Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

UNLV basketball:

Showcase an opportunity to get acquainted with Rebels new and old

Desert Reign 2014

Sam Morris

UNLV transfer Ben Carter points to a teammate during their Desert Reign basketball league game Wednesday, June 18, 2014.

The Rebel Room

Preseason Jamboree

Las Vegas Sun reporters Ray Brewer, Case Keefer and Taylor Bern discuss the Rebels' position in the Mountain West preseason poll and the expectations on senior point guard Cody Doolin.

A big part of tonight’s Scarlet/Gray Showcase for many fans who attend the free event at 7 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center will be putting faces to names.

Patrick McCaw. Jordan Cornish. Goodluck Okonoboh.

Those are a few of the new players whose names have been mentioned a lot this offseason but whose appearances — and on-court abilities — are still a mystery to many who will fill the Mack this season. In that regard the event serves as a first meeting, but for one newcomer it’s a chance to reintroduce himself to Las Vegas.

And since he’s redshirting this year, it’s the only opportunity fans will have to see Bishop Gorman High grad Ben Carter play outside of practice this season. After he played two years at Oregon, this will be Carter’s first public playing appearance in a UNLV uniform. He’s not sure exactly what to expect out of the evening’s main event, the scrimmage.

“If it’s going to be like our practices, it’s going to be competitive,” Carter said.

Though coaches were allowed to attend workouts throughout the summer, the team has been together for official practices for just more than a week. As can be expected with any new group, especially one replacing all five starters, there are some bumps to work through. Some of that might even be on display tonight.

The event includes an alumni game, a skills competition, a scrimmage and an autograph session, plus for season-ticket holders it starts an hour early at Cox Pavilion with an interview with coach Dave Rice and radio color commentator Robert Smith. The scrimmage is the last event before players break out to their tables surrounded by eager autograph seekers. When there’s this much new to process on the roster, it feels like more than most times this will offer the starting point that new players are judged on.

That’s why it’s key to remember that the work the Rebels do at practice will play a much larger role in how they play in the Nov. 14 season opener against Morehead State than whatever plays they make tonight.

“That’s more important to us winning ballgames,” Carter said of practice. “Showcasing it on Thursday I think is more for the fans.”

With his own playing time predetermined this year, Carter has been focusing on making sure that what fans see out of this frontcourt is a group capable of keeping up with the team’s ballyhooed backcourt. There’s a lot of pressure on freshmen Okonoboh and Dwayne Morgan and sophomore Christian Wood, who all need to make big leaps in their games to provide the productive minutes UNLV needs inside to succeed.

“It’s so important for me to bring it every day just to show them how hard you have to compete at the D-I level,” Carter said.

Carter was introduced to this level with practices against guys such as Oregon seniors E.J. Singler and Arsalan Kazemi. Now he’s trying to set the same type of example for a group with potential stretching farther than their significant wingspans but without much experience.

“I feel responsible for getting them ready,” Carter said. “Every day is important. Every single day.”

On this day, the importance is greater for fans than the Rebels, who will wave to the crowd, find out who has the best penmanship and then get back to work.

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

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