Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2000 | 10:53 a.m.
When it was announced last spring that UNLV had added a 12th game at Hawaii, nobody was happier than Rebel linebacker James Sunia.
After all, that meant the 5-10, 240-pound junior, who prepped at perennial prep powerhouse St. Louis High School in Honolulu, would be able to play in front of his family and friends at Aloha Stadium.
But Sunia will be confined to contributing off -- not on -- the field when the Rebels land in Honolulu on Thursday night.
Sunia underwent surgery on Oct. 20 to reconstruct his right knee, which he injured in UNLV's 38-7 win over in-state rival Nevada-Reno on Oct. 7 at Sam Boyd Stadium.
"It's real tough to not be able to play on Saturday night," Sunia said after watching practice on Tuesday evening at Rebel Park. "I was really looking forward to playing in front of all my friends and family back there."
Sunia tore his ACL and MCL as well as cartilage in his knee. He isn't expected to be cleared to practice again until next summer.
In the meantime, UNLV coach John Robinson has asked Sunia to try to line up some activities for the Rebels during their stay there.
"James is in charge of all the tours," Robinson said with a smile.
The Rebels don't fly home until 10:30 on Sunday night, so they have almost an entire day to roam on Oahu before heading back to Las Vegas.
"There are a lot of things for the guys to do back there," Sunia said. "There are some nice beaches, the Polynesian Cultural Center, places like that they can go to."
But Sunia sounded more excited about trying to attend Friday night's Hawaii state prep football final at Aloha Stadium between his alma mater, St. Louis, and Kahuku, the alma mater of Rebel defensive end Scott Parkhurst.
"It should be a good game with a big crowd," Sunia said.
Senior tailback Jeremi Rudolph and senior offensive tackle John Greer were first team offensive choices while junior cornerback Kevin Thomas was picked on the first team defense and sophomore Troy Mason garnered first team punt return honors.
Senior wide receiver Nate Turner and senior safety Randy Black were second team picks.
Air Force quarterback Mike Thiessen was named the MWC's offensive player of the year while Colorado State linebacker Rick Crowell was the defensive player of the year. Ram head coach Sonny Lubick was chosen as coach of the year.
Rhett Nelson's blocked extra point to preserve Colorado State's 20-19 victory over UNLV was picked as the play of the year.
Another all-conference team, this one selected by the league's coaches, is expected to be released today.
The broadcast, however, will originate from Honolulu station KFVE TV-5 and will feature Hawaii announcers Jim Leahy and Larry Goeas.
"We are pleased that our fans will get to see the Hawaii game thanks to Cox Communications," UNLV senior associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie said. "We thank them for their help in making one of the most important games in school history available in Southern Nevada's living rooms."
It will be the 10th UNLV game to be televised in Las Vegas this season. The previous record for TV games was four.
"I'll be OK," Black said.
UNLV fans better hope so. The Rebels need all the experience they can get in their secondary when going against June Jones' wide-open Run-N-Shoot offense.
Sophomore right tackle Lui Fuga (6-2, 305) quit the Rebels during the middle of fall camp in 1998. He has 40 tackles, including three for loss, for the Warriors.
And sophomore left end Laanui Correa, who has 27 tackles in 10 games, played as a true freshman at outside linebacker during Jeff Horton's final season, registering 10 tackles.
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