Has the Sleeping Giant finally been awoken?

[dcut03]

"Sleeping giant" can mean different things for different people.


In general, if you mean a team that has may have a significant jump in performance that has the potential to break out? Then yes, the sleeping giant could be waking up. Next year's talent looks very good, and there are signs that a stream of talent may. So yes, there is potential for us to make a jump and perhaps maintain it.

Still have to see it on the court first.

Hell J Rob called us a sleeping giant in football when he was first hired. Now I don't think he reached what he had in mind for that goal, but I don't think he expected us to be competing for championships either.

 

[billd99s]

Since nobody seems to have much on BSU, I'll fill y'all in. I'll state here, UNLV wasn't the only squad to have a good off-season, personnel-wise but I'd still give the nod to the Rebs.

BSU lost starters Marcus Shaver and Najee Smith. Last season was a letdown for Shaver, as he either played injured or didn’t play for much of it. His confidence suffered and he wasn’t nearly as clutch as the year before. As a do everything wing who wasn’t afraid to mix it up and do the dirty work, Smith was probably even more valuable in the locker room. He’ll be missed a lot. Returning starters: Tyson Degenhart, Max Rice, Chibuzo Agbo.

Transfers out: seldom-used 6-11 C Burke Smith, little used 6-10 G Sada Nganga, a disappointment who never seemed to look anything but lost on the court, and 6-2 G Pavle Kuzmanovic, who looked to be a promising shooter but saw playing time diminish as 2nd or 3rd guard off the bench with the emergence of Jace Whiting.

Transfers in: 6-8 Cameron Martin, Kansas, coming off a shoulder injury and didn’t play last year; very mobile and very good shooter. 6-2 Roddie Anderson, UC San Diego, HM All-Big West as freshman, 15.8 ppg 3.9 apg, expected to step right in for Shaver. 6-8 O’Mar Stanley, St Johns, came on strong late in the season, seen as a Najee Smith type with a big, positive locker room presence.

Incoming freshmen: 6-7 wing Andrew Meadow could be an immediate contributor in the Degenhart mold, 6-3 G Chris Lockett, Louisiana Gatorade POY should see time early, 6-8 F Emmanuel Ugbo, who played for Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg in Germany last year.

Broncos should be the deepest they've been in the Leon Rice era (since 2010) and, arguably, the most talented. If Leon can't get the BSU NCAA tourney all-time win tally off of '0' this season, he might never be able to do it.

Kansas and St John forwards. They will be tough. I think we match up at the guards even though they look great too on paper. Brooklyn is POY for Washington and Thomas is top 30 guard. We are OK there. Our bigs can compete with their players as they have played them before in Big12 games etc. Defense will be the key as every game will be a nut cracker.

 

[mwsn7022012]

Just my opinion here; 3rd is the lowest I'll accept. SDSU is always SDSU. New Mexico got much better and they'll be in the tourney and dangerous.

As ignorant as it sounds, I'm not worried about Boise or Nevada right now. They don't have the depth we have. I'm not scared of Little Man Rice without Shaver and Blackshear can't handle pressure.

Not to rile anyone up but if our last roster slot is who Im hearing it'll be, its really over with for everyone.

And a last note; I don't think anyone is sleeping on Jalen, but he is going to be so good for us. He changed our trajectory and everything. His versatility >>>>

Him?

 

[lobbybuu]

Since nobody seems to have much on BSU, I'll fill y'all in. I'll state here, UNLV wasn't the only squad to have a good off-season, personnel-wise but I'd still give the nod to the Rebs.

BSU lost starters Marcus Shaver and Najee Smith. Last season was a letdown for Shaver, as he either played injured or didn’t play for much of it. His confidence suffered and he wasn’t nearly as clutch as the year before. As a do everything wing who wasn’t afraid to mix it up and do the dirty work, Smith was probably even more valuable in the locker room. He’ll be missed a lot. Returning starters: Tyson Degenhart, Max Rice, Chibuzo Agbo.

