Canadian star to play at UNLV

Calvin Kupeyan, one of the top junior golfers in North America, announced Monday that he has verbally committed to attend UNLV on a golf scholarship next fall.

Kupeyan, an 18-year-old from Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada, has won American Junior Golf Association events in Canada and the United States, including the prestigious Polo AGJA Junior Championship last November.

Kupeyan said he chose UNLV, the reigning national champion, over the University of Houston, Texas A&M and Florida.

"UNLV had pretty much everything I was looking for in a college," Kupeyan said. "It was the right choice.

"(The players) are surrounded by a great bunch of people there and Coach (Dwaine) Knight does a good job of getting everything organized ... and he was very honest with me."

Knight is prohibited by NCAA rules from commenting on recruits, but Kupeyan said he expected to sign his letter of intent this afternoon.

Kupeyan said it is his goal to contribute to the Rebels next year as a freshman, but said he had no guarantees that he would play right away.

"From where I am right now, it might take some time. But hopefully I can get right in there and start playing as soon as I can," Kupeyan said.

Kupeyan, who has a "73 to 74" scoring average in AGJA events, said the strength of his game is consistency.

"I don't really lose too many balls -- I hit a lot of fairways and greens -- and I putt well and I score well," he said.

Kupeyan, who is finishing up his high school studies at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida, said he will spend the summer playing in a mixture of amateur and junior events, primarily in the United States, before he comes to Las Vegas.

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