SoCalHoops Recruiting News

UNLV Gets Two Big SoCal JC Guys:
Poopola & Kelly Sign LOI's--(May 7, 1999)

UNLV, which last week lost out on Marlon Parmer (6'-3" Sr. PG) to the University of New Mexico, has signed two very strong SoCal junior college players, Chris Popoola (6'-6" So. SF) from Los Angeles City College, who was a first-team all-South Coast Conference selection, and most importantly, the highly recruited Louis Kelly (6'-5" So. SG) from San Bernardino City College, who played at Cajon High School and averaged almost 40 ppg as a senior.

Popoola and Kelly, will be joined by Trevor Diggs, Sylvester Dotson and Mike Garrett, all of whom have recently signed in the last two weeks during the spring signing season, and Dalron Johnson (6'-9" Sr. F) from Verbum Dei who signed early last November.  And it looks as if shooting guard Kenny Dye (6'-2" So. G)   from Connors State (Oklahoma) is still strongly considering Bayno's offer of a scholarship; he's taken nearly a week after his visit to UNLV to make up his mind. If Dye does sign with the Rebels, he will finish up the recruiting class which will consist of all JC guys with the exception of Dalron Johnson.

Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Sun spoke with Mike Miller, the coach at LACC, and while we could call him up and bug him for an interview, we sort of figure, "Why replow the same field when the Sun has already done it for us?"    So here's what Carp had to say: "According to LACC coach Mike Miller, Popoola will remind UNLV fans of former Rebel Warren Rosegreen, an undersized power forward who outworked bigger opponents on the boards and could score inside. 'He's a little bit unheralded,' Miller said of Popoola, 'but he's a very good athlete and a very hard worker. He can bring a dimension of toughness to their team, something I think was lacking last season.' "

We've seen Popoola play and Mike is right, he will add a sort of blue-collar work ethic to the team that they seemed to be missing last year.  Chris (whose younger brother David plays for Westchester and Rockfish) averaged 16 points and 8.7 rebounds a game with LACC. Miller also told the Sun that he can guard big guards as well as small forwards and he's a good shooter. Popoola shot 52 percent from the floor this past season for the LACC Cubs, who finished 22-10. Popoola is expected to be a backup at both forward spots, and is reportedly pretty comfortable with that role, at least for now.

Kelly is a strong scoring threat, who can shoot way out to three-point range and who also slashes to the hole and finishes.  He's very athletic, runs well, and can play tenacious pressure D. Coach Bayno reportedly wants to hold off on commenting on Kelly until after recruiting ends on the 15th, at which time he'll address the entire class of 1999 (which is why there is no official comment from the University on their website on any of this year's recruits; it's common practice for most schools to issue a press release on recruits as soon as their letters of intent are received, but Bayno is going against that tradition.).

While Popoola's signing was pretty smooth, with Kelly though, the story was a bit different.  He has been a hotly recruited player, and passed up offers from USC, Arizona, and Utah State. He was widely rumored to have committed to the Rebels for the last several weeks, but it seemed like his LOI would never show up.  Accoding to a separate story by Carp from Monday's Las Vegas Sun (when Kelly's signing was first reported):

"For almost three weeks, UNLV fans were wondering what was going on. Did the guy really sign with the Rebels? Or was he just leading everyone on and was this going to be an embarrassing disappointment for coach Bill Bayno?   Finally, the coveted letter arrived at the Thomas & Mack Center Friday afternoon. Kelly officially is the next great Rebel, ready to pick up where Shawn Marion left off. "

Kelly told the Las Vegas Sun, "It was just a matter of making sure it was the right decision. Once you sign the papers, there's no turning back. I talked it over with my family and they're behind me. So I put it in the mail."   And while UNLV fans should be pretty happy with the additional signings of Dalron, Popoola,  Kenny Dye of Connors State (Okla.) College and Mike Garrett of Fresno City College,  Kelly has been the most hotly recruited of them all by UNLV.    Kelly will come in with three years of eligibility remaining. Two years ago he initially enrolled at Fresno City College, but didn't play and he left after one semester because he didn't like the environment (what? not like Fresno?).   He has enough credits to graduate this summer from San Bernardino, where he only played this last season, so he'll have three more years left.

Kelly also told the Sun that he's ready to be the standout scoring threat for UNLV next season:  "I'm used to having the ball and making the big shots." Kelly averaged 25.8 points per game this year at SBVC. "In high school, that was my job. I was scoring 40 a game.  Here at San Bernardino, they wanted me to score."  And the fact that Shawn Marion has left worked in Kelly's favor:  "I wanted to be in a situation where I was needed. I didn't want to be sitting and subbing for someone. So when they told me Shawn was leaving, that helped my decision."

Kelly's recruitment was a long time in coming and he was initially concerned about the NCAA investigation, but he spoke with UNLV President Dr. Carol Harter who assured him that it would not impact him or his playing time, and apparently Kelly figured a president of a university wouldn't lie to him. "That helped put my mind at ease when the president called me and told me what's really going on," he said. "I believed her."  

Overall, Kelly said he was happy with the commitment to UNLV: "It's a good situation for my family because it's only a 2-3 hour drive or a short flight from L.A.," he said. "I want them to be able to see me play. That's important to me. Coach Bayno recruited me to play my game, so I don't think I'm going to change a lot of what I do." 

 
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