Transfers out: seldom-used 6-11 C Burke Smith, little used 6-10 G Sada Nganga, a disappointment who never seemed to look anything but lost on the court, and 6-2 G Pavle Kuzmanovic, who looked to be a promising shooter but saw playing time diminish as 2nd or 3rd guard off the bench with the emergence of Jace Whiting.

Transfers in: 6-8 Cameron Martin, Kansas, coming off a shoulder injury and didn’t play last year; very mobile and very good shooter. 6-2 Roddie Anderson, UC San Diego, HM All-Big West as freshman, 15.8 ppg 3.9 apg, expected to step right in for Shaver. 6-8 O’Mar Stanley, St Johns, came on strong late in the season, seen as a Najee Smith type with a big, positive locker room presence.

Incoming freshmen: 6-7 wing Andrew Meadow could be an immediate contributor in the Degenhart mold, 6-3 G Chris Lockett, Louisiana Gatorade POY should see time early, 6-8 F Emmanuel Ugbo, who played for Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg in Germany last year.

Broncos should be the deepest they've been in the Leon Rice era (since 2010) and, arguably, the most talented. If Leon can't get the BSU NCAA tourney all-time win tally off of '0' this season, he might never be able to do it.

Thank you for this very detailed write-up!

I'm not really worried about Martin because Kalib will really bully him. Roddie is a great player though, I actually wanted us to recruit him when he entered the portal. Lastly, Stanley is no one to worry about. I followed St Johns a lot and he is just a big body out there; 4.7 points and 2.7 rebounds a game last year. Hes really like Muoka. Theres a reason why Slick Rick told him to leave.

I like Meadow as well as I've seen him in the grassroots circuit, but he gets killed when guarding quicker players. Anyone he guards on our team will put him in a blender. I cant speak on the other players as I'm not too familiar.

 

[Masked_rebel]

Thank you for this very detailed write-up!

I'm not really worried about Martin because Kalib will really bully him. Roddie is a great player though, I actually wanted us to recruit him when he entered the portal. Lastly, Stanley is no one to worry about. I followed St Johns a lot and he is just a big body out there; 4.7 points and 2.7 rebounds a game last year. Hes really like Muoka. Theres a reason why Slick Rick told him to leave.

I like Meadow as well as I've seen him in the grassroots circuit, but he gets killed when guarding quicker players. Anyone he guards on our team will put him in a blender. I cant speak on the other players as I'm not too familiar.

Fairly familiar with Martin as well. He's an undersized 5 but not really a stretch 4. He had trouble fitting into the use of Bill Self, but I would've taken him at UNLV. Not sure where he fits with Boise given Hes very similar to Degenhart in their potential roles.

 

[RebelSoldat]

View embedded media

Him?

If he's as good as N'Golo Kante...sign me up

 

[rebneck]

Fairly familiar with Martin as well. He's an undersized 5 but not really a stretch 4. He had trouble fitting into the use of Bill Self, but I would've taken him at UNLV. Not sure where he fits with Boise given Hes very similar to Degenhart in their potential roles.

Degenhart played out of position most of last year. Martin will take the inside, occassionally stepping out, and Degenhart will be able to go back to his natural position which is more out on the wing.

 

[Rebel Hoya]

Top 25 in attendance and 3 ncaa’s in a row! That’s an awakening.

I appreciate the excitement regarding recruiting. However, Based on the last 20 games of last season and abysmal attendance for years….that giant is in a freakin Coma.

 

[rebelx]

I appreciate the excitement regarding recruiting. However, Based on the last 20 games of last season and abysmal attendance for years….that giant is in a freakin Coma.

I've been on these boards since the beginning...and on the AOL & CNNSI boards before that... We always predicted that when Vegas got a "pro team" it would hurt UNLV athletics. I honestly don't think we knew how much a freaking hockey team (of all sports) would prove us correct! Most of us assumed it would be an NBA team...but VGK stole the hearts of SO MANY UNLV fans with their success coupled with the Rebels continued failures. That's reality though & it's as much on UNLV"s shoulders than anybody else's...

