Rebels point guard one step closer to being eligible this season

By Taylor Bern

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014 | 10:28 a.m.

UNLV guard Cody Doolin is one step closer to the basketball court this season.

The NCAA granted UNLV’s season of competition waiver, the program announced today, which means Doolin will have one more year of eligibility, despite playing four games at San Francisco last season. Doolin left after an incident involving coach Rex Walters at practice.

The next step for the Rebels will be hearing from the NCAA on its request for a transfer residency waiver, which was created in 2012 as an aid to athletes who no longer have a scholarship at their current institution for reasons outside of their control. It usually comes up in cases of over signing — bringing in more athletes than there are scholarships — but was used in this case since Walters’ actions could be seen as outside Doolin’s control.

There’s no timetable on that announcement or that of fellow senior guard Jerome Seagears, who’s waiting to hear on his eligibility after transferring in from Rutgers. In Doolin’s case, the season of competition waiver was probably the bigger hurdle, and all indications are he’ll be eligible this season.

“We are very happy for Cody,” Rebels coach Dave Rice said in a statement. “He has a tremendous amount of experience as a point guard and he has become a leader in our program.”

The Rebels are counting on Doolin to be a pass-first floor leader who can get the ball to myriad scorers, including freshmen Rashad Vaughn and Dwayne Morgan and sophomore Christian Wood.

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