LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – A trio of former UNLV greats – safety Jamaal Brimmer, cornerback Kevin Thomas and wide receiver Ryan Wolfe – were announced Thursday as members of the Mountain West 25th Season Team, which is being released for all sports as part of celebrating the league's quarter-century of existence.
 
Brimmer, who played safety from 2001-04, lived out the cliché headline of "Local Boy Makes Good" for the hometown team. A product of Las Vegas' Durango High School, he was signed to the Rebs by legendary football coach John Robinson and would not leave campus until becoming a nationally known playmaker on the gridiron. Brimmer exploded onto the conference landscape as a sophomore in 2002, leading the league in tackles-for-loss and being voted by the coaches and media as the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. One season later his stats only improved as he led the conference in both interceptions and forced fumbles – two of which he returned for touchdowns. That 2003 campaign included the game of a lifetime – anyone's lifetime – as he posted the greatest single defensive performance in school history on a rain-soaked day in Madison. Taking on highly ranked Wisconsin, the Rebels quieted the Badger faithful by dominating on both sides of the ball. On a dreary day at Camp Randall Stadium, Brimmer lit up ESPN – and introduced himself to the nation – with 11 tackles, two sacks, a pair of interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery that he picked up and raced 55 yards into the end zone. The national player of the week would soon become only one of three UNLV defensive players to be named All-America and first non-senior to earn national honors since Randall Cunningham in the mid-1980s. After toying with an early exit to the NFL, Brimmer returned as one of the nation's most revered defensive backs. The first UNLV semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award would become the school's first two-time All-American since Cunningham. The Brimmer honors list is a long one. The only two-time conference MVP earned first team all-league nods three straight falls. He was also named a community service All-American for his work off the field. He left UNLV ranked fifth in career tackles and second in league history in forced fumbles and ended up being just the third Rebel selected to play in the prestigious Senior Bowl. Brimmer was inducted into the UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
 
Wolfe, who lettered from 2006-09, is still the school's and league's all-time leader in receptions after becoming just the third UNLV football player to be named First Team All-Conference three times in career. Not bad for a kid from Santa Clarita, California, who only received one scholarship offer coming out of Hart High School back in 2005. In his first UNLV game, Wolfe racked up a stunning 160 yards through the air, including a 71-yard touchdown catch and sprint, and the records immediately started to fall. His 176 yards vs. New Mexico still stand as the most by a Rebel rookie, and, after starting all 12 games he became the first freshman to lead the Mountain West in receiving yards with 911. Wolfe was named the league's Freshman of the Year as well as First Team Freshman All-America by the Football Writers Association of America. He upped his game as a sophomore catching 66 passes, including the first of three games with a career-high 11 grabs. As a junior in 2008, Wolfe tied the UNLV record with 88 receptions while becoming just the fifth Rebel to reach 1,000 yards in a season and posting a career-high six touchdowns. As a senior pursuing his master's degree from the school in 2009, his 118 yards vs. New Mexico marked his school-record 12th 100-yard outing as he joined two-time All-American safety Brimmer and two-time All-American punter and quarterback Cunningham as the only Rebel football players to thrice be named first team all-league. He was also one of just six players in Mountain West history to accomplish the feat. Despite missing his final collegiate game because of a foot injury, Wolfe finished 12th in college football history with 283 receptions while his 3,495 career yards remains the gold standard for the Rebel program. He was inducted into the UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.
 
