UNLV treats locals, out-of-towners alike

The official visit is a time-honored tradition in college football recruiting.

For 48 hours, players meet the team and the coaching staff, take tours of the facilities, check out classes and are well fed.

It’s an extremely important process, as many 17-year-old football players don’t know the ins and outs of a particular university or city.

But what if a player already lives in that city?

For UNLV, the official visit for the Las Vegas athlete is the same as the official visit for the Boise athlete or the Chicago athlete.

“The only difference is they’ll drive to the visit or we’ll go drive and pick them up,” said Kris Cinkovich, UNLV wide receivers coach and head Nevada recruiter. “The itineraries are identical. It’s important that you show the inner workings of the entire organization — the academics, the strength training, how they’ll live in the dorms.”

In the Internet age, when it takes a simple mouse click to learn just about anything about any university, the official visit is more important than ever.

The World Wide Web might tell a recruit about the weather, but what about Melinda Sanford’s pancakes?

“There’s a lot of things you find out on an official-visit weekend that you don’t find out by living here,” UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. “They end up getting hosted by our players, get a feel for our team. That’s something you don’t get if you don’t take an official visit. We have a breakfast over at my house, where they meet my wife, see my house.”

Bonding over breakfast is beginning to work for the Rebels. With Cinkovich using his high school coaching ties — the former Las Vegas High School head coach is still friendly with many local coaches — UNLV has 20 area players on its roster.

“It’s crucial to keep the best football players in this valley in this town,” Cinkovich said. “First, we need to improve this program with more wins. But it’s also important to keep building relationships with the players and coaches in town.”

In other recruiting news:

• Las Vegas linebacker Colin Shumate committed to San Diego State on Wednesday, picking the Aztecs over Air Force and Arizona State.

“Out of every other school, San Diego State really needed me the most,” Shumate said. “They showed me the plan they had specifically where I fit in, where I can contribute.”

• Canyon Springs quarterback Devonte Christopher verbally committed to Utah over Stanford and Colorado.

• Palo Verde offensive lineman Ethan Drellack has an unofficial visit scheduled with UNR on Jan. 24.

• Coronado wide receiver T.J. Knowles is setting up official visits to West Texas A&M and the University of South Dakota.