Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Rebels Basketball:

Transfer guard Nwamu commits to UNLV, eligible for 2015-16 season

Duke vs. Mercer

Chuck Burton / AP

Mercer guard Ike Nwamu (10) moves the ball against Duke forward Amile Jefferson (21) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball second-round game, Friday, March 21, 2014, in Raleigh, N.C.

The Rebel Room

Roster Makeover

It's been a month since the last Rebel Room and a lot has changed for UNLV. Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Ray Brewer and Taylor Bern get into Stephen Zimmerman's commitment, Christian Wood's departure and more, including Tony Sanchez's efforts to make the Rebels relevant in football recruiting.

During Ike Nwamu’s first night in Reno, where the Mercer guard was taking his third and final official visit, one of the best available transfers on the market already had UNLV on his mind when he tweeted “Tuscan Leather..”

It was no surprise, then, that Nwamu tonight announced his commitment to UNLV in a tweet containing the Drake song’s key lyrics, which have become a battle cry for the Rebels since “Tuscan Leather” was released in 2013.

“Sittin Gucci Row like they say up at UNLV, young rebel, young money nothing you can tell me,” he tweeted.

Nwamu, a 6-foot-5 senior transfer guard, is eligible immediately and anticipates a large role for a UNLV team that’s replacing four of its top five scorers. He averaged 15.1 points per game last year for Mercer.

“I see myself being able to come in and contribute at a high level, not miss a beat,” Nwamu said.

Nwamu took an official visit to UNLV on April 18, the same weekend as fellow transfer guard Nigel Williams-Goss. After that it was trips to Pitt and UNR.

When he was in Las Vegas, Nwamu said, he gelled with several of UNLV’s returners and furthered his relationship with the coaching staff. Assistant coach Todd Simon was his primary contact.

“I really enjoyed the coaching staff and what they had envisioned for me and how we could help each other reach our goals,” Nwamu said.

With the Rebels having a solid front court and multiple combo guards, many felt the one thing UNLV was missing was another outside scoring threat. Although Nwamu has made headlines for his dunking ability, he’s also a career 38.3 percent 3-point shooter, which includes his freshman season at Cleveland State and two years at Mercer. He will likely compete for the starting shooting guard position.

Nwamu said his main goal when searching for a new senior-year destination was playing at a higher level, something Mercer “greatly limited” by restricting the schools he could contact. Nwamu said Mercer granted him only a partial release. Although the school didn’t limit entire conferences, it requested he make a list of possible programs and then denied some at random.

The Mountain West isn’t one of the country’s top conferences, but UNLV’s schedule, which includes Arizona, Wichita State and the Maui Invitational, will be one of the best nonconference slates anywhere. And although the Rebels’ subpar 2014-15 season nearly cost coach Dave Rice his job, Nwamu said he wasn’t worried.

“That didn’t concern me too much because they were very young last year,” he said. “They’ve been through some more experiences now, and it will translate.”

Nwamu is the ninth player to transfer into the program since Rice took over and the fifth to be eligible immediately. The Rebels have two transfers — junior forward Ben Carter (Oregon) and senior guard Jerome Seagears (Rutgers) — who are eligible this upcoming season after redshirting last year.

Saturday was a positive all-around for UNLV’s future. Hours before Nwamu’s commitment, incoming freshman Derrick Jones won another dunk contest, this one at the Ball is Life All-American Game in Long Beach, Calif.

Jones is coming into UNLV alongside top-10 recruit Stephen Zimmerman and Canadian guard Jalen Poyser, and once Nwamu signs his papers the Rebels will officially have two more available scholarships. Williams-Goss, a sophomore transfer from Washington who would sit out a season, still has UNLV in consideration. Class of 2016 commit Justin Jackson hasn’t yet made an official decision on whether he will reclassify to the class of 2015.

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

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