Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Menzies’ pitch lures Ofoegbu
Grad transfer guard’s choice pleases family, Rebels coach
UNLV wasn’t even on Uche Ofoegbu’s mind until his phone rang.
On the other end was Marvin Menzies, who had just taken over as the Rebels’ basketball coach.
This conversation was different from the others for Ofoegbu, a graduate transfer at San Francisco. Menzies spoke with Ofoegbu as if he was a regular human being and not simply a recruiting object.
“I didn’t see myself coming to UNLV at first, but when I talked to Coach Menzies, I had to,” Ofoegbu said. “I had to be part of what he was trying to build here. We connected on and off the court. Even though I’m only going to have him for one year, it’s a lifetime relationship to me.”
Ofoegbu, a 6-foot-4-inch senior guard, chose the Rebels over Atlantic Coast Conference schools Georgia Tech and Miami, a relief to his family. Menzies not only had gone straight to the source in recruiting Ofoegbu, but he also made a strong impression on his support system.
“He was the only coach in the recruiting process to talk to my mom, all my brothers, my two sisters, cousin,” Ofoegbu said. “He was all in with it. My family liked him. We prayed about it and talked about