Players’ perspective: Surveying the city’s best local recruits about UNLV basketball

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Monday, Nov. 4, 2019 | 2 a.m.

UNLV basketball has made local recruiting a priority under coach T.J. Otzelberger, and Las Vegas-area high school coaches have responded positively to that approach. But how about the players themselves?

The Sun recently surveyed 12 local recruits to learn their opinions on the new staff, the current state of the program and the future of Runnin’ Rebels basketball. All 12 players are currently being recruited by Division I schools. The polling was done anonymously in order to allow the players to speak freely.

Based on the survey, Otzelberger has reason to be happy about the way young players are responding to him and his staff; when asked if they felt the UNLV staff is putting enough effort into recruiting locally, every player responded with a yes. One response read, “Yes, they put in a lot of time.” Another said, “Yes, they reach out to all the local kids.” One respondent said, “UNLV has done a perfect job recruiting local players.”

Along those lines, when asked if they had seen a UNLV coach at one of their games or practices, again all 12 players said yes. Ten of the 12 players said they have been to a UNLV game at the Thomas & Mack Center.

When asked what the most attractive aspect of the UNLV program is, most players simply defaulted to its location, as six said staying in Las Vegas was the most appealing thing about the Rebels. Five said it was the positive culture/coaching staff, while a lone respondent cited the fan base as the biggest positive.

On the flip side, when asked their opinion on the least attractive aspect of the program, four players pointed to low attendance and lack of fan support in recent years. Three said the team’s win-loss record was a deterrent, and two said the Mountain West/poor scheduling are the biggest obstacle. Two players said coaching was an issue (one respondent simply said, “Lack of coaching”), while one couldn’t think of a negative aspect of the UNLV program.

One query that drew a wide range of responses asked how the players would grade the local fan support for UNLV basketball, on a scale of 1 to 10. The average of the 11 responses (one player abstained) was 6.2. The highest grade was a 9, which came from two players, and the lowest grade was a 2; another player gave the fan support a 3. The rest of the responses ranged from 5 to 7, with seven as the most popular grade (four players).

Rebels fans may want to sit down before reading the responses to this next question. When asked if they could name any players from UNLV’s 1989-90 national championship team, only six of the 12 respondents could even manage to think of one. Five players mentioned Larry Johnson, while two knew Greg Anthony (one respondent gave both names). There were no mentions of Stacey Augmon, Anderson Hunt, Dave Rice or anyone else from the legendary squad. It’s pretty obvious that while Tark’s title team has a special place in the hearts of long-time Rebels fans, that bit of ancient history carries little weight with current recruits.

That means Otzelberger will have to recruit based on the here and now—and the future. In addition to addressing the recruit’s biggest concerns, such as scheduling and attendance, the coach will also have to convince big-time players that UNLV is a big-time program capable of winning at the highest level.

The good news is, it’s not as much of a stretch as it may seem. While the youngsters have questions about the direction of the program, they are mostly optimistic about the chances of turning things around. When asked if they believe the Runnin’ Rebels can win another national championship in the future, eight players said yes. One answered, “Absolutely.”

While teenagers can be notorious for changing their minds, this survey seems to shine some light on what the city’s Division-I prospects think about UNLV and Otzelberger.

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