Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV target Milos Uzan taking his time with recruiting process

Desert Pines Beats Faith Lutheran for Mountain Region Title

Steve Marcus

Desert Pines’s Milos Uzan (12) looks for an open teammate during the Class 4A Mountain Region championship game against Faith Lutheran at Desert Pines High School Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. The Desert Pines Jaguars beat the Faith Lutheran Crusaders 74-55.

More than anything, Milos Uzan wants a normal recruiting experience.

That’s why the Las Vegas native doesn’t expect to make any announcements about his college decision anytime soon. He’s got plenty of options, though.

Uzan, a 6-foot-3 point guard, is rated a 4-star recruit in the Class of 2022 and is currently ranked No. 105 overall and No. 20 among point guards by 247Sports. Schools such as Texas Tech, UCLA, Arizona and UNLV are all after him, and if it hadn’t been for COVID-19 Uzan might be a little further along in the recruiting process.

But for now, he’s taking things slow.

When the coronavirus outbreak canceled high school sports in Nevada, Uzan made the decision to leave Desert Pines — where his father, Mike Uzan, is the head coach — to enroll at Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif. Prolific Prep is participating in the Grind Session, a prep league based in a “bubble” environment in Arizona.

In his most recent game, Uzan posted 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists in leading Prolific Prep (26-2) to its 15th consecutive win.

Uzan said the level of competition at the Grind Session is high and that it’s helping him improve as a player.

“Coming into this season I just wanted to keep my tools sharp,” Uzan said. “I feel like I have all the tools, I just need to continue to work and strengthen every aspect [of my game].”

While Uzan grinds away in Arizona, college teams continue to try and make inroads for an eventual commitment. But with the NCAA still not allowing in-person recruiting visits, Uzan is on a longer timeline.

“I talk to [college coaches] a lot,” Uzan said. “I wouldn’t say I’m ready to commit or cut my list or anything. I’m still enjoying the process. I want to take visits before I get serious and cut down my list. I want to see the schools and everything, and hopefully not on Zoom.”

One of the teams recruiting Uzan the hardest is hometown UNLV, and that has only intensified since the school cut ties with Class of 2021 point guard recruit Zaon Collins following his arrest for a fatal DUI.

UNLV is in need of a top point guard for its incoming class, and head coach T.J. Otzelberger broached the idea of Uzan reclassifying to 2021 and enrolling a year earlier. Uzan is not interested in speeding up his recruitment, however.

“UNLV wanted me to reclassify, but I don’t think I’m going to do that,” Uzan said.

UNLV is more than willing to wait until 2022 to land Uzan, of course. Otzelberger was the first college coach to offer Uzan a scholarship in May of 2019, just a couple months after he took the UNLV job.

Uzan said Otzelberger continues to make a strong impression.

“I really like UNLV,” Uzan said. “I talk to coach T.J. a lot. I’ve been building the relationship with T.J. He’s a cool dude, and when I commit I feel like that’s what it’s going to come down to. I don’t just want a regular player-coach relationship; I want to know I have a good relationship with my coach on every level.”

As a sophomore last year at Desert Pines, Uzan averaged 16.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.

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

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