Transfer-happy UNLV basketball hoping to lure pair of big men

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, April 27, 2022 | 2 a.m.

UNLV basketball is looking to put the finishing touches on its roster for 2022-23, and it might not take long.

The program has one or two open scholarships for next year (depending on whether senior wing Donovan Williams returns), and in the past week, the Scarlet and Gray have hosted a pair of big men for on-campus visits. A couple commitments from those players, and that could be that.

That’s a fair amount of progress from where things stood just two weeks ago, when the roster was in flux and UNLV was reaching out to a plethora of transfer portal targets seemingly every day. The open spots filled up quickly over the past two weeks, as head coach Kevin Kruger landed transfers Jackie Johnson (Duquesne), Elijah Parquet (Colorado), Elijah Harkless (Oklahoma) and Luis Rodriguez (Mississippi).

Kruger is happy with the haul so far.

“I think it’s gone really well,” Kruger said. “We’ve added good pieces to what could be a really good team. And we’re not done. We’ve still got some guys coming on visits, and hopefully, we can shape our roster really well to have good balance across the board.”

One thing UNLV’s incoming transfers have in common, aside from the obvious college experience, is toughness on the defensive end. That’s not a coincidence. Kruger has said since taking over the program that he envisions building a team that can grind out wins on defense, and that made Parquet, Harkless and Rodriguez (and to a lesser extent, Johnson) perfect targets.

Rodriguez has not yet signed his official letter of intent, so Kruger cannot comment on him publicly, but the coach did offer scouting reports on the other three newcomers.

“I think they bring a level of toughness,” Kruger said of Parquet and Harkless. “They’re tough, physical, hard-nosed defenders that really scrap and claw. Jackie shoots the ball really well. He can attack, spread the floor, and he’s really strong and able to guard his man as well.”

Harkless, a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds while starting 23 of 26 games as a senior at Oklahoma last year. Parquet, a 6-foot-3 guard, was a Pac-12 All-Defense selection in 2020-21 and started 17 of 18 games last season (he missed the second half of the season due to injury). Rodriguez, a 6-foot-6 wing, started 23 games at Ole Miss last year and put up 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. Johnson started 11 of 30 games last year as a freshman and poured in 9.5 points in 19.4 minutes.

Aside from Johnson, who is listed at 5-foot-11, the incoming class possesses all the physical attributes necessary to build a stingy defense. Johnson is the only one who made more than 32.3% of his 3-pointers, however (37.3%).

Though Harkless, Rodriguez and Parquet combined shot 30.0% from 3-point range and 39.9% from the field, Kruger cautioned against judging the group as offensively challenged.

“When we talk about what we want our identity to be, it’s a tough, hard-playing, hard-nosed, scrappy team,” Kruger said. “It just happened that the guys we were able to bring in on visits and immediately sought out were guys that had defensive accolades. But I think toughness is one of those things can translate over to the offensive side as well. Those guys have defensive accolades, and they’re known for being good defenders, but I think it’s one of those things where stubbornness can also be offensive when you get the ball, move it and attack and play for others.”

As for how he intends to fill the program’s remaining scholarships, Kruger is capable of reading the roster and noting that there are currently only two players taller than 6-foot-7 (and one of them played only 105 minutes last year). So fans fretting about the lack of size will likely be happy with the team’s final additions.

Kruger said impact big men are atop the UNLV wish list.

“I think we can still add some size. I think that’s how we can round out our team and balance it out a little more. The guys we’ve signed are a little more perimeter-oriented, so we’re going to be looking for guys that can still guard multiple positions but still have a little more size to them.”

UNLV hosted Wichita State center Morris Udeze on a visit last week, and West Virginia post man Isaiah Cottrell was on campus Monday and Tuesday.

The 6-foot-8 Udeze has started 49 games over the last two seasons, and in 2021-22 he averaged 10.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 50.5% from the field. When Wichita State played UNLV on Nov. 21, Udeze was limited to 20 minutes before fouling out but still recorded eight points, six rebounds and a block in the Shockers' 74-73 victory. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Cottrell, a former Bishop Gorman star, didn’t see the court as much at West Virginia. The 6-foot-10 center played 16.5 minutes per game and posted 4.2 points while making just 34.0% from the field. Cottrell would come with three years of eligibility.

Udeze has narrowed his list to eight schools: UNLV, New Mexico, Texas, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Mississippi and Georgia Tech.

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