Can UNLV ever get back to a semblance of what we were before? It's not impossible, but it sure as hell is many times harder than it was for the 20 years between our glory years & when pro sports came to town! It seems like EVERY UNLV season ticket holder I knew back in the day, are now season ticket holders to VGK... Discretionary income (+ time & effort), even for the rich, has its limits. UNLV shat the bed for too long & the locals moved on. I still have hope but its been severely tapered!

 

[rebelwithacause]

I sure hope so. This is the most excited I have been for an upcoming season since Dave Rice.

the guy who called us a sleeping giant - retired -

He called us a sleeping giant 15 years ago

Since then

We slipped in to a coma

The heart beat is faint

We may be dead

We rule another offseason

We are the paper champs again

 

[LVRebel2000]

I've been on these boards since the beginning...and on the AOL & CNNSI boards before that... We always predicted that when Vegas got a "pro team" it would hurt UNLV athletics. I honestly don't think we knew how much a freaking hockey team (of all sports) would prove us correct! Most of us assumed it would be an NBA team...but VGK stole the hearts of SO MANY UNLV fans with their success coupled with the Rebels continued failures. That's reality though & it's as much on UNLV"s shoulders than anybody else's...

Can UNLV ever get back to a semblance of what we were before? It's not impossible, but it sure as hell is many times harder than it was for the 20 years between our glory years & when pro sports came to town! It seems like EVERY UNLV season ticket holder I knew back in the day, are now season ticket holders to VGK... Discretionary income (+ time & effort), even for the rich, has its limits. UNLV shat the bed for too long & the locals moved on. I still have hope but its been severely tapered!

I'm not so sure it was just the fact that we got VGK, but also the fact that it almost seemed like the UNLV presidents and AD's were trying to push away the fans. It pretty much started with the firing of CDR midseason, then it was a downhill slide after that. Throw covid into the mix, along with VGK being great right out of the gates, and it was a terrible combination for UNLV sports. Hopefully we're on the right track now. It seems like football is with this recent hire, and hopefully basketball is on the rise as well (offseason looks promising).

 

[Babalouie]

I don’t know about a sleepy giant but a beat up athletic department has gotten some first aid and looks to be ready to get back into the fight. Eric Harper shows all the signs of being a real professional which hasn’t been seen in decades. He has been making great decisions on when to move on and when to stand the heat to retain and it looks to be paying off. Still too early to tell but at least there is a pulse and both football and basketball are getting back on their feet again.

 

[Rebel_Luv]

Hell ill take a narcoleptic Giant with dwarfism at this point.

 

[rebelfan1969]

Just my opinion here; 3rd is the lowest I'll accept. SDSU is always SDSU. New Mexico got much better and they'll be in the tourney and dangerous.

As ignorant as it sounds, I'm not worried about Boise or Nevada right now. They don't have the depth we have. I'm not scared of Little Man Rice without Shaver and Blackshear can't handle pressure.

Not to rile anyone up but if our last roster slot is who Im hearing it'll be, its really over with for everyone.

And a last note; I don't think anyone is sleeping on Jalen, but he is going to be so good for us. He changed our trajectory and everything. His versatility >>>>

Thought SDSU was leaving the conference ?

 

[LVRebel2000]

Thought SDSU was leaving the conference ?

That's the rumor, but nothing set yet from what I've seen. What the PAC ultimately does probably depends on what AZ, CO, etc decide to do. It's a tough timeline for the PAC though, as the MWC school buyouts will increase significantly next year, but they still haven't finalized their TV rights and money allocation per school. Lots of things up in the air.

 

[WarthogRebel]

I'm surprised the MWC can triple exit fees and not get sued. Not sure of the basis of a lawsuit but I can sniff one there somewhere.

 

[lvrebalum2012]

I'm surprised the MWC can triple exit fees and not get sued. Not sure of the basis of a lawsuit but I can sniff one there somewhere.

My understanding is that this is part of the deal that the conference members signed off on.

If they want to leave the conference with less than 1 year notice (ie SDSU leaving the MWC after 7/1/23 to start play in the PAC 12 in 2024), then a higher buyout applies.

If they announce after that date, but don't move to the PAC until 2025, then the smaller buyout applies.

 

[RebelScrub]

How shitty is our schedule this year?