UNLV backs off Findlay guard

No player on the Findlay College Prep basketball team suffers from a lack of exposure to college recruiters, so point guard Jorge Gutierrez knows his game is no secret.

But Gutierrez is the only Pilots senior who remains uncommitted to a Division I school.

“I’m surrounded by the best players in the country, so I think at one point they had to look at me a little bit,” he said. “I’m concerned about it. I just hope I get the right place to play.”

The 6-foot-3-inch Gutierrez, from Chihuahua, Mexico, apparently will not get the offer he hoped for from UNLV.

Rebels coach Lon Kruger has one scholarship remaining for his 2008 recruiting class, and for a while, Kruger and his staff had interest in Gutierrez.

“They were talking to me, but then they stopped,” Gutierrez said. “I was looking at them because I like that school. But if they don’t need me, I’ve got to keep looking. If they think other people are better, then I respect that.”

UNLV has little need for a point guard after recently getting an oral commitment from Oscar Bellfield, a 6-1 senior from Westchester High School in Los Angeles.

Findlay Prep coach Mike Peck said Gutierrez could be an “unbelievable steal” for whatever program gets him. Gutierrez is getting looks from Minnesota, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Texas-El Paso and UC Santa Barbara, among others.

“Somebody is going to get a player that’s going to help them and their school win a ton of games over the next four years,” Peck said. “That kid has consistently proved himself in terms of being able to play at a high level.”

There are questions about Gutierrez’s academic eligibility. He attended Lincoln High School in Denver for two years before moving to Findlay Prep last summer.

“I think there’s a good chance he’s going to qualify,” said Peck, who has been communicating regularly about Gutierrez with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Gutierrez averaged 13.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the Pilots, who finished the season 32-1.

Five other Findlay Prep seniors are committed to colleges — 6-10 center Brice Massamba (UNLV), 6-6 point guard DeAndre Liggins (Kentucky), 6-5 guard Curtis Dennis (New Mexico), 6-5 guard Deividas Dulkys (Florida State) and 6-0 point guard Jacques Streeter (Cal State Fullerton).

Carlos Lopez, a 6-10 junior forward from Puerto Rico, orally committed to UNLV last week.

The Rebels are pursuing another Findlay Prep underclassman, 6-8 junior forward Clarence Trent, a highly touted player from Gig Harbor, Wash.

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