UNLV’s T.J. Otzelberger awaits decisions to fill roster

At his introductory news conference March 28, UNLV basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger said his top priority was “to re-recruit” the Rebels’ returning players.

This weekend, he also will try to re-recruit a player that Otzelberger signed at his previous stop, South Dakota State.

Caleb Grill, a 6-foot-2-inch guard from Maize, Kansas, will visit UNLV this weekend and soon will decide among the Rebels, Iowa State and Kansas State.

“It’s close,” Grill said. “I really like all three.”

His relationship with Otzelberger is the main reason UNLV is heavy in the running.

“I haven’t been out there, so it will be good to get out there and see the facilities and the players,” Grill said.

One possible negative is the distance, but Grill said finding the right “fit” is the overwhelming factor.

“If UNLV is what fits best, then that’s where I want to go,” he said.

UNLV has 10 of its 13 scholarship slots filled. That includes senior-to-be Nick Blair, who last season averaged 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds and recently was awarded a scholarship.

“We believe that his work ethic, leadership, commitment to the program and his passion being a young man from Las Vegas, I just felt like there are a lot of positives,” Otzelberger said. “The scholarship is something he’s earned by his hard work and effort over time, so we were happy to reward him with that.”

Five other scholarship players — Tervell Beck, Mbacke Diong, Shakur Juiston, Joel Ntambwe and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua — are in the NCAA transfer portal. Otzelberger said he was optimistic some would return, pointing out that four other players in the portal remained with the team.

“I just try to understand their circumstances and be there for them, but we’ll get it figured out,” Otzelberger said. “We have tremendous confidence in where we’re headed. I don’t think we’re all that far from a few of those decisions being made.”

UNLV’s roster, not including the five forwards in the portal, is guard heavy, but Otzelberger said he wasn’t concerned.

“I think that as we put the roster together there are so many guys that I look at as basketball players and don’t put in a box as to what position they are,” he said. “The game’s become very positionless, and I think if you look at even the highest level, the NBA and how it’s changed, I think you’re seeing often times where there are four-guard lineups.”

Otzelberger’s focus isn’t just on this year’s class. He also is recruiting heavily for 2020 and has offered scholarships to at least five players with Las Vegas Valley ties — Coronado’s Jhaylon Martinez, Bishop Gorman’s Noah Taitz and Mwani Wilkinson, Arbor View’s Donavan Yap and Nick Blake, who previously attended Durango.

“From a recruiting standpoint, it is absolutely our No. 1 priority to do a great job recruiting Las Vegas kids,” Otzelberger said. “I think that’s going to be a constant theme year in and year out. I think people are going to see how much we’re embracing the local talent, how important it is to me to keep guys home that want to play for their city and play for their home team, play for the people in the community they’ve grown up in.”

More Rebels: Follow at reviewjournal.com/Rebels and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.