Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Rejuvenated Kris Clyburn ready to be UNLV’s glue guy

UNLV Basketball Media Practice

L.E. Baskow

Kris Clyburn (1) drives on a teammate during the UNLV basketball team’s first practice at the Mendenhall Center on Saturday, September 30, 2017. .

Kris Clyburn’s first year at the Division I level got off to a promising start. The 6-foot-6 swingman was everywhere on opening night of the 2016-17 season, posting 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in UNLV’s loss to South Alabama, and he showed the kind of energy and hustle that promised to earn him major minutes on a rebuilding Rebels team.

But his sophomore campaign stalled shortly thereafter. Clyburn only topped that 13-point performance twice the rest of the season, and he finished the year scoring just 7.3 points per game on 36.4-percent shooting.

Now, heading into his junior season (and his second year as a D1 player), Clyburn is convinced he can improve on his rookie numbers and be a major contributor to UNLV’s turnaround.

At Mountain West media day, he said his goal is to add value in every facet of the game.

“I feel like I can play that role that can fill in the missing pieces,” Clyburn said. “You know, grab a couple extra rebounds, score a little bit, pass the ball, just do the little things to help out the team.”

That should be music to Marvin Menzies’ ears. Clyburn was the first recruit to commit to UNLV after Menzies was hired as head coach, and glue-guy duty was his projected role from the beginning. In one year at Ranger Junior College, Clyburn had showed impressive scoring ability (14.3 points per game on 59.9-percent shooting) and a knack for getting defensive stops (he was named his conference’s Defensive Player of the Year).

Those accomplishments — and his three remaining years of eligibility, a rarity for junior college transfers — made Clyburn an intriguing centerpiece of the 2016 recruiting class. But after that opening-night showing, the pieces never really came together.

A hip injury suffered early in the season sapped some of his speed and agility, and Clyburn’s slender frame didn’t do him any favors as the season wore on. Opponents got physical with him, and Clyburn had few counters.

Not being able to match up physically affected his confidence, and that caused his shooting accuracy to plummet. Clyburn hit a ridiculous 50.8 percent from 3-point range in junior college, but managed to connect on just 29.1 percent (25-of-86) in his first year for the Rebels.

After suffering the physical and mental toll of playing undersized for a year, Clyburn went into the offseason with the goal of adding strength and regaining his tenacity.

“Basically, confidence,” Clyburn said when asked what he wanted to improve upon during the offseason. “The physicality is a lot different than juco and that’s one of the things I learned playing last year. The physicality is pretty tough out here. In the offseason I made sure I got in the weight room, and worked on my shot so that I could produce more and help out the team.”

If Clyburn is able to handle a bigger role, the Rebels have one waiting for him. The starting small forward position appears to be up for grabs, and Clyburn has the kind of skill set that could blend in with the rest of the lineup and complement the team’s star players.

While big men Brandon McCoy and Shakur Juiston are posting up, the Rebels need reliable shooters on the outside to space the floor. When guards Jordan Johnson and Jovan Mooring require help checking bigger wing players, UNLV will need longer perimeter defenders to handle those assignments. Clyburn can potentially check those boxes, as well as throw in some offensive rebounds, steals and other hustle plays.

Menzies said he has conveyed his expectations to Clyburn, and that they both agree on what the team needs from him this season.

“We talked about it,” Menzies said. “The season is a little bit different because of the physicality, so he worked on that, and the numbers show in the weight room. And I think that makes him more durable for a little more longevity, and I think that his body, he took some bumps and bruises last year that weren’t as publicly recognized that we didn’t discuss as much. So he knows what he has to do, and our expectations for him are to be one of the leaders on the team, play a bunch of minutes and help us win games by leaning on his strengths. And he knows what those are.”

If it sounds like there’s a lot riding on Clyburn’s play this season, that’s because he could very well be the missing link for a top-heavy team that will be transitioning to a new style of play with an almost entirely-new roster.

Clyburn seems to be embracing the fact that the Rebels are counting on him.

“It’s not really any pressure,” Clyburn said. “It’s just me having an amount of concentration and being more focused and staying confident throughout the season.”

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

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