Nov. 14, 2001

LAS VEGAS - UNLV men's golf head coach Dwaine Knight signed junior stars Ryan Posey and Ryan Keeney to national letters of intent on Wednesday.

Posey, an honor student at Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas, led the Scots to back-to-back 4A state titles. Along with a victory at the North Texas PGA Championship, he played in six of the nation's top 10 junior events and recorded a win, two runner-up finishes and a fourth-place showing.

Posey chose UNLV over prestigious programs such as Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas, SMU and TCU.

A product of Redmond, Wash., Keeney earned AJGA All-America honors last year, highlighted by a victory at the AJGL Club Corp Junior at Mission Hills in Palm Springs, Calif., and a runner-up showing after losing a playoff at the Las Vegas Founders' Legacy Junior last June. He is also an honor student, attending Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Wash., where he led the Vikings to four straight district championships. Keeney was the individual runner-up at last year's Washington state championship where he lost to current Rebel Ryan Moore and won the junior state crown in 1998.

In signing with the Rebels, Keeney rejected offers from Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Pepperdine and Southern California.

"We're very pleased with both players," Knight said. "We feel like they have a great future ahead of them. They were both highly sought-after players, and we believe that they will not only come in and make an impact, but have a real shot at reaching their dreams of professional golf. They will be successful in both the academic and golf arenas."

The duo completes the early signing class for UNLV and will enroll next fall.