early in November. That's kinda shocking to me. Interesting.
On the flip side, great to hear that about JHawk and AM. I'm really excited to get them on campus and in Rebel unis. Makes me want to stay another semester at UNLV!
I bet Mee...
Carlos surprised me with his answer. I can understand his position, too. He just needs to feel out the situation a bit more. I don't want to put words into his mouth, so I'll go no further. For UNLV fans, 80-85 percent, what he told me after practice today, is a whole lot better than 50 percent (or less, you know?)... he is a quality person even more than a rising hoops star. He is very impressive.
And I suppose we'll just wait and see what happens.
Thanks for writing john and Mee ... UNLV hoops is definitely now a year-round sport, isn't it?
Woah... Hopefully he decides to stick with the Rebs....
Good to hear that the excitement of the fans is reaching the players.
And yes, UNLV hoops really is a year-round sport, with the exception of those two weeks out of every year that UNLV football toys with our emotions before settling into its comfort zone in the MWC basement.
Man, if you're correct Rob and the other big men pass on the Rebs (Gallon and Sidney) and the WORST case scenario of Carlos not coming in, well, I guess that gives us something to talk about as far as where that last schollie goes to. But I'm thinking too far ahead. I think we see Carlos in a UNLV uni in 09 after all.
Going to practice today, Rob?
I am planning on being there ;)
I think Lopez will still commit, but if not...bring on more recruits! There are still a good number of solid recruits out there. What about Elijah Johnson? If given the situation where Lopez backs out, is EJ a possibility, or did we burn that bridge? I know we would like another bigman, but I think we could make due with Massamba, Santee, Hamga in order to grab a player like EJ, then fill the bigman spot later. Too bad Trent is out of the picture now too.
Not saying I want or even think Lopez not going to sign, just want to pick some brains on what might transpire if that does in fact occur.
Oh and yes, Rob, us UNLV junkies LOVE the year round coverage of basketball. It has created a good buzz around the office. Everyday there is an article, it gives us the lunch conversation for the day.
I got to be honest, I used to go straight to the RJ page to get the info., but now the Sun is definately my first stop!
We're really enjoying the updates, posts, etc.
Keep it up Rob!!
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, guys.
BleedRebelRed, as to what you asked about Elijah, I think the Rebels backed off of him after getting that commitment from Anthony. But if Lopez does in fact back out (which, for some reason, I have a hunch that he won't), the Rebels, my belief is you can never have too many skilled big men. I watched Gallon at the Nike Main Event here in July and I was blown away by how light he is on his feet for a guy who tips the scales at nearly three bills. He'll obviously need to trim down and get in better shape to be able to play a consistent 25-30 minutes in college, but I feel like he has a higher upside than Sidney, whose attitude I was less than impressed with when he was here during that same week in July.
Rob, Thanks for all the insight and the daily stories. Great to see someone in the local media take Rebel basketball as seriously as us fans do. I would love to make it out to a practice. I was wondering when these are usually held each day. Thanks again for the daily articles and keep up the great work.
We really appreciate this great UNLV coverage. The new LVSun website and articles are easily one of my top sites now. I particularly like the video and audio clips. Great work!
I really hope Lopez comes through and joins UNLV. He's a great kid with size and plenty of skill. He's the type of player Kruger can really develop into an elite basketball player and will fit well into the system. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Fans will be really excited and surprised when they finally see JHawk play. This kid is the true gem of this class for the Rebs. Nothing against Marshall, and the transfers who will be eligible next season (Stanback, Jasper). JHawk is explosively athletic, can jump out the gym, has a good shot, plays hard defense and has a GREAT attitude with good intelligence. It showed when the kid committed his junior year of HS and has held true to his commitment and desire to play for Lon Kruger.
Not to worried about the chance or losing Lopez. We all know the style of play that Lon incorporates involves the use of quick, scrapy Gaurds who can shoot the perimeter and penetrate off screens to create from almost any spot on the floor. He'll have plenty of quality ones available next season (Bellfield, Willis, Wallace, Marshall, Hawkins, Jasper, Stanback, Mitchell") Plus Kruger and his staff can develop a quality big man out of virtually nothing. Just see Aumundson, Joel and Gaston...even they way Darger, Rene and Matt played "big" last season. So even without Lopez or the possibility of Sydney or Gallon, I think Santee, Massamba and Hamga will turn out quite usefully.
