It appears it will be another week before blue chip shooting guard Noel Johnson makes his new college choice.

The 6-foot-7 Johnson, who originally signed a letter of intent to attend USC but later was granted his release in the wake of the O.J. Majo recruiting firestorm, visited UNLV over the weekend with his mother after taking an unofficial recruiting trip to North Carolina-Charlotte. His father, Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson, told Scout.com on Monday that his son will also take an official recruiting trip to Xavier starting on Wednesday. Xavier associate head coach Pat Kelsey previously recruited Johnson heavily when he was an assistant at Wake Forest.

“Cheese” Johnson, a longtime friend of Runnin’ Rebel assistant Lew Hill, told Scout.com that LSU and UConn also likely will receive recruiting visits and that Indiana is still in the running.

Johnson, who prepped at Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, Ga., was rated the nation’s No. 56 overall prospect in the Class of 2009 by Scout and is considered one of the nation’s top perimeter shooters.

“Cheese” Johnson said his son could make a decision in as early as seven days.

“We want to have everything done within a week, so where he picks he can get enrolled in summer school,” he told Scout.com.

Because the spring national letter of intent signing period ended in mid-May, Johnson will not sign another letter of intent this time around. His final decision will be made official when he actually enrolls in his new school of choice. Until then, schools recruiting Noel Johnson can not comment on his recruitment per NCAA rules.

“Cheese” Johnson said both the UNC Charlotte and UNLV visits “were very good.”

Robert Smith already owned a small spot in the Southern Nevada Hall of Fame as a key member of UNLV’s 1977 Final Four squad that was inducted back in 1998.

But Friday night at the Orleans Arena, Smith, who along with Greg Anthony are considered the top point guards in Runnin’ Rebel history, became just the fourth player in school history to be inducted into the prestigious Southern Nevada Hall of Fame joining Anthony (2006), Larry Johnson (2008) and Cliff Findlay (2001). Head coach Jerry Tarkanian (1998) is also a member as are the 1977 and 1990 Runnin’ Rebel men’s teams.

Smith, long distance running great Frank Plasso, local wrestling icon Jimmy May, the National Finals Rodeo and the man who built the Orleans Arena that housed Friday night’s star-studded event took place in, South Point Hotel owner Michael Gaughan, all were inducted in the Class of 2009.

“It’s a great honor to go in with all of these guys,” Smith, who currently is a coach and mentor at the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club of Nevada, said. “It’s something you can only dream of. Now that dream has some true. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

Just about every inductee or presenter mentioned the ever-present smile Smith displayed during the evening. If I were a local dentist, I’d hire him to be my pitchman.

Two other things that were brought up during the night about Smith: 1). What a first class person he is, and 2). the fact his No. 10 isn’t hanging up in the Thomas & Mack rafters along with his old “Hardway Eight” teammates, the late Glen “Gondo” Gondrezick and Reggie Theus.

I have a feeling that last fact will change in the near future. Both UNLV head coach Lon Kruger and athletic director Mike Hamrick attended the event and I’m sure will find a way to eliminate that oversight.

Some longtime Rebel basketball followers argue that Smith, who still holds school records for free throw percentage in a season (92.5 percent in 1976-77) and career (87.8 percent), is the greatest point guard in school history, not Rancho High product Anthony.

I am old enough to have watched both play. I’ll pull a Mike Sanford on that one and list them as 1A and 1B.

“Greg was a great one,” Smith said when asked who he thinks is greatest Rebel point guard of all-time. “I look back at all the guys who have been through here and we all had something different but we all were effective with what we were doing. I think if you put us all in a package, we were all great at some point.”

It’s too bad that the 1976-77 team didn’t get the overwhelming media exposure that college basketball teams get now. If so, it probably would have led the nation in TiVo recordings.

That squad, which fell to North Carolina, 84-83, in the Final Four in Atlanta, scored 100 points or more in 23 games that season including 12 in a row. And that was without the aid of the 3-point field goal or a 35-second shot clock.

