Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV basketball lands big commitment from Isaiah Cottrell

1215_sun_UNLVOmaha2

Steve Marcus

UNLV Rebels head coach Kevin Kruger calls out from the sidelines during the second half of an NCAA basketball game against the Omaha Mavericks at the Thomas & Mack Center Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021.

UNLV has been on the hunt for an impact big man, and on Friday they may have landed just the guy in 6-foot-10 transfer Isaiah Cottrell.

Cottrell, who played some of his high school ball at Bishop Gorman, made the announcement on Twitter:

Cottrell moved to Huntington Prep (Huntington, W.V.) for his senior year of high school, then spent his first two college seasons at West Virginia. He carved out a starting role with the Mountaineers, getting the nod for 28 of the team’s 33 games this season, but he only logged 16.1 minutes per game.

Though he was a productive scorer in high school, Cottrell has yet to translate those skills to the collegiate level. In 2021-22 he shot just 34.0% from the field and made only 54.3% of his free-throw attempts. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds, and his lone double-digit scoring game came in February when he tallied 13 points against Kansas State on 5-of-14 shooting.

Cottrell entered the transfer portal after the conclusion of the season and quickly became a target for UNLV, which is losing starting center Royce Hamm to graduation. With senior James Hampshire also graduating and junior Reece Brown entering the portal on Friday, UNLV only had one player taller than 6-foot-7 on next year’s roster. Cottrell will join returning seniors David Muoka (6-foot-10) and Victor Iwuakor (6-foot-7) in the frontcourt.

With Cottrell’s commitment and Brown’s departure, UNLV remains below its allotment of scholarships for 2022-23. As things stand now, six players are set to return and Cottrell is the fifth incoming college transfer. Donovan Williams is testing the NBA Draft process but could return to bring the number to 12; the NCAA limit is 13.

The final spot (or spots) could be filled by big men. Head coach Kevin Kruger said the team is in the market for size, and UNLV recently hosted Wichita State center Morris Udeze on an on-campus visit.

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

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy