RUNNIN’ REBELS SIGN TWO ON FIRST DAY OF SPRING
SIGNING PERIOD
DeVille Smith and Kendall Smith both signed national letters of intent to enroll at UNLV this fall
The UNLV men’s basketball program has received signed national letters of intent from DeVille Smith and Kendall Smith on the first day of the spring signing period to enroll at UNLV this fall, head coach Dave Rice announced Wednesday.
DeVille Smith, a 5-foot-11-inch, 175-pound point guard, will enter UNLV as a junior. Coming out of Callaway High School in Jackson, Miss., he was a four-star recruit, ranked by Rivals as the 17th-best point guard in the class of 2011 and was ranked 14th by ESPN. He played in 26 games at Mississippi State as a freshman, then transferred to Southwest Mississippi Community College.
At SMCC this past season, he averaged 16.7 points, 5.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game, while shooting 52 percent from the field, 42 percent from 3-point range (47-of-112) and 78 percent from the free-throw line. As a senior in high school, he averaged 22.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.0 apg and 2.9 spg.
“We are excited about DeVille Smith joining our program,” Rice said. “He is a great competitor who makes the players around him better. He brings valuable experience and is a terrific teammate. He will be a tremendous pressure defender and very effective in our transition system.”
Kendall Smith, a 6-foot-2-inch, 175-point point guard, will be a freshman this fall. He is coming to UNLV from Deer Valley High School in Antoich, Calif., where he averaged 27.5 ppg, 6.7 apg, 5.4 rpg and 2.4 spg, while shooting 46 percent from the field. He played in 27 games this season, recording 25 or more points on 12 occasions with a season-high of 52. He also played for the Oakland Soldiers this past summer.
“We are excited that Kendall Smith is a Runnin’ Rebel,” Rice said. “He is a winner and is extremely versatile. He is committed to team and capable of taking over a game making plays for others. He will be a lock down defender and explosive in our up-tempo system.”
The two Smiths join Jelan Kendrick, Christian Wood and Dantley Walker to make up UNLV’s 2013 recruiting class. Kendrick is a former McDonald’s High School All-American, who is transferring from Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, and will enter UNLV as a junior, Wood is coming in as a freshman from Findlay College Prep in Henderson, Nev., and Walker will be a freshman this fall after finishing a two-year LDS mission. He attended Lincoln County High School in Panaca, Nev.