“We had some shooters,” Smith, who had 195 assists that season, said. “You look at Tony Smith. You look at Sam Smith, Eddie Owens … Glen could shoot it when he wanted to, and I could knock a few down every now and then.”

That Theus fellow also wasn’t too shabby.

The 1975-76 squad that Smith quarterbacked a year earlier, which also cracked the 100-point barrier a remarkable 23 times that season, still holds the school record for scoring average at 110.5 points per game.

“We always wondered how many more points that we could have scored with the 3-pointer,” Smith admitted. “But I also wonder if the 3-pointer might have hurt us a little bit because we would have been all standing out there quite a bit. Percentages could have been up or down. Who knows? But we had some solid shooters.”

Not to mention one very talented and classy floor leader.

Former UNLV quarterback Steve Stallworth poses with South Point owner Michael Gaughan.

If Lon Kruger’s UNLV basketball team can make as much progress as his annual Coaches vs. Cancer event did this year, Runnin’ Rebel basketball fans might want to think about making plans to attend the Final Four. Or at least the Sweet Sixteen.

Despite dealing with the effects of a brutal economic recession, Kruger still managed to raise $150,000 for the American Cancer Society with the combination of his “Party at the Palms” on Sunday night at the Hardwood Suites at the Palms Casino Resort, and his two-day golf tournament at Southern Highlands and TPC Las Vegas on Monday and Tuesday.

“It went really well,” Melissa Stemmle, director of distinguished events for the American Cancer Society, said. “To make more money than we did a year ago in this economy really says a lot.”

This is the second year that Kruger has put on the event. Because of fewer expenses and better attendance at the Party at the Palms, the affair netted about $25,000 more than in its first year.

“We had a lot more people who wanted to donate this year,” Stemmle said.

That included TPC Las Vegas which donated the use of its course for the second day of golf.

“That was huge,” Stemmle said.

The Party at the Palms on Sunday night, which cost $100 per person, also sold 150 more tickets than in the inaugural year according to Stemmle.

Good news for basketball fans in the Mountain West Conference.

The prospect of spending a week in chilly Laramie or Provo in early March while rooting their team on in the annual conference basketball tournament was quietly shot down by Mountain West Conference presidents at their annual spring meeting in Denver that concluded on Monday.

The Mountain West Conference Board of Directors voted to keep both the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments at the Thomas & Mack Center through 2013. The league’s current deal with the Thomas & Mack had been set to expire after the 2010 tourney.

The Board, which is comprised of the Presidents of the nine MWC institutions, considered other options for the tournament including rotating it annually among multiple sites as well as holding the event at a neutral site. According to a press release issued the Mountain West Conference on Tuesday afternoon, “the Board also reviewed revenue implications and data compiled from extensive fan research. After further deliberation, a majority of the Board voted to award the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas the 2011-13 Mountain West Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.”

New Mexico men’s coach Steve Alford has been outspoken in the past about moving the MWC Tournament to a neutral site because he felt it was an unfair advantage for UNLV to play the tourney on its home floor. The winner of the MWC Tournament garners an automatic bid the NCAA Tournament. The Runnin’ Rebels won the MWC Tourney in both 2007 and 2008 but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runnerup San Diego State in 2009.

The MWC tried holding the tournament at a neutral site at Denver’s Pepsi Center in 2004-2006 but experienced very poor attendance. The conference then moved the tourney back to Las Vegas in 2007 where it has remained since with record turnouts.

Guard Noel Johnson (6-7, 180) of Fayette County (Ga.) High School, rated the No. 56 prospect in the Class of 2009 by Scout.com, has scheduled a recruiting trip to UNLV this weekend.

Johnson originally signed with USC but was recently granted his release from a letter of intent by the Trojans as the school braces for the fallout from accusations that head coach Tim Floyd gave cash to former star guard O.J. Mayo through one of his handlers.

