UNLV basketball wraps summer practice with eye on shooting

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Sunday, July 30, 2023 | 2 a.m.

UNLV basketball held its final summer practice on Wednesday, wrapping an eight-week window that allowed a roster filled with newcomers to build some level of cohesiveness ahead of the 2023-24 season.

One of those vaunted imports, senior transfer Keylan Boone, already had some familiarity with his new crew, as his twin brother, Kalib Boone, also transferred in this offseason.

As for the rest of the team? Keylan, a fifth-year wing who scored 13.9 points per game last year at Pacific, said he has been struck by squad’s maturity.

“It’s a very mature team, an older team,” Boone said. “It’s been a natural fit for everybody. Whenever we’ve been playing, it looks fluid on the court. Everybody’s doing their thing.”

The Boone twins are two of seven newcomers for a program that is aiming to make the NCAA Tournament in Kevin Kruger’s third year as head coach. Senior Jalen Hill (Oklahoma) is another key transfer, and freshman D.J. Thomas was one of the most coveted prep point guards in the country.

The summer sessions allowed the new players to work in Kruger’s system and develop a sense of their roles on the court.

“Me and Krug talked about position, how the game is more positionless,” Boone said. “I want to bring more of a threat to the 3-point line, with versatility inside. Helping on the glass in there with the bigs, and also moving with the guards.”

Boone’s presence should be a boost to UNLV’s outside shooting. He took a big leap forward in his lone season at Pacific, going from a career 30.7% beyond the arc to 41.0% on high volume (5.1 attempts per game).

That skill was attractive to Kruger, who watched UNLV shoot 34.9% from beyond the arc last year (142^nd in the nation). Boone would have ranked second in accuracy on that squad, trailing only senior guard Justin Webster (46.0%).

Boone credited long hours in the gym for his improved shooting stroke.

“Once I got to Pacific, I really just got on the grind. I stayed in the gym. I stayed in a lot. I’m a homebody, and when I’m at the gym I love to shoot the ball. It’s all about consistency and I know how to manage that now.”

During summer practice, Boone said UNLV emphasized post play, which the intention of sparking an inside-out approach to creating open 3-point looks.

Kalib Boone is a premier post scorer, and Keylan said juco transfer Rob Whaley has also showed off strong interior scoring touch.

“What makes this team unique is having big men and post scorers,” Boone said. “We’ll all be able to feed the post, and they’ll be able to work when there’s no help. When help comes, all our bigs are playmaking bigs. If they want to switch, we have real post playmakers and post scorers, so they’ll open it up for our shooters on the perimeter.”

UNLV is counting on improvement from senior Luis Rodriguez (29.5 3FG%), junior Shane Nowell (31.9%) and junior Jackie Johnson (33.3%) to bolster the 3-point attack.

“Our shooting is looking really good,” Boone said. “We have a lot more shooters than I expected. We’ve got Luis, Web, we’ve got Jack. Rob shoots. Shane shoots the ball. There’s so much versatility on this team. When you really see it in live play or in shooting drills, you recognize this is a shooting team.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.