Advertisement
basketball Edit

Menzies lands first recruit

Marvin Menzies is in desperate need of players to fill the UNLV men's basketball roster for the upcoming season.

The process has begun. He received a commitment from junior college wing Kris Clyburn on Tuesday. Clyburn, who played at Ranger (Community) College this past season, will have three years of eligibility remaining.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Kris to the Rebel family,” Menzies said. “He is an excellent player and we are excited that someone with such a high level of talent was available this late in the process.

“Kris is a very efficient player, who has the ability to slash and score in multiple ways. He also has a very high basketball IQ. "

If Clyburn is any indication about where Menzies will lean towards with recruits, you can expect athletic, long, and even defensive minded players heading to UNLV.


During his freshman season at Ranger, Clyburn earned his conference's Defensive Player of the Year award. Beyond that, he also had success at the offensive end. He shot 60% from the field and 51% from beyond the 3-point line, while averaging 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.

“Kris doesn’t need a lot of shots to be successful as you can see by looking at his stats,” Ranger associate head coach, Rodney Heard said. “He is a really good guard and has a chance to be great. UNLV fans will love him. Coach (Billy) Gillispie did a great job preparing him for Division I basketball and is the reason he is the defender he is today. The best thing Kris did was allow Coach Gillispie to coach him and turn him into a great defender.”

If the last name sounds familiar, it should. His brother, Will, played at Utah before transferring to Iowa State. As a Ute, Clyburn was a difficult matchup for the Rebels as he used his athletic ability to drive into the paint and score.

Of course, having the ability to compete for minutes was appealing to Clyburn. UNLV only returns three scholarship players from last year's roster (Jalen Poyser, Dwayne Morgan and Tyrell Green).

Advertisement