“Any time you have a kid that is starting his freshman year, you want him to go into a calmer setting rather than having a cloud over (his) head,” Noel’s father, Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson, recently told Scout.com. “(USC) was his No. 1 choice because he liked the school, coach Floyd and (assistant) coach (Bob) Cantu. But the fact remains that you can’t move that cloud.”

Johnson, rated the No. 13 shooting guard by Scout.com, is also considering LSU, Georgia Tech, UNC-Charlotte and Wichita State, where his father starred in college. “Cheese” Johnson and Rebel assistant Lew Hill, also a Wichita State alum, are longtime friends.

Noel Johnson, regarded as one of the top 3-point shooters in the Class of 2009, would be eligible to compete this fall at whatever school he enrolls at. He is expected to make his decision by the end of the month.

Lon Kruger and Greg Anthony at the Coaches vs. Cancer Party at the Palms Sunday night.

Greg Anthony had just flown cross-country from New York and didn’t even had time to check into his hotel room when he stopped by Lon Kruger’s second annual Coaches vs. Cancer Party at The Palms event on Sunday night in the famed Hardwood Suite at The Palms Casino Resort.

Anthony, the star point guard on UNLV’s 1990 national championship squad and arguably the toughest Runnin’ Rebel of them all, said the cause is one that is very near and dear to his heart.

“Coaches vs. Cancer is a wonderful organization,” Anthony said. “Cancer in general has just profoundly impacted my life. My mother died from it at the age of 49, my grandfather … so I always try to get involved.”

The Rancho High product, now arguably the No. 1 college basketball commentator in the nation for CBS, is a big fan of Kruger for both his coaching and off the court charitable acts.

“What Coach Kruger and the rest of the coaches have done in trying to get the message out and to promote this cause and raise dollars for it I think has been significant,” Anthony said. “I think it’s going to continue to grow. We had an amazing turnout (Sunday night). I think they’re going to raise a lot of money. It’s always nice to be able to come back and give back in your own community.

“Coach Kruger is unbelievable,” Anthony continued. “He’s done a great job with the program and also a great job within the community.”

The Hardwood Suite was packed with coaches like Cal’s Mike Montgomery, Kansas State’s Frank Martin, Creighton’s Dana Altman, San Diego’s Bill Grier, Utah’s Jim Boylen, Wyoming’s Heath Schroyer and as well as former Rebel head coaches Charlie Spoonhour, Max Good (now at Loyola Marymount) and, of course, Jerry Tarkanian. UNLV’s cheer squad was also on hand as well as some Playboy bunnies, one of which was a pretty fair shooter.

While many of the coaches took part in a “Hot Shot” shooting competition with fans who paid $50 to challenge them, Tark the Shark watched nearby from a small table. A number of fans, coaches and former players stopped by to chat and pose for the pictures with the UNLV coaching legend including Kruger and son Kevin.

“It’s a great event,” Tarkanian said. “It’s a great cause, everybody knows that. I think it’s fun for guys like me to come back and see a lot of the coaches and renew old friendships. It’s a great event. I really enjoy it.”

Jerry Tarkanian (left) poses with Kevin and Lon Kruger at Coaches vs. Cancer Party at the Palms on Sunday night

The turnout for the Party at the Palms, which cost $100 per person and benefits the American Cancer Society, was nearly double that from the inaugural event a year ago.

The MVP was Kruger. Hard to believe it’s been less than two years since he had major heart surgery. For four hours he never stopped moving, posing for pictures, shaking hands, and taking on all comers in shooting contests. I was exhausted just watching him. And at the age of 56, he was arguably the best shooter on a court that also included former Rebels Curtis Terry, Corey Bailey and son Kevin Kruger.

The Coaches vs. Cancer event continues today and Tuesday with a golf tournament at Southern Highlands and TPC Las Vegas.

I was walking through the supermarket today when I stopped by the magazine rack and noticed that not one but two college football magazines had already made their way to the shelves.

I guess it shows your age when you remember when you were lucky to see one football magazine out by the Fourth of July. Now both Lindy’s and Sporting News are on the shelves in May with Athlon probably not far behind.

Here are a few of the highlights:

* UNLV is picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference by Lindy’s and sixth by Sporting News.

* The Rebels are ranked No. 81 out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division 1-A) teams by Lindy’s right behind Marshall. Nevada is No. 69 while Hawaii is No. 89. Western Kentucky comes in at No. 120.

* Lindy’s picks TCU to win the Mountain West Conference and ranks the Horned Frogs No. 14 nationally with Utah (No. 23) and BYU (No. 25) also cracking the Top 25. The Sporting News picked Utah to repeat as champions and ranked the Utes No. 19 overall ahead of BYU (No. 22) and TCU (No. 24).

* Wide receiver Ryan Wolfe and linebacker Jason Beauchamp were both first team all-MWC picks by Lindy’s with junior offensive tackle Matt Murphy a second team choice. Wolfe and Beauchamp also made the Sporting News’ all-MWC squad. That magazine didn’t pick a second team.

* Lindy’s rated Wolfe as “the most dangerous deep threat” in the MWC while The Sporting News said the 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior had the “best instincts” of any player in the MWC and acknowledged talented sophomore receiver Phillip Payne as possessing “the best hands” in the conference.

* Lindy’s ranks Wolfe as the nation’s No. 19 wide receiver right ahead of Notre Dame’s Malcom Floyd.

* The Sporting News projects just three Mountain West teams in bowl games: Utah (Poinsettia), BYU (Las Vegas again) and TCU (Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth). It has Nevada finishing second to Boise State in the WAC and playing in the New Mexico Bowl.

* Lindy’s projects a Florida vs. Texas matchup in the Jan. 7, 2010 BCS National Championship game at the Rose Bowl. It has USC facing Ohio State six days earlier in the Rose Bowl, Virginia Tech playing West Virginia in the Orange Bowl, LSU against Penn State in the Sugar and Oklahoma and Boise State in a Fiesta Bowl rematch. Both magazines rank Florida No. 1.

UPDATE: Came across the national edition of Athlon on Monday morning at Albertsons. Rebels are ranked No. 84 in that magazine.

It’s been 35 years since UNLV head basketball coach Lon Kruger claimed his second consecutive Big Eight Conference Player of the Year Award at Kansas State. But the popular Runnin’ Rebels’ head coach has decided to dust off his jump shot for a very good cause on Sunday night.

Kruger is hosting his second annual Coaches vs. Cancer Party at the Palms in the famed Hardwood Suite at The Palms Casino Resort starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are priced at $100 and benefit the American Cancer Society.

One of the highlights will be a silent auction that includes such prizes as a one hour putting lesson from UNLV golf coach Dwaine Knight, a round of golf with Kruger and Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux at Southern Highlands, a UNLV Runnin’ Rebel Game Day Experience that includes a pre-game meal with Kruger and the Rebels as well as four plaza tickets and an autographed ball, and an autographed Anna Kournikova picture and tennis t-shirt, to name just a few.

The Party at the Palms is also an excellent chance to meet, eat and mingle with Kruger and about two dozen head basketball coaches including former Rebels Jerry Tarkanian, Charlie Spoonhour and Max Good in the exclusive Hardwood Suite, which Palms owner George Maloof offered this week to President Barack Obama as a place to stay during a future Las Vegas visit.

If the President is as big of hoops nut as he claims to be, he might want to make the Hardwood Suite the new Western White House. It’s that nice … especially if you are a basketball junkie. Wooden floors, glass backboards and a locker room that’s nicer than most 5-star hotel suites. It’s worth the price of admission alone.

Kruger said people this year can also challenge coaches at the event to a shooting contest.

