Rebels ready to compete after another turnover-filled offseason - Las Vegas Review-Journal

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UNLV men’s basketball coach Kevin Kruger knows his team has some uncertainty surrounding it.

He also knows the questions won’t go away until the Rebels take the court and play their first game under the lights at the Thomas & Mack Center.

One part Kruger said he has no doubts about with the Rebels is their drive.

“It’s a fun group,” he said. “They work incredibly hard. There’s a level of security that we have as coaches knowing that we’ll compete.”

UNLV enters the 2022-23 campaign after another offseason filled with turnover. Leading scorer Bryce Hamilton, at times the only source of offense last season, and starting forward Royce Hamm Jr. graduated, and versatile wing Donovan Williams left early for the NBA Draft.

All three members of Kruger’s coaching staff were poached for Power Five jobs, and UNLV added eight new scholarship players.

The Rebels begin their season against Southern at 7:15 p.m. Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“Our job as a coaching staff is to bring in guys that, at the end of the day, want to see UNLV win, who want to root for each other,” Kruger said. “They understand that at the end of the day, winning games for UNLV is the ultimate goal.”

Kruger and the Rebels do return five players, unlike his first season where he had 10 new scholarship players to integrate.

Fifth-year guard Jordan McCabe, who started 31 games last season, is back, along with reserve contributors in senior guard Justin Webster, senior center David Muoka, and sophomore wing Keshon Gilbert. Senior forward Victor Iwuakor, who made eight starts last season while dealing with injuries, also returns.

The Rebels added some Power Five talent, too. Fifth-year wing Elijah Parquet and sophomore wing Shane Nowell have arrived from Pac-12 schools Colorado and Arizona, respectively.

Fifth-year guard EJ Harkless played the past season in the Big 12 with Oklahoma before injuries ended his season early, and sophomore center Isaiah Cottrell spent three seasons at West Virginia.

Senior wing Luis Rodriguez was most recently in the Southeastern Conference with Mississippi. Sophomore guard Jackie Johnson III, who arrived from Duquesne, showed flashes of his scoring ability during the team’s preseason tour to Canada.

Kruger admitted most of the new additions made their names on the defensive side of the ball. However, Muoka and Webster said the Rebels have the ingredients to score more than enough points.

“It might be a question to other people,” Muoka said. “But we know, as a team, we have a whole bunch of guys who can do things, not just defensively, but offensively, too.”

Kruger emphasized that the players who returned have all taken steps in their development.

Webster pointed to Muoka’s growth as an example of how players can improve. The senior guard admitted the Rebels don’t have a central scoring hub like Hamilton, but said this year’s offense feels more balanced.

“I think this is more of a team that shares the ball, gets out in transition and has a lot of fun” Webster said. “That’s what we’ve seen so far.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.

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