PS I have a feeling Elijah Johnson might end up at Kansas or Oklahoma
Hey folks,
Wow, interest is awesome! Thanks all for writing and keep doing so.
Mee and others, yep, I will be at practice today. I always will be. There are certain times that media is allowed in, and I'll always be there.
I'll try to follow up with some of your inquiries.
First, I'm not sure about UNLV's interest in Elijah. Texas assistant coach Chris Ogden was in town Tuesday to see Avery Bradley practice at Findlay and he saw Elijah earlier in the afternoon.
Near the end of yesterday's practice, a Virginia Tech assistant showed up.
Last week, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar was at a Findlay practice. That was very curious, since his guy, Clarence Trent, has already moved on to North Carolina. So who was Romar watching? He talked about Victor Rudd, but it wouldn't be a stretch to surmise that he was also looking at Lopez. Because Lopez and Trent, of course, are so tight.
In addition, Utah boss Jim Boylen watched a recent practice at Findlay, too.
That place is a haven for talent and D-I coaches.
So stuff is happening. Hey, recruiting is a brutal business, right?
Remember, Carlos did say 80-85 percent. That's very strong interest. He's likely still trying to come to terms with one of his best pals, Trent, having moved on.
Then again, Lopez is a very focused kid and he's really looking forward to this season. He's been a great mentor to Godwin Okonji, and they're going to complement each other well.
Stay tuned here, too, for a profile I'm working on on Godwin. What a class act. Look for that within the next 24 hours or so.
I wouldn't panic about Carlos. It will be interesting to see how all this shakes out, though, over the next few months.
Stay tuned folks...
Almost forgot,
To anyone attending practice, don't be strangers. Stop by and say hey. Would be cool to put a face with your call names.
thanks
or Texas... :)
SMB, you never know... :)
This is all great coverage! It is nice to be able to depend on a reliable source instead of message boards. Thanks Rob and Ryan for staying active in the comments. If the Rebs can improve as much as your coverage has improved (not that it was bad before) we should be seeing some amazing basketball over the next six months
Hey Rob,
As a graduate in 1997 living here in Bradenton Florida, I wanted to thank you for the great coverage. I appreciate your work and insight. It's nice having this site along with MTN to keep tabs on the Rebels. I hope to make it out in March for the tournament. Go Rebels!
Excellent, ksiffer... glad we can assist.
Drop us a question or two that you'd like to pass on to Jerry Tarkanian and we'll pass that along to him for his blog.
He will produce two a week for his Shark Bytes portion of our site through the end of the hoops season, if not beyond.
Give us a holler if you head out for any games.
thanks
Props to Lopez for being honest. How many times have recruits said they were 100% committed and later proved to be liars.
I think he's going somewhere else. Rewind back to his article earlier this year where he was so pumped up about coming to UNLV, blah blah blah. Now he's wavering. Let him go. Who cares, we'll get someone better.
I really don't think he's going somewhere else. Just my two cents.
Lenny, Carlos is a straight-up great kid. Classy. In no way should his straight-up answer to my simple question be held against him. I think other folks are a tad too sensitive and try to read between way too many lines. Sometimes -- no, often -- there is no conspiracy.
How much closer to 100 percent does he have to be - 80-85 percent is pretty, uh, darn close to being a sure thing.
Just a week earlier, while talking about his great friend Clarence Trent moving on, he still beamed effusively about UNLV.
This is still a kid, remember, no matter how many incredible strides he's made since he moved from Puerto Rico for the chance of a lifetime, with a big decision ahead of him.
Again, it is his prerogative to weigh everything. In the end, I don't think UNLV fans have a thing to worry about. His upside is tremendous, and look for him to tap that potential inside the Mack.
That's reasonable, Rob. He seems like a great prospect and no matter where he ends up (hopefully here) I'm sure he'll do well.
No question, Lenny. If you get to Findlay this season, hang out afterward and chat with him. He is so personable. It's amazing that he nearly bolted home during his first season here. Grasping English was very difficult. But he stuck with it. And last season, he was so comfortable at the school that he coached the Henderson International fifth- and sixth-grade boys hoops team! He's very engaging and likely will be the heartbeat of that team... although Avery Bradley will make fans' heads spin. THAT kid amazes at every practice. We'll take a closer look at him soon.