Elite recruit’s commitment could be crucial for UNLV coach Dave Rice
When elite center Stephen Zimmerman announced Thursday night that he has chosen UNLV over the likes of Kentucky, UCLA and Kansas, his decision surely inspired a mixture of joy and relief from Rebels coach Dave Rice.
The presence of a skilled 7 footer can only help Rice entering a crucial year in which he will face pressure to finally achieve a breakthrough.
In Rice’s four-year tenure at UNLV, he has stockpiled more talent than any Rebels coach since the program’s golden era under Jerry Tarkanian. He has landed nine Rivals top 50 prospects, six in the past three recruiting classes with Zimmerman (No. 11) and wing Derrick Jones (No. 43) set to arrive next fall and forward Justin Jackson (No. 40) coming the following year.
All that talent hasn’t always translated into a return to the glory days just yet though. UNLV has yet to finish higher than third in the Mountain West under Rice, nor has it won an NCAA tournament game, falling in the opening round in both 2012 and 2013 before missing the postseason altogether the past two years.
The common complaint about Rice is that he’s better at collecting talent than coaching it, but it’s probably his approach to building a roster that merits scrutiny more than his Xs-and-Os prowess. Constant roster turnover and a lack of experience and chemistry have been the biggest factors in UNLV’s struggles the past two seasons.
Seven of UNLV’s nine rotation players from the 2012-13 season did not return the following year. Five of UNLV’s top eight players from the 2013-14 season were not back last year. The result has been a pair of talented but disjointed teams that take too long to mesh and often appear to be missing key elements necessary for success.
UNLV will experience less roster turnover this offseason, but ex-transfers Cody Doolin and Jelan Kendrick are graduating and leading scorer Rashad Vaughn is headed to the NBA draft. The Rebels could also lose second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Christian Wood to the draft too depending on what he decides in the next week or two.
If Wood opts to delay NBA riches for one more season, however, the Rebels could boast one of the nation’s elite frontcourts. He and Zimmerman would likely form a formidable duo in the starting lineup with Oregon transfer Ben Carter and former top 50 recruits Goodluck Okonoboh and Dwayne Morgan also in the mix.
The question would be whether UNLV would have sufficient guard play and outside shooting to complement that stable of frontcourt standouts.
Six-foot-6 combo guard Patrick McKaw will almost certainly be one of the starters after displaying great promise during the second half of his freshman season. Incoming freshmen Jones and Jaylen Poyser, Rutgers transfer Jerome Seagears and returners Jordan Cornish and Daquan Cook all figure to compete for playing time as well.
How best to fit those pieces together and to mesh the newcomers with the returners is the challenge that lies ahead this offseason for Rice.
Talent-laden UNLV teams have underachieved under Rice the past couple seasons. He can’t afford for it to happen again this season in a year that could be make or break for him.
Video of new UNLV commit Stephen Zimmerman:
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
