Goodluck Okonoboh is leaving UNLV

The UNLV men's basketball team returned from Hawaii with one less big man on its roster.

Goodluck Okonoboh asked to be released from the program and the Rebels granted the sophomore forward's wish to transfer, the team announced on Friday.

"We appreciate all that Goodluck has done for our program," coach Dave Rice said in a statement. "We wish him the best in the future."

After a productive freshman season, Okonoboh struggled to get going in his six appearances this season, averaging 3.5 points, 3 rebounds and 15.2 minutes per game.

Okonoboh saw his minutes decline with the addition of 7-foot freshman Stephen Zimmerman Jr.

The 6-foot-10 Rebel only played 11 minutes in the Maui Invitational opener against UCLA on Monday. A frustrated Okonoboh attempted to buy a plane ticket home after the loss to UCLA, but was talked into staying for the next two games only if he didn't have to suit up, according to a local reporter who spoke to the team.

Senior point guard Jerome Seagears later convinced Okonoboh to play versus Chaminade and Indiana.

A Boston native, Okonoboh was named to the Mountain West's All-Defensive team in 2014-15 and recorded 90 blocks, the fourth most in the program's history for a single season.

Okonoboh started the first game of the season against Cal Poly, but then asked to come off the bench. He started a second game on Tuesday after Zimmerman was unable to play versus Chaminade due to an illness.

UNLV (5-1) is suddenly thin in the frontcourt and lost arguably its best rim protector in Okonoboh.

Ben Carter, Dwayne Morgan and Zimmerman will be asked to pick up the slack.