Aug. 25, 2008
LAS VEGAS - Chace Stanback has enrolled in classes at UNLV and has become a member of the men's basketball program, head coach Lon Kruger announced Monday.
Stanback, a 6-foot-8-inch, 210-pound guard/forward, transferred to UNLV from UCLA, where he played as a freshman during the 2007-08 season. He will have to sit out the 2008-09 season at UNLV because of NCAA transfer rules and will be eligible to play for the Runnin' Rebels as a sophomore during the 2009-10 season.
"We are very happy that Chace has decided to enroll at UNLV," Kruger said. "He is an outstanding young man, who is extremely versatile on the court. He shoots the ball well from the perimeter, but is also very active in slashing to the goal. During his redshirt season, his efforts against our eligible players will make for very competitive practices."
Stanback appeared in 25 games and played an average of 5.8 minutes per game last season for UCLA, which advanced to the Final Four. He shot 40.4 percent from the field and averaged 1.8 points per game.
Stanback prepped at Los Angeles' Fairfax High School, which is also where current Runnin' Rebel teammate Matt Shaw attended high school. As a senior in 2006-07, Stanback led Fairfax to the California Division I state title and turned in averages of 25.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. He was named the Los Angeles Times' Boy's Basketball Player of the Year and an All-American by EA Sports and MaxPreps. In addition, Stanback earned the California Division I Player of the Year and John Wooden Player of the Year honors following his senior season. He was ranked No. 65 in the nation by Rivals.com in 2007 and as the No. 18 small forward in the country and the No. 10 small forward in California. He was ranked No. 59 in the nation by USA Today and No. 52 on the ESPN 150. Additionally, he was rated the No. 1 small forward by Scout.com in the West Coach 2007 Pre-Summer Rankings.
Stanback joins 6-foot-6-inch junior guard Derrick Jasper from Kentucky as transfers to UNLV who must sit out this season.
Other newcomers to the 2008-09 UNLV men's basketball roster are 6-foot-2-inch freshman guard Oscar Bellfield from Westchester High School in Los Angeles, 6-foot-10-inch freshman forward/center Brice Massamba from Findlay College Prep in Henderson, Nev., 6-foot-5-inch freshman forward DeShawn Mitchell from Monmouth Academy in Howell, N.J., and 6-foot-8-inch junior forward Darris Santee from Midland (Texas) College. Also eligible to play this season after redshirting in 2007-08 are Beas Hamga, a 7-foot freshman center, and Tre'Von Willis, a 6-foot-4-inch sophomore guard who came to UNLV from Memphis.
UNLV finished the 2007-08 season with an overall record of 27-8 and lost to eventual national champion Kansas in the NCAA Tournament's second round. The appearance in the NCAA Tournament was the second straight for UNLV, which advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2007, and the first time that the Runnin' Rebels won games in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments since 1990 and 1991.
UNLV finished second in the Mountain West Conference this past season with a 12-4 mark for the second consecutive year and won the MWC Tournament championship, also for the second straight time.
Kruger, who was named the 2007-08 MWC and USBWA District VIII Coach of the Year, will enter his fifth season at UNLV in 2008-09 after compiling a four-year mark of 91-42 (.684), including a record of 57-15 (.792) over the last two seasons. UNLV's 57 wins over the past two years ranks ninth in the country among teams that have played in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments and is the second-most victories over the last two years among teams in the West, only behind UCLA.
UNLV has a 15-game home win streak, which is the 11th-longest active streak in the country, has compiled a record of 38-3 at home over the last two seasons and has won 24 straight games against MWC opponents at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNLV loses only two seniors from last season's team - Curtis Terry and Corey Bailey. The Runnin' Rebels will have four seniors on the 2008-09 roster in Wink Adams, Joe Darger, René Rougeau and Mareceo Rutledge (three of them starters from last year). Several publications have listed UNLV in their early 2008-09 preseason Top 25 polls. UNLV completed its summer foreign exhibition tour of Australia in July with a 4-2 mark.
