Redshirt Simmons suffers severe sprain of left ankle

      Kevin Simmons usually cuts an imposing figure, possessing a massive body that blocks out the sun.
      But not Saturday afternoon.
      The 6-foot-8 junior redshirt left the Lied Athletic Complex hunched over crutches, the victim of an injured left ankle.
      Simmons was working in a 4-on-4 drill when he landed on Tony Lane's foot. Simmons rolled his left ankle and suffered what trainer Jerry Koloskie called "a pretty significant sprain."
      Simmons was in obvious pain as he described what happened.
      "I just went up and came down on Tony's foot," he said. "It was just one of those things, but it's really sore. I don't know, I've never had a sprained ankle before, but it might be broken."
      Koloskie said he wasn't so sure.
      "A fracture is always a possibility, but I've seen a lot of ankle injuries and this one looks like a classic sprain," he said. "I know he's in a lot of pain. The case is always that the first sprain is the worst."
      Koloskie estimated that it would be between three to six weeks before Simmons is fully healed. He will have X-rays taken Monday or Tuesday by team physician Dr. Gerald Higgins.
      -- DANIELS WINS -- Point guard Edwin "Greedy" Daniels, a plum recruit for UNLV, helped lead Cohen High School of New Orleans to its second straight Louisiana Class 4A championship Saturday night.
      Cohen beat nearby Ellender High 59-58 in Lafayette, La.
      Daniels scored 10 points.
      -- RETURN OF NEON KEON -- Keon Clark was a late arrival (about an hour) for a mandatory weight-lifting session Friday, but was back for Saturday's practice.
      Bayno, who was out of town on a recruiting trip Friday, explained Clark's tardiness.
      "He's not feeling well, he's sick, and fell asleep (in the afternoon) and overslept," Bayno said. "He's still not feeling well."
      Bayno said he's fighting the urge to start Clark, who hasn't been in the starting lineup since the Dec. 30 home game against Northern Arizona.
      "I thought about it before the Memphis game," Bayno said, referring to Wednesday's first-round National Invitation Tournament game. "But I don't want him to get a foul on the first possession."
      Clark has started four of the 27 games he has appeared in as Bayno has attempted to insulate him from foul trouble. Clark has fouled out three times and drawn four fouls nine times.
      -- COUNTING THE HOUSE -- The attendance at the Thomas & Mack Center for Monday night's second-round National Invitation Tournament game against Hawaii will exceed the 6,575 that turned out for Wednesday's first-round game against Memphis.
      By Saturday afternoon, the ticket count was a little more than 7,000. An average walkup sale for a 7:35 start should push the number to close to 10,000. The most optimistic estimates have put the crowd at around 14,000.
      The ticket office at the Thomas & Mack is open today from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Monday from 10 a.m. until game time.
      -- FEELING AT HOME -- The Rebels have played 18 home games this season (winning 15), the most home dates since they played 20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in 1979-80.
      That season, UNLV played two NIT home games and reached the tournament's final four.
      -- NO TV -- To clear any confusion about Monday's game: It will not be televised, not locally and not by ESPN.
      -- BAYNO IN THE NEWS -- During ESPN's NCAA Tournament coverage, analyst Dick Vitale and college basketball reporter John Feinstein spoke of the open coaching position at Rutgers.
      Bayno, who has been mentioned as a possible candidate in East Coast newspaper reports, was not named by either broadcaster. Vitale said the front-runner was Bill Herrion of Drexel; Feinstein said the leading candidate was Perry Clark of Tulane.
      Both said Eddie Fogler of South Carolina is a strong candidate.