“Anyone at the function can challenge a coach to the shooting contest for $50,” Kruger said. “You’ll shoot from five different spots on the floor. If you beat (the coach), you get a $50 certificate to a local restaurant.”

Kruger said the $50 entry fee will help send a child with cancer to a summer camp. So it’s a win-win for everybody no matter how many air balls you jack up.

I’ve thought about challenging our fine old Rebel Nation columnist but I’m not as stupid as I look. Maybe if Lon agrees to wear a blindfold. That might make it a fair fight.

Kruger is also hosting his Coaches vs. Cancer golf tournament on Monday and Tuesday. For further information on both events, contact Melissa Stemmle of the American Cancer Society at 702-891-9012.

Thanks to an NCAA rule which allows schools playing games at Hawaii to play a 13th game in a season, UNLV last week was able to add an attractive non-conference football game at Big East heavyweight West Virginia in 2010.

The Rebels figure to clear about $600,000 after expenses for that contest, a nice chunk of change for an athletic department looking at a potential $1 million deficit. So why don’t the Rebels hit the road for some more big paydays in the future?

Turns out UNLV’s schedule, other than one 2013 date that senior associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie is close to filling, is already booked up until 2018.

For those Rebel football followers who like to plan ahead … make that way ahead … here’s UNLV’s future non-conference football schedules through 2018:

2009: Sept. 5 vs. Sacramento State; Sept. 12 vs. Oregon State; Sept. 19 vs. Hawaii; Oct. 3 at Nevada.

2010: Sept. 4 vs. Wisconsin; Sept. 18 at Idaho; Oct. 2 vs. Nevada; Oct. 9 at West Virginia; Dec. 4 at Hawaii.

2011: at Wisconsin; at Washington State; vs. Hawaii; at Nevada.

2012: vs. Minnesota; vs. Washington State; vs. Nevada; at Hawaii.

2013: at Minnesota; vs. Arizona; at Nevada; vs. TBA.

2014: at Arizona; vs. Nevada; vs. Navy; at Hawaii.

2015: vs. UCLA; at Navy; vs. Hawaii; at Nevada.

2016: vs. Idaho; at UCLA; at Navy; vs. Nevada.

2017: at Idaho; vs. Hawaii; vs. Navy; at Nevada.

The Rebels are scheduled to play at Hawaii in 2018 and will host Nevada that year. Two other games need to be added.

UNLV also already has a home-and-home lined up with Iowa State in 2020 (at Ames) and 2021.

Nobody was happier with the news Wednesday that UNLV would be playing a football game at West Virginia next year than senior associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie, the man who along with athletic director Mike Hamrick helped to broker the $740,000 payday.

The school should clear an extra $600,000 after expenses for playing a 13th game next season, something that certainly doesn’t hurt in these extremely difficult economic times. But Koloskie (1980), as well as longtime director of athletic training Kyle Wilson (1982) and assistant athletic director for operations and facilities Erik Schwarz (1993), are all graduates of West Virginia. Hamrick, meanwhile, graduated from college a couple hours south in Huntington at Marshall.

“From the time I was six years old until I left (for Iowa State in 1980) I never missed a football game,” Koloskie, who was on hand when WVU upset eventual Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett and Pitt in the annual Backyard Brawl in 1975, said. “I’ve never been to a game in the new Mountaineer Field which they built after I left. I still have a lot of friends back there and my parents live nearby in Fairmont. I’ve always wanted to go back there for a game but it has never quite worked out.”

Koloskie did get to go back to Morgantown once with UNLV as basketball trainer for Jerry Tarkanian on Feb. 27, 1983. The No. 1 rated Runnin’ Rebels, perhaps still smarting from an 86-78 loss to Leon Wood-led Cal State Fullerton three nights earlier, lost that one, 87-78.

“It will be a great time of the year to go back there,” Koloskie said of the Oct. 9 date. “The leaves should be turning and the weather will hopefully be nice. It’s going to be a lot of fun for me.”

Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium has a reputation for being one of the rowdiest in the nation … and for good reason. Many fans begin showing up and tailgating on Friday in anticipation for the game the next day.

“I talked a friend of mine and he plans on getting there on Thursday night,” Koloskie said. “People drive in a day or two early from all over the state. Games there are a major happening. It should be fun.”

This is supposed to be time for a break for UNLV football players like Ryan Wolfe.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior All-American candidate received his diploma in kinesiology earlier this month and summer conditioning drills for the Rebels don’t officially begin until June 1st. But Wolfe along with about two dozen other football players were busy pumping iron under the supervision of strength coach John Grieco at the Lied Athletic Complex when I stopped by earlier this week.

“It’s great to just get back into the swing of things,” Wolfe said between sips of a protein shake. “As Coach Cink (wide receivers coach Kris Cinkovich) says, it isn’t that hard to get back into shape if you never allow yourself to get out of shape. I’m just trying to maintain and work on some little things and kind of get these young guys going a little.”

With his degree already in hand, it would be easy for Wolfe to be back home in southern California relaxing on the beach until June 1. But the man who already holds school career receiving records for catches (209), receiving yards (2,735) and 100-yard receiving games (10) said he’d rather get a head start on his final season in a UNLV uniform.

“Being an athlete, for me at least, I get kind of stir-crazy if I don’t have too many things going on,” Wolfe said. “If I went home and just hung out on the couch all day, I’d be over it in three days and want to come back and start working out again. It’s good to find some positive things to keep your time occupied.”

Wolfe plans to start work in graduate school this summer for a degree in sports education and leadership. He says he’s working out now so he can be ready to go when the team’s official summer conditioning workouts begin in two weeks.

“It’s great to get a crash course now so you’re not struggling in June,” he said.

Wolfe also has perhaps more riding on his senior season than any other Rebel. NFLDraftScout.com currently ranks him the 25th best wide receiver prospect for the 2010 NFL Draft and ranks him as a potential 6th or 7th round pick. Of course, that can change dramatically between now and next April. Just ask former Rebel running back Frank “The Tank” Summers who wasn’t even on the NFL radar at this time last year but wound up getting drafted in the fifth round by the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

“That’s so far away right now,” Wolfe said of the NFL Draft. “Right now I’m just focusing on the guys around me. I’m real happy for Frank and all the other guys I know who made it on some NFL teams but right now I’m just focused on this team.”

UNLV’s basketball program has enjoyed some recruiting success in the Houston area in recent years including guards Wink Adams and Michael Umeh.

Runnin’ Rebel head coach Lon Kruger can only hope that lanky 6-foot-10 center prospect Henry Buckley measures up to that standard before he’s done.

The senior from Wheatley High School in Houston, who quietly took an official recruiting trip to UNLV this past weekend, signed a national letter of intent with the Rebels on Tuesday.

Buckley, who averaged seven blocks and 7.3 rebounds en route to first team all-District 22-4A honors in Houston, received a late recruiting rush following a strong showing in several Texas spring events.

“He had several mid and high major schools interested in him but I don’t want to name them,” Keith White, head coach of the Houston Hoop Stars AAU team, said. “UNLV is getting a kid who really works hard and wants to get better. He’s a shot-blocker who runs the floor well and also is a really good rebounder and team player.”

The one knock on Buckley is that he tips the scales at just 200 pounds. For that reason he will attend prep school for a year, most likely The Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C., before enrolling at UNLV in the fall of 2010.

“He’s pretty thin right now and needs to get stronger,” White said. “He needs more experience. He’s a late-bloomer. But he’s a kid who will work really hard to get better. I think he’s going to be a really good player before he’s done there.”

On the surface Buckley sounds like another raw shot-blocker who eventually starred for Kruger at UNLV … Joel Anthony.

