Forward Mitchell departs

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A late bloomer in high school, DeShawn Mitchell was viewed as a potential recruiting steal when he signed with UNLV.

One year into his college basketball career, Mitchell is moving on. The 6-foot-5-inch freshman forward announced plans to transfer Monday, adding to the Rebels’ recent trend of early departures.

Mitchell is the sixth player to leave the UNLV program since November 2007, and the fourth to transfer specifically because of a lack of playing time.

"I am a little disappointed I didn’t get to play more. I just wanted to go somewhere to play a bigger role," Mitchell said. "It’s nothing negative about UNLV at all."

The string of early exits could be construed as a sign that Rebels coach Lon Kruger and his staff are taking shots and missing too often on marginal recruits.

But attrition in most programs is not uncommon, and each of the six players to leave UNLV the past two seasons did so under different circumstances. There are several ways to spin transfer stories.

"Transferring today is so easy and so common that it’s just a normal part of the situation," Kruger said. "Any time you recruit, it’s hard to say how patient the players are going to be. Sometimes you can’t project that when you’re recruiting.

"The more patient players are, the more apt they are to get a chance to play. DeShawn wanted more opportunity to play, and we understand that, of course. He’s a young player who just needed time."

In December, 7-foot freshman Beas Hamga transferred from UNLV to Valparaiso. Hamga, who scored only five points in five games, was unhappy with his reserve role with the Rebels.

But Hamga was rated as a five-star recruit, not a marginal one. He failed to develop at an expected pace, and the hype surrounding him clearly did not match his talent.

Emmanuel Adeife, Lamar Roberson and Marcus Lawrence left UNLV during the 2007-08 season. Adeife, a 6-10 junior center, was dismissed the day after the season opener after complaining about playing time and arguing with Kruger.

Roberson, a 6-8 sophomore, left the team after 13 games. His attitude proved a poor fit for the program. Roberson and Adeife started their college careers at Houston, and both left UNLV for Louisiana-Lafayette.

Lawrence, a Bishop Gorman High graduate, was dismissed in February 2008 after he was in a one-vehicle accident and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Another marginal prospect was Troy Cage, who said he was essentially forced out of the program in May because Kruger said he would not play much as a sophomore. Cage attended a junior college in Texas last season and recently signed with Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Mitchell, an explosive leaper but weak jump shooter, said he was not encouraged to leave UNLV.

"Coach said I could stay. He didn’t say anything about me not playing. He just said I had to fight for minutes like everybody else," said Mitchell, who is from Newark, N.J., and hopes to transfer to a school close to home.

"I feel I could have worked a lot harder and improved my jump shot. This is really a last-minute decision."

Mitchell played in 21 of 32 games last season and averaged 1.6 points and 5.4 minutes per game. He shot 14-for-28 from the field, with most of his field goals being dunks and layups.

Mitchell scored 14 points in 14 minutes in the Rebels’ victory over Texas-Pan American on Nov. 18. But he rarely was a factor the remainder of the season.

UNLV’s depth chart is stacked with players similar in size to Mitchell.

"What really influenced his decision more than anything is he looked around and sees the number of other perimeter players," Kruger said. "I couldn’t assure DeShawn he would get a lot more playing time."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.