UNLV’s Wheatley at point guard is no short-term situation

UNLV basketball coach Kathy Olivier didn’t need long to decide it was time for Nikki Wheatley to be her starting point guard — five games, to be exact — and this is no short-term situation.

Wheatley is a freshman, so the job could be hers for the next three seasons after this one.

A four-year starting point guard. A potential huge advantage for the Lady Rebels’ future.

For now, though, Wheatley is a fairly typical first-year player, one who is showing plenty of promise while also trying to find her way. She’s still learning the system and is careful about being demanding of the team’s juniors and seniors, even if point guard is a leadership position.

“Our other freshman, Brooke Johnson, we’re both kind of facing that problem,” Wheatley said. “We have to be able to listen to (the veterans) and be open to criticism. But at the same time, if I come down and call a play, I need to know they’re going to listen and they’re going to run the play.

“In the beginning of the season, it was hard to get used to that, to be able to boss the seniors around, in a sense. But I feel like they’ve accepted it and they’ve taken it well. I always listen to them, but I feel they’re listening to me.”

The 5-foot-5-inch Wheatley is expected to make her 13th start of the season when the Lady Rebels (6-12, 3-4 Mountain West) play UNR (6-11, 2-4) at 7 p.m. today at Cox Pavilion.

Getting Wheatley was a huge catch for UNLV. She was a McDonald’s All-America nominee and ranked by ESPN HoopGurlz as the nation’s No. 24 point guard. Coming out of Bonita High School in La Verne, Calif., she also considered Louisville, Oregon State and Pepperdine.

“Honestly, coming into my visit, (UNLV) wasn’t one of my highest choices,” Wheatley said. “Once I came on my visit, the coaches and the family environment pulled me into it.”

She doesn’t have eye-popping numbers, but Wheatley’s job is to direct the offense and put everyone else in the best position to score. She averages 6.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

The experience she is receiving so early is invaluable.

“I feel like I’m a whole new player,” Wheatley said. “I feel like as we’ve gone on and on, I’ve learned the little things. I feel like that’s why I was able to get the starting position and hold it. I need to fix a lot of stuff — my defense, making choices on offense, moving the ball, being vocal and all those little things.”

Just to be in this spot so early in her career speaks volumes about what the coaches expect from Wheatley.

“We knew she was a great athlete,” Olivier said. “When we recruited her, we were fired up that we got her. She’s a smart point guard. She doesn’t try to do too much. She has more assists than turnovers (42 to 36), and not a lot of point guards as freshmen have that.”

The most difficult transition has been accepting the natural leadership role that comes with playing her position.

Wheatley remains hesitant to get in the faces of the older players, thinking she needs to learn from them. But she knows as the season progresses and the games become more critical, it’s an attitude she must take on more and more.

The Lady Rebels have struggled, but the Mountain West remains a wide-open conference. A good month before the conference tournament in March could do wonders for UNLV.

Which means the Lady Rebels will rely on Wheatley more than ever.

“I know to win I need to be vocal,” Wheatley said. “(My teammates) need to know what offense they’re in. They need to know what defense they’re in. I know that’s my responsibility. I feel like I’m getting better and better. By March, I need to have it completely down.”

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