 | | Runnin' Rebel senior Mareceo Rutledge participated in a Live Chat session on Friday, Oct. 31. |
UNLV Runnin' Rebel senior Mareceo Rutledge participated in a Live Chat session on Friday, Oct. 31, on UNLVRebels.com. Last season, Rutledge helped the Rebels earn their second straight Mountain West Conference Tournament championship as well as a win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament vs. Kent State. He was also named to the Academic All-MWC team. Rutledge joined the Runnin' Rebels last season after two years at Yuba College in Marysville, Calif., where he was named Bay Valley Conference MVP after both seasons as well as broke the school's single-season scoring record, which had been held for over 20 years. Rutledge answered questions about his role of leadership on the team as one of four seniors, his transition to the frontcourt and his thoughts about the upcoming season. The transcript is below. |
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 |  | UNLV Moderator: Hey Rebel fans, sitting here with Mo. Just finished up a good practice this morning and ready to answer your questions. |
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| courtney(lasvegas): do you think any of the knew guys will carry on the powerful defense in the 09-10 season? and will any of them play this season? |
 | | Mareceo Rutledge: When new guys see how we get after it in practice, they realize they have to play tough defense or they won't play. A year ago, I was in their position. I remember watching on TV when I was at my JC - I was already set to come to here. I knew UNLV played tough defense, but watching it is completely different that experiencing it. It's not something you are prepared for. As far as the new guys, they are great. They definitely all surprised me. They all have their unique ways to score. |
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| Greg(Greeley,CO): Mareceo - We have seen jc players like Gaston Essengue, Wendell White, and Joel Anthony have extremely productive senior seasons. Do you see yourself ready to have that breakout year? BTW congrats on your academic success at UNLV as well!!! |
 | | Mareceo Rutledge: Thanks, Greg. It's important for me to stay up on school. If you don't stay up on academics, you don't play. My degree is very important to me. I want to combine my interests in both business and physical fitness to build a career. As far as your question, I basically see myself as a role guy. Whatever the coaches need me to do on the floor, I'll do it. I want to talk more, be a leader for all of the younger guys. Try to keep everybody motivated on the court. I'm playing the four this season and there is more of a flow for me. I like it a lot more. And being a bigger guy, I feel like I can guard a bigger guy better than I can a wing. |
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| Jordan (Las Vegas): You always seemed a little hesitant last year and I think you would agree that probably prevented you from playing to your potential. What do you attribute that to and are you preparing for this season any differently in order to overcome that? |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: That's a good observation, Jordan. As with the last answer, I am now playing the four this year instead of the three and that has changed things a lot. Last year was a big learning experience. I was thinking a lot and did not want to make mistakes. I have spent a lot of time with the assistant coaches and feel very comfortable about what I am supposed to be doing. I'm not thinking as much. Now I'm just reacting. |
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| Robert las vegas: Hello Mo, two questions for you, which one of the new recruits has caught your eye and how hard was the adjustment from jc to division 1 basketball? |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: Thanks for the question, Robert. All of the new guys are having an impact. DeShawn - His jumping ability is amazing and he's agressive down low. Willing to attack every time. Darris -Great post-up guy. Knows what he is doing out there. And he is also a very humble, quiet person. I like that. Brice - Strong down low. He's a funny guy and is always cracking jokes. Oscar - Oh, I love Oscar at the point. He really surprised me. He can push the ball with both hands and finish with both hands. And he can shoot. As far as the difference between Div. I and the JC level, the biggest difference is how intense it is. Not just on the court, but the lifestyle. Here it's like a job. A full-time job. You practice, you lift, you go to class. At JC, it was 5 days a week. Here, it is non-stop. When I was at JC, I could practice, go home and rest and recover over night. Here, I have to ice my body and hardly ever recover! Just fighting to get through the nex day. |
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| Rebecca (Las Vegas): Mo, after one of the pre-Australia practices, I watched you throw a ball off the backboard, go up and windmill dunk the rebound ONE HANDED!!! It was very impressive. Any plans to make the T&M erupt with a dunk in your senior campaign? |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: You sure it was a windmill? :) I don't think I've ever done a windmill in my life. But if it looked like one, I'll take it. :) As for dunking in a game, that is not a big thing for me. Two points are two points. However, if we are ahead by 20 or 30 points and I have a breakaway, maybe I'll think about it. But, I'm not a dunker and I'm OK with that. |
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| James (Las Vegas): MO, This is the first time in a lot of years this city is excited about Rebel Hoops again. This is not hype, I really believe this years team is destined for huge things, you will win the MWC & tournament & make a deep run in March. Go Get'em, refuse to lose! (Question) What is the attitude of the team early on? Are the new players buying into the swagger & attitude of the senior leadership? How are they adapting? What can we expect? |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: It's great to see the fans excited, James. Right now, everyone is just fighting to get through these practices. We are ready for the games. We are having long, 2 1/2 to 3 hour practices. We're ready to start playing. These practices are tough! The new guys have been great. Once me, Joe, Rene or Wink say something, they are listening. We want to go out with a bang, but it's important for them, too. It's a great opportunity for us, but winning is important for them. We can pass it down to them and they can pass it down to the players that come in after them. One thing I really like about this team is each one of us has our own special thing that we can do. We all know we need each other. |
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| | UNLV Moderator: Hey fans, we have time for a few more questions. Sorry we can't get to them all. |
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| RunninLarry(LasVegas): What's up Mareceo? Give yourself and the guys some daps for me. You guys work real hard. what kind of stuff do you do outside of school and basketball to balance out that hard work. I know you guys like bowling. |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: Just like you said - bowling. Recently, me, Chace and Wink went. Wink got the first one, I got the second one and Chace got the last one. It was a three-way tie. It was pretty competitive. All of our personal highs are above 200. I've been bowling a couple of years, but much more since I've been out here. Now it's a weekend thing. |
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| Ty (Las Vegas): No questions, just thanks for being part of the Rebelution and especially for representing so well off the court. |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: As far as being part of the Rebelution, I feel fortunate to be here. Especially because I moved to Atlanta a little after I graduated high school and just worked for 2 1/2 years. I played ball a lot and people always asked me where I played in school. That motivated me to go to JC and play. So when Coach Grensing and Coach Kruger recruited me, I felt fortunate. They are both people who teach you if you say you are going to do something, do it. They have personally helped me with that and that will help me later on in life. |
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| Don (Henderson): With the coaches' poll ranking UNLV No. 26 and the AP poll ranking UNLV No. 27, does that bother the team not being in the Top 25 to start the season? |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: We're not big on numbers - we're just going to go out there and play our style of play. We aren't going to get caught up in the numbers. Wherever they put us, they put us. |
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| Brian from LV: what do u think the biggest difference will be between this years team and last years team? |
| | Mareceo Rutledge: There are two big differences First, is the big men we have this year. Also, we went from having about eight or nine guys to having 15. When we were in the NCAA Tournament last year that hurt us again Kansas. We got into foul trouble and it hurt us not having a few guys on the bench. |
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| | Mareceo Rutledge: Thank you for the opportunity. Looking forward to seeing you on Nov. 11 for our exhibition game against Washburn. And, of course, for Opening Day vs. San Diego on Nov. 15. I'm out like Lil Wayne. |
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