Shooting guard Jonah Antonio emerges as recruiting target for UNLV

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Monday, April 1, 2019 | 2 a.m.

When T.J. Otzelberger was officially announced as UNLV’s new head coach, it didn’t take him long to pick up the phone and start working on one of his top recruiting priorities.

On Thursday, the day the 41-year-old coach was introduced to the Runnin’ Rebels faithful at the Thomas & Mack Center, he made a point to call Jonah Antonio, a sophomore guard at South Plains College. And Antonio wasn’t surprised to hear from him, because Otzelberger and Antonio have spoken almost every day for the past year.

Antonio played his freshman season at Mount St. Mary’s in 2017-18 before deciding to transfer, and Otzelberger worked to recruit the 6-foot-5 sharpshooter to South Dakota State during that 2018 offseason. Antonio eventually opted for the junior-college route, but only because he couldn’t bear to sit out another season. The Australia native had redshirted his first year at Mount St. Mary’s and the thought of sitting out for a second time in three years outweighed Otzelberger’s pitch — but just barely.

“T.J. was recruiting me to South Dakota State when I first transferred, and I took a visit there,” Antonio said. “I fell in love with him. He’s a great guy. He’s probably one of the best guys I’ve ever met in America, period. But I told him I can’t sit out again. He understood and he was like, ‘Look, that’s fine. I’m going to continue to recruit you.’ The whole year he was recruiting me. He came out here a couple times to see me. We talk every day. He’s just a good person.”

So Otzelberger stayed in constant contact and made sure Antonio knew South Dakota State would have a scholarship waiting for him the following year as well. Now, after Antonio posted 11.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2018-19, Otzelberger still has a spot open for him — at UNLV.

That’s what the newly-minted Rebels coach wanted Antonio to know when they spoke on Thursday.

“Prior to him leaving South Dakota State I asked him, ‘Do you think there’s a chance you leave?’” Antonio said. “He said, ‘If I do, it has to be a great situation. And if I do, I want to continue to recruit you and I’d like to take you with me.’ He wants what’s best for me. He said, ‘If UNLV is best for you and if you’re comfortable with UNLV, then I want you.’”

Otzelberger must have gotten his point across, because Antonio took to Twitter on Saturday and announced that UNLV is among his final three college choices, along with Seton Hall and SMU.

Antonio would appear to be a perfect fit in Otzelberger’s system, as he knocked down 40.9 percent of his 3-point attempts (97-of-237) at South Plains. He also takes pride in his work on the defensive end, reporting that he was usually tasked with marking the opponent’s top scoring threat last year.

He said he has no doubts he would excel under Otzelberger.

“His system fits my game perfectly and it’s a great situation,” Antonio said. “But what a lot of people don’t know about me — and you’ll see — is I’m a good defender. I play the right way. I play hard, bro. It’s an Australian thing. We play hard. And I’m going to be a little more athletic than most people think.”

Shooting is going to be at a premium as Otzelberger builds his initial recruiting class at UNLV. The Runnin’ Rebels currently have seven players in the NCAA’s transfer portal, and even if they were all to return, Joel Ntambwe is the only one who shot better than 35.0 percent from 3-point range last year.

Antonio has a visit to Seton Hall set for April 11, and he said he plans to visit SMU and UNLV after that.

In addition to his relationship with the coaching staff, Antonio cited the opportunity to win as the biggest factor in his decision.

“I need to go to the NCAA tournament, man. It’s a must that I go on an NCAA tournament run with the years I have left. Wherever I feel most comfortable that there’s a plan to get there, and I love the plan, that’s going to be big.”

Though UNLV hasn’t played in the NCAA tournament since 2013, Antonio believes Otzelberger will put the Rebels on the right track.

“Our conversations have been good," Antonio said. "He loves UNLV. He thinks it’s a great spot. I know T.J. is going to be successful just because of who he is, but he loves it, man. He’s very excited. He’s going to turn it around, I can tell.”

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