Hamga leaves Rebels over lack of playing time

A five-star recruit who arrived at UNLV to a lot of hype, 7-foot freshman center Beas Hamga left the basketball program Friday.

Hamga, who scored five points in five games, was unhappy with his lack of playing time and requested a release from his scholarship.

Rebels coach Lon Kruger said Hamga plans to transfer to another Division I program. Hamga redshirted during the 2007-08 season, and he must sit out another year before becoming eligible to play.

"Our recommendation was to hang in there, be patient and stay with it," Kruger said. "I think he would have played some as the year went ... and certainly more next year.

"Beas felt bad about leaving, legitimately. I think he really wanted to stay. But given that he wasn't playing much, and he didn't see that in the near future, I think that influenced his decision to leave."

Hamga averaged 5.2 minutes in five games off the bench. He did not play in UNLV's past three games against UNR, Fresno State and Cincinnati, and he practiced with the team for the final time Thursday.

A native of Cameroon who came to UNLV from Decatur (Ill.) Christian School, Hamga was rated as a five-star prospect by Rivals.com.

"I think he felt the burden of those expectations," said Kruger, who cautioned from the start that Hamga was a long-term project. "He worked hard, and his attitude has been great about getting better."

Hamga is the fifth player to leave the program since November 2007, following the departures of Emmanuel Adeife, Lamar Roberson, Marcus Lawrence and Troy Cage.

"The coaching staff does a good job of developing big guys. I think they could have done the same with Beas," Rebels senior forward Joe Darger said. "But it's kind of hard to stick it out sometimes.

"We could kind of see it coming. We tried to talk to Beas about it, but I'm sure he had other people talking to him about how he should be playing more."