Arbor View high school basketball player Donavan Yap is interviewed during the Las Vegas Sun high school basketball media day at Red Rock Casino, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019.
Monday, Nov. 18, 2019 | 11:59 a.m.
UNLV announced that it has received letters of intent from six players as part of the early signing period for the Class of 2020.
The first full recruiting class under T.J. Otzelberger figures to be pivotal for building the Runnin' Rebels program, and the head coach is making it a big one. Though just three current seniors are scheduled to graduate after this year, the team is bringing in twice as many newcomers.
The headliner is 4-star guard Nick Blake, a Las Vegas native who is playing a post-grad year at IMG Prep in Florida. A 6-foot-6 natural scorer, Blake is rated No. 92 in the nation according to 247Sports's composite rankings.
Jhaylon Martinez is a 6-foot-10 forward with a developing outside shot (composite No. 215), and Donavan Yap is a long shooting guard (No. 273). Both are consensus 3-star recruits.
Isaac Lindsey is a 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Wisconsin, and the latest commit is Reece Brown, a 6-foot-8 swing forward. Junior college point guard Nick Fleming is expected to add backcourt depth as a defender.
One of Otzelberger's top priorities is to add more shooting to the roster, and this class should further that cause. Lindsey and Martinez project as plus shooters for their positions, and Blake and Yap have shown potential from beyond the arc. The 2020-21 Rebels will also add guard David Jenkins and forward Moses Wood, two expert marksmen who are currently sitting out a redshirt season after transferring in over the summer.
The incoming 2020 high school class is currently ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West by 247Sports, and the group is rated No. 28 nationally.
Some thoughts on the class:
Roster math
It's easy to see that there are some mathematical discrepancies created by the size of the incoming class. Only seniors Nick Blair, Vitaliy Shibel and Elijah Mitrou-Long are set to graduate, so how will the Rebels be able to accommodate six new scholarship players?
The answer is that some current players will leave the team in the offseason, either by choice or on the strong recommendation of Otzelberger. The former is a common occurrence on every college team, and the latter is a common occurrence when a new coach takes over and sweeps out the roster holdovers who don't fit into his system.
One way or another, UNLV will have six open scholarship spots before the start of next season and the math will work itself out.
Still recruiting?
Not only will the Rebels carve out roster space for the six newcomers, they may even have to make room for seven, as 2020 wing Mwani Wilkinson remains uncommitted. The Bishop Gorman senior has been a UNLV target since shortly after Otzelberger took the job (the Rebels were the first school to offer Wilkinson a scholarship), and his recruiting status has blown up since then, to the point where he is now ranked No. 107 nationally.
Wilkinson has options—LSU, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt are all after him—but if he wants to come to UNLV, know that Otzelberger will have a scholarship open and waiting for him.
Target 2021
With the Class of 2020 wrapped up (mostly), it's never too early to look ahead to 2021. Otzelberger has already landed one commitment from next year's class in Keshon Gilbert, a 3-star point guard from Durango.
The top target remains Bishop Gorman point guard Zaon Collins, a 4-star blue chipper who would instantly become the best recruiting "get" of Otzelberger's head coaching career. UNLV has also offered 2-star Desert Pines forward Anthony Swift.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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