Arguably the top cornerback in school history, Thomas became undeniably the program's most decorated cover man while roving the Rebel secondary from 1998-2001. The Sacramento native started his very first game as a Rebel and never came out of the lineup as he became the first player in school history to start 46 times on the gridiron. After a modest freshman campaign in 1998, Thomas thrust himself into the category of elite defensive backs when he totaled a career-high 52 tackles, grabbed a team-leading five interceptions and posted 24 pass breakups – a stunning total that still stands as the school and conference record. However, it was not a defended pass that got KT national recognition in 1999, but instead a different kind of turnover on a humid night in Texas. Easily the most famous play in program history, the 100-yard fumble return for a score – "The Wonder of Waco" -- was only the second of its kind and made UNLV the first team in the sport's history to be trailing on the final play without possession and still win the game. The big sophomore season taught opposing quarterbacks to steer clear of KT's side of the secondary but 2000 still brought another pair of interceptions, 14 more pass breakups and a Las Vegas Bowl victory over Arkansas to complete Rebel football's best season in a decade. For a finale, Thomas became a defensive scoring machine as a senior. His seven picks set the UNLV and Mountain West single-season record and tied for third in the nation overall. He led college football in defensive touchdowns with three as he piled up an NCAA-leading 213 interception return yards en route to winning the league's Defensive Player of the Year Award.  UNLV football's second three-time First Team All-Conference honoree, along with Cunningham, Thomas became his school's first defensive player to earn All-America status since 1975 when he was named by both Football News and Sporting News in 2001. Just the second Rebel ever invited to compete in the Senior Bowl, following Ickey Woods, KT also played in the East-West Shrine Game before heading off to the NFL, where he spent four seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He remains the UNLV and Mountain West season and career leader in pass breakups and defensive touchdowns and became a UNLV Hall of Famer in 2012.
 
The Mountain West 25th Season Team was announced just two days before the conference's championship football game, which UNLV is hosting vs. Boise State on Saturday starting at 12 pm. General tickets, starting at just $20, including all fees, can be purchased now by visiting UNLVTickets.com.
 
MOUNTAIN WEST 25TH SEASON TEAM
 
OFFENSE
Brad Roberts, RB, Air Force
Jay Ajayi, RB, Boise State
Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
Brett Rypien, QB, Boise State
Dennis Pitta, TE, BYU
Luke Staley, RB, BYU
Michael Gallup, WR, Colorado State
Rashard Higgins, WR, Colorado State
Trey McBride, TE, Colorado State
Bradlee Van Pelt, QB, Colorado State
Davante Adams, WR, Fresno State
Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State
Romeo Doubs, WR, UNR
Carson Strong, QB, UNR
Ryan Cook, OL, New Mexico
DonTrell Moore, RB, New Mexico
Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State
Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego State
Andy Dalton, QB, TCU
Jake Kirkpatrick, C, TCU
Ryan Wolfe, WR, UNLV
Jordan Gross, OT, Utah
Alex Smith, QB, Utah
Jordan Love, QB, Utah State
Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming

DEFENSE
Weston Steelhammer, DB, Air Force
Demarcus Lawrence, DL, Boise State
Darian Thompson, DB, Boise State
Leighton Vander Esch, LB, Boise State
Curtis Weaver, DL, Boise State
Brady Poppinga, DL, BYU
Shaquil Barrett, LB, Colorado State
Derron Smith, DB, Fresno State
Phillip Thomas, DB, Fresno State
Brian Urlacher, LB, New Mexico
Damontae Kazee, DB, San Diego State
Leon McFadden, DB, San Diego State
Kirk Morrison, LB, San Diego State
Cameron Thomas, DL, San Diego State
Viliami Fehoko, DL, San José State
Cade Hall, DL, San José State
Tank Carder, LB, TCU
Jerry Hughes, DE, TCU
Jamaal Brimmer, DB, UNLV
Kevin Thomas, DB, UNLV
Eric Weddle, DB, Utah
Zach Vigil, LB Utah State
Chad Muma, LB, Wyoming
Logan Wilson, LB, Wyoming
Andrew Wingard, DB, Wyoming
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
Avery Williams, KR/PR, Boise State
Ryan Stonehouse, P, Colorado State
Dexter Wynn, KR, Colorado State
John Sullivan, PK, New Mexico
Carlos Wiggins, KR, New Mexico
Matt Araiza, P, San Diego State
Rashaad Penny, KR, San Diego State
Jeremy Kerley, KR/PR, TCU
Louie Sakoda, PK/P, Utah
Savon Scarver, AP/KR, Utah State