UNLV lands commitment from Jonah Antonio

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Tuesday, April 2, 2019 | 6:45 p.m.

T.J. Otzelberger landed his first commitment on Tuesday when 6-foot-5 guard Jonah Antonio announced he is headed to UNLV.

Antonio had been planning to visit Seton Hall next week, followed by his other two finalists, UNLV and SMU, the week after that. The junior-college sharpshooter said he wanted to find a campus where he was comfortable with the setting, his prospective teammates, the basketball facilities and everything else that goes into college life.

Instead, Antonio changed course and committed to UNLV sight unseen on Tuesday. Such is the recruiting prowess of Otzelberger.

Antonio shot the lights out in his lone season at South Plains College, scoring 11.6 points per game while connecting on 40.9 percent of his 3-point shots. As a freshman at Mount St. Mary’s in 2017-18 he scored 11.3 points per game.

When Antonio announced his transfer from Mount St. Mary’s last offseason, Otzelberger began recruiting the Australia native to South Dakota State. Antonio opted for junior college to avoid a redshirt year, and when Otzelberger accepted the UNLV job one of his first calls was to Antonio.

Antonio has two years of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately in 2019-20, and depending on how the rest of the Rebels’ roster shakes out, he could be in store for a lot of playing time. UNLV currently has seven players in the NCAA transfer portal.

Antonio previously told the Sun that aside from his relationship with the head coach, winning would be the biggest factor in his college decision.

“I need to go to the NCAA tournament, man,” he said. “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.”

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