Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV basketball fills final scholarship with juco big man

0219_sun_UNLVColoState2

Steve Marcus

UNLV Rebels head coach Kevin Kruger watches from the sidelines during an NCAA basketball game against the Colorado State Rams at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, Feb.19, 2022.

UNLV’s roster for the 2022-23 season is complete, as the team landed a commitment from juco forward Karl Jones on Sunday, filling the last remaining scholarship.

Jones made the announcement via his Twitter account.

UNLV has been on the lookout for a veteran big man to round out its roster, and Jones seems to fit the bill at 6-foot-10 and with three years of juco experience under his belt.

A Chicago native, Jones posted 7.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a senior at Morgan Park High School in 2017-18.

He first enrolled at Wabash Valley CC in 2019-20 and averaged 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds, then moved to Iowa Western the following season, where he played in 17 games and averaged 2.1 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Jones then moved on to Southwest CC in Los Angeles this past season and upped his production to 10.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks across 29 contests.

Jones arrives at UNLV with two years of eligibility remaining.

Statistically, Jones profiles as a traditional big man. Spacing the floor doesn’t appear to be part of his game; he attempted just three 3-pointers last year (and missed them all), and he made just 51.7% from the free-throw line. He finished around the rim efficiently, however, converting 64.4% of his 2-point attempts.

Jones is the eighth new addition this offseason and the seventh college transfer. Two weeks ago, head coach Kevin Kruger said there was no rush to fill the final two scholarships and that the program was content to wait for the “right pieces.” Since then he has landed commitments from Arizona transfer guard Shane Nowell and Jones to round out the roster.

Here’s how the UNLV roster looks now that all 13 scholarships have been filled:

RETURNERS

Justin Webster, senior

Victor Iwuakor, senior

Jordan McCabe, senior

David Muoka, senior

Keshon Gilbert, sophomore

TRANSFERS

Elijah Harkless, senior

Elijah Parquet, senior

Luis Rodriguez, senior

Isaiah Cottrell, junior

Jackie Johnson, sophomore

Shane Nowell, sophomore

Karl Jones, senior

HIGH SCHOOL RECRUITS

Keyshawn Hall, freshman

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

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