UNLV’s Chris Beard hopes to start filling out basketball roster Wednesday
Most of the talk about UNLV’s basketball roster since the season ended March 10 has been about subtraction.
Now it can begin to be about addition.
The spring signing period opens today, and new Rebels coach Chris Beard has plenty of roster spots to fill.
“We’ve got some offers out,” Beard said. “Great news would be if we landed a couple (today), but more realistic would be for it to extend out all the way through the period (May 18).”
How many scholarships Beard will have to offer is uncertain, and he said he wasn’t prepared to answer that question. Four players are on the current roster, including three on scholarship.
But one of those players, forward Ben Carter, is considering transferring. If he leaves, UNLV would have as many as 11 spots.
Three could be taken by players who committed to the Rebels in November. One of them, 6-foot 4-inch forward Carlos Johnson of Findlay Prep, has been steadfast in his commitment to UNLV and remained so when asked again Tuesday.
“Yessir,” Johnson texted.
Attempts to reach 6-2 point guard Jaylen Fisher of Memphis, Tennessee, and 6-9 forward Justin Jackson of Scarborough, Ontario, were unsuccessful. Both players still list themselves on their Twitter accounts as UNLV commitments.
“Right now, I’m kind of on edge,” Jackson told Scout.com last week. “I’m not too sure what I’m doing right now. I still have to discuss it with my family.”
Fisher has been quiet, but he was recruited by Ryan Miller, an assistant for the past two seasons. Miller worked out a deal with UNLV on Tuesday to be released from his contract a year early.
— Ryan Miller (@CoachRyanMiller) April 13, 2016
“The program is in great hands with Coach Chris Beard and I wish the program nothing but success,” Miller tweeted.
One possible new addition is Leon Gilmore III, a 6-7 forward from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas. Gilmore, who began his career at Creighton and this season at Trinity averaged 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds, reneged on a commitment to Colorado State.
UNLV is one of the schools he is considering.
“I think he’s considering a lot of schools,” Trinity coach Kris Baumann said. “He has a lot of options. He opened his commitment to Colorado State because they had a couple of coaching changes.
“I don’t think he’s in a rush. It’s an important decision, so he’s going to take his time. There are a bunch of different things to look for in a basketball program and the coach he would play for.”
Beard is looking for all sorts of ways to build his recruiting class, and he said he is looking for freshmen to graduate transfers and every type of player in between.
“We have one of the best cities in the world, a place people are familiar with,” Beard said. “I have a vision for having international talent on our roster here. Certainly with some of the new avenues, the graduate-transfer rule, gives us a chance to get some immediate help.
“We certainly want to have scholarships available in the 2017 and 2018 classes, so we’ve got to build the roster with (that) in mind.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow on Twitter: @markanderson65
