RANKING THE REBELS: 21 – Richie “The Animal” Adams

RICHIE "THE ANIMAL" ADAMS

Years: 1981-82, 1983 to 1985

Career highlights:

■ Ranks 24th on UNLV’s career scoring list with 1,168 points in three seasons.

■ Led Rebels in scoring and rebounding in 1983-84 and 1984-85 and was voted Big West Player of Year both seasons.

■ Scored career-high 37 points in 142-140 triple-overtime win at Utah State on Jan. 2, 1985.

■ Rebels compiled 57-10 record and won three NCAA Tournament games in his last two seasons.

Quotable: "Everybody loved him. But every time he went back to New York he got in trouble. It was sad." — Jerry Tarkanian, former UNLV coach

After UNLV: In 1998 Adams was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 1996 beating death of a 15-year-old girl in New York. A day after being drafted by the NBA’s Washington Bullets in 1985, he was arrested on an auto theft charge.