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UNLV basketball adds three more players, including two transfers

When Marvin Menzies took over as UNLV’s basketball coach April 22, he had four players on his roster.

Now, less than a month later, he has added eight players to bring the roster to 12, picking up three more Wednesday in Uche Ofoegbu, Jordan Johnson and Djordjije Slijivancanin. Ofoegbu and Johnson signed scholarship papers, and Slijivancanin signed a letter of intent.

The deadline to sign letters of intent was Wednesday, but players can still sign nonbinding scholarship papers that allow coaches to publicly comment on them. UNLV could bring in two or three more players by the end of the month.

Ofoegbu, a 6-foot-4-inch guard, is a graduate transfer from San Francisco who will be eligible to play immediately. He sent a series of tweets after committing, including one that said, “Las Vegas, I’m coming.”

Ofoegbu began his college career at Southern Methodist before transferring and playing the past two seasons for the Dons. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds last season and made 50.8 percent of his shots, including 43.5 percent of his 3-pointers.

UNLV beat out Georgia Tech, Miami, Boise State, Texas Tech and Washington State for Ofoegbu. His final choice came down to the Rebels and Georgia Tech.

“He is a very efficient offensive player that shot the ball extremely well last year at USF,” Menzies said in a statement. “His experience and senior leadership will obviously fill a need on our roster and should enable us to be competitive early in the season. He is a great addition to the UNLV family.”

Menzies declined to offer further comment beyond the news release.

Johnson is a 5-9 guard from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who under NCAA rules will have to sit out next season and will have a year to play. He averaged 12.5 points and 8.1 assists last season under coach Rob Jeter, now a Rebels assistant.

“I’m so pumped right now just did two cartwheels in my apartment,” Johnson tweeted.

“In balancing our roster, Jordan is another great addition to the Runnin’ Rebel family and fits perfectly into our plans,” Menzies said. “He is a very crafty, pass-first point guard who has some of the best court vision I have seen in quite some time. That is evident by his extremely high assist numbers from last season. Having Jordan in practice this season every day will be a huge plus for us and will give him an advantage to be able to contribute when he can play in games the following season.”

Slijivancanin is a 6-10 forward who was on the under-18 Ukrainian national team in 2014, and he scored 12 points against the United States in the Unofficial World Championships. He also played at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Missouri and East Carolina were among the other schools interested in Slijivancanin.

“We are looking forward to getting him here this summer and getting him involved with the rest of the team as soon as possible,” Menzies said. “Djordjije and his family were able to visit us this past weekend, and there was immediate chemistry between their family and ours. He went through a long process to come to this decision, and we are extremely happy that we were able to make the connection.

“Djordjije is another high-character addition to our team. He is a long, athletic big man who will fit well into our style of play. He is a very capable passer and shooter from the perimeter as well.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65

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