“Joel was much bigger and stronger when he came here (from junior college),” Kruger said. “But Henry has a lot of upside to him. The thing that is impressive about him is that he has such a great attitude and realizes that he is going to need to work hard to get to where he wants to be. He just needs time.”

Buckley’s stock shot up during the recent spring “Ice Breaker” Tourney in Houston. Eteamz.com called Buckley “the state’s best kept defensive weapon.”

“He had several games where he had double digits in both blocks and rebounds,” White said.

ESPN.com’s Insider gave the following evaluation of Buckley last October:

“October, 2008: Buckley is an extra long and thin athlete. He has good bounce, runs the floor with ease and changes shots with his length on the defense end of the floor. He finishes over defenders by extending over them with good touch and body control around the basket. He is active and a good rebounder on both ends. In the post he showed a right hand jump hook over his left shoulder. Buckley has good upside but must add strength to raise his level of recruiting. Overall a very intriguing prospect.”

White said Buckley will play for his Houston Hoops Stars team in the Reebok Invitational Tournament in Las Vegas on July 22-26.

UNLV released its 2009-10 men’s basketball non-conference schedule this afternoon and it appears to be an attractive one for Runnin’ Rebel fans.

The Rebels will host Rick Pitino’s defending Big East champion Louisville Cardinals on Saturday, Nov. 28, in a rematch of last year’s nationally televised New Year’s Eve thriller won by UNLV, 56-55. The time of the game has not been released but will likely be around 1 p.m. because the Rebel football team hosts San Diego State later that day at 6 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium.

In-state rival Nevada visits the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Other key local games include Southern Illinois on Nov. 21 in the inaugural Challenge Series between Mountain West Conference and Missouri Valley Conference schools, Patriot League runnerup Holy Cross on Nov. 25 and Big 12 power Kansas State on Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Orleans Arena.

The road schedule includes games at Arizona (Dec. 2), Santa Clara (Dec. 5), Southern Utah (Dec. 15) as well as a spot in the eight-team Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu (Dec. 22-25). That made-for-ESPN tournament also features schools like USC, Saint Mary’s, SMU, College of Charleston and Hawaii.

The Rebels once again open their season with an exhibition against Washburn (Kan.) on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The marquee game, however, will be the Nov. 28 contest against Louisville and one-time UNLV head coaching candidate Pitino, who left the court at Freedom Hall on Dec. 31 without shaking UNLV head coach Lon Kruger’s hand after his team’s stunning home loss.

“I think that got kind of blown out of proportion,” Kruger said of the incident.

As for the overall schedule …

“It’s a challenging schedule that will prepare us for conference play,” Kruger said. “It’s a good mix of strong programs from bigger conferences along with competitive programs from smaller conferences. We’ll be tested at home, on the road and at neutral sites.”

Here’s the entire non-conference schedule. The Mountain West Conference usually doesn’t release it’s part of the schedule until July.

Day Date Opponent Location
Tues. Nov. 10 Washburn (exhibition) Las Vegas
Sat. Nov. 14 Pittsburg State Las Vegas
Wed. Nov. 18 Nevada, Reno Las Vegas
Sat. Nov. 21 Southern Illinois Las Vegas
Wed. Nov. 25 Holy Cross Las Vegas
Sat. Nov. 28 Louisville Las Vegas
Wed. Dec. 2 at Arizona Tucson, Ariz.
Sat. Dec. 5 at Santa Clara Santa Clara, Calif.
Sat. Dec. 12 vs. Kansas State (at Orleans Arena) Las Vegas
Tues. Dec. 15 at Southern Utah Cedar City, Utah
Thurs. Dec. 17 Weber State Las Vegas
Sat. Dec. 19 South Carolina-Upstate Las Vegas
Tues. Dec. 22 Diamond Head Classic * Honolulu, Hawaii
Wed. Dec. 23 Diamond Head Classic * Honolulu, Hawaii
Fri. Dec. 25 Diamond Head Classic * Honolulu, Hawaii

* Eight-team tournament run by ESPN Regional Television, Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN. Participants include: host Hawaii, UNLV, USC, SMU, College of Charleston, Saint Mary’s and Western Michigan. The eighth team is yet to be determined.

