What a difference a year makes.
After losing to Utah in the final seconds of the championship game of the Mountain West tournament last year and then losing popular interim head coach Jay Spoonhour just hours later, many UNLV players made it clear they had no interest in playing in the NIT.
In fact, two starters -- center J.K. Edwards and forward Odartey Blankson -- even missed the bus to McCarran Airport for the team's flight to Boise and did not start the next night against Boise State. Not so surprisingly, the flat Rebels were embarrassed by the Broncos, 84-69.
But as they showed up for practice Monday in preparation for this year's NIT opener against Arizona State at 9 p.m. Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV players said they were excited at the opportunity to get to play again this season.
Even Blankson.
"It was pretty exciting (Sunday night) when we found out," Blankson said.
Why the difference this time around?
"Last year we had the coaching change and it was a different situation," Blankson said. "At least the younger guys can get a chance to play in the postseason and try and build on it."
And for seniors like Blankson, who recently received an invitation to participate in the NBA's Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational Tournament on April 6-9, point guard Jerel Blassingame, guard Romel Beck and swingman Andy Hannan, it's a chance to keep playing college basketball for a little while longer.
"Last year was a little different with everything so up in the air," Hannan said. "And we were coming off such a devastating loss. And then we had all the things going on with the coaching situation. It was a tough time.
"This year we're happy to continue playing. We're disappointed of course about the way the conference tournament turned out but now we're in a nationally televised game against a good Pac-10 team. It gives you something to look forward to."
"We're seniors," Blassingame said. "I think the seniors know it might be our last game so we want to cherish the moment."
Monday afternoon's 100-minute workout appeared to be one of the team's sharper ones of the season.
"They bounced back good," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "I think the guys are excited about playing. There's only 100 teams in the country doing that now. ... Guys are feeling good about what they're doing. And they're working hard at it."
Johnson, who already has visited Penn State and Virginia Tech and is also being recruited by Oregon, Georgetown and St. John's, originally signed with Clemson after attending Pendleton School, a branch of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. However, he failed to qualify academically.
Carter said his son would likely make a college decision by the end of next week and said UNLV is the leader for his services.
"They contacted us early on," Carter said. "We like the program and we like the coaches."
UNLV director of media relations Andy Grossman said the move was made at the request of the NIT.
"Put it in perspective," Kruger said. "My son is fortunate to be playing at Arizona State. We're fortunate to be at UNLV. There's people with a lot more problems than that. It's kind of an interesting story, but golly ..."
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