UNLV’s Dwayne Morgan watches, waits as he recovers from surgery

As his teammates scrimmaged Tuesday, UNLV junior Dwayne Morgan stood off to the side.

He is still coming back from hip surgery over the summer and hasn’t been cleared to take part in all the drills.

“We’re bringing him back slow,” coach Marvin Menzies said. “I’m not letting him do a whole lot of contact for three or four days. I’m trying to see how it goes this week.”

Getting Morgan, a 6-foot-8-inch forward, on the basketball court is crucial for the Rebels to give them help on the frontcourt.

Senior Christian Jones, a 6-7 forward, now is playing the post with 6-11 freshman Cheickna Dembele sidelined because of a right heel injury until around the Nov. 11 season opener against South Alabama. UNLV plays two exhibition games next week, including at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Dakota Wesleyan at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Morgan, who averaged 5.5 points and 4.7 rebounds last season, is looking forward to returning, but said he doesn’t want to rush it.

“I’m making progress,” Morgan said. “Right now, I’m waiting on getting better and getting stronger and getting my legs strong. It’s working out pretty well.

“Right now, I’m not even worried about (a timetable). Me and the coaches aren’t worried about it. We’re about trying to get myself right.”

Morgan’s decision to return to the team was a boost to Menzies and his efforts to rebuild the program. After initially considering transferring, Morgan decided to stay after UNLV announced it was hiring Menzies.

As one of three returning players, his presence will be especially important this season once he’s able to fully rejoin his teammates.

“Even though I’m not practicing, I’m still involved in practice,” Morgan said. “I’m still watching the offensive sets. I’m still going through the offensive sets with them when we’re going five-on-oh, and I still study film with the coaches. They do a good job of making sure that I’m still caught up, even though I’m not on the floor all the time.”

CHECKING ON CHEICKNA

Coaches also aren’t rushing Dembele’s return.

“He’s better,” Menzies said. “He’s rehabbing at a high level. He’s doing everything he’s supposed to be doing on a regular basis. He’s probably still on track for the timeline that was given to us, but whether he is going to be ready for that first game is still a question mark.”

STARTING LINEUP?

UNLV went with 6-4 sophomore Jalen Poyser, 6-6 sophomore Kris Clyburn, 6-7 senior Tyrell Green, 6-4 senior Uche Ofoegbu and Jones in the Tuesday scrimmage. Menzies said that’s likely to be the starting lineup against Dakota Wesleyan.

MAKING IT BIG

UNLV’s program has gone through a recent dry spell, but the Rebels are well-represented in the NBA.

Six players made opening night rosters — Anthony Bennett in Brooklyn, Derrick Jones Jr. in Phoenix, Patrick McCaw in Golden State, Rashad Vaughn in Milwaukee, Christian Wood in Charlotte and Stephen Zimmerman Jr. in Orlando.

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