BULLETIN: UNLV signed 6-10 center Henry Buckley of Houston Wheatley to a national letter of intent today. Buckley will attend prep school next fall, however, and not enroll at UNLV until the fall semester in 2010.

UNLV hosted 6-foot-10 “sleeper” center prospect Henry Buckley of Wheatley High in Houston this past weekend.

Buckley, a slender (200 pounds) long-armed shot blocker who is expected to attend prep school at The Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C., next fall, was a first team all-District 22-4A selection as a senior when he averaged 6.9 blocks and 7.3 rebounds per game. One Texas scouting service ranked him as the No. 17 senior in the greater Houston area this year just ahead of 6-8 New Mexico-bound Matt Staff of Houston Memorial.

Buckley’s stock shot up during the recent spring “Ice Breaker” Tourney in Houston. Eteamz.com called Buckley “the state’s best kept defensive weapon.”

ESPN.com’s Insider gave the following evaluation of Buckley last October:

“October, 2008: Buckley is an extra long and thin athlete. He has good bounce, runs the floor with ease and changes shots with his length on the defense end of the floor. He finishes over defenders by extending over them with good touch and body control around the basket. He is active and a good rebounder on both ends. In the post he showed a right hand jump hook over his left shoulder. Buckley has good upside but must add strength to raise his level of recruiting. Overall a very intriguing prospect.”

If Buckley does enroll in prep school as expected, he would have to sign a letter of intent with the Rebels either during the early signing period in November or next April. …

Although all indications are that 6-foot-8 power forward Quintrell Thomas will eventually transfer from Kansas to UNLV, the former Top 100 recruit from St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey added a recruiting trip to Iona today.

Thomas has also visited UNLV, St. Joseph’s and Siena and is reportedly interested in St. Bonaventure as well. The New York Daily News reported that Iona currently does not have a scholarship available to give if Thomas did decide to transfer there.

Stay tuned. …

Look for UNLV to release its 2009-10 basketball schedule early next week.

Last time we checked in on Lon Kruger’s squad they still had two home games to fill. Once of those went to Big Sky power Weber State. The other, as we speculated here earlier, will be a rematch with defending Big East champion Louisville on Thanksgiving weekend.

Wonder if Rick Pitino will stick around to shake hands with Kruger after this one? He didn’t when the teams last met on New Year’s Eve in Freedom Hall after the Rebels pulled a stunning 56-55 upset.

It will be a busy Saturday for Rebel fans. Mike Sanford’s football squad hosts San Diego State that night in its regular season finale.

The Runnin’ Rebels will also play Kansas State in neutral court game at the Orleans Arena during their rodeo break from the Thomas & Mack Center. Road games include Arizona, Santa Clara, Southern Utah and the made-for-ESPN Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu on Dec. 22-25. USC, Saint Mary’s, SMU, Hawaii, College of Charleston, Western Michigan and a team to be determined make up the rest of that field. …

Still no official word on the transfer of 6-foot-8 Kansas forward Quintrell Thomas to UNLV but all signs point to Thomas eventually wearing Rebel red. Rumor has it St. Bonaventure may also be in the picture. He also visited Siena and St. Joseph’s. …

Former Rebel 7-foot center Beas Hamga, a 5-star recruit by rivals.com who transferred to Valparaiso in January, is on the move again, this time to junior college. “He thinks there’s a better fit some other place,” Valpo head coach Homer Drew told the Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune. “We were expecting a lot out of him. He’s a 7-footer who can shoot the basketball and we thought it was a good fit from the standpoint that we could help him get better and he could help us get better.”

Kind of get the feeling that Beas is getting some poor advice from his inner-circle? From UNLV to Valpo to junior college in the span of five months is what most would classify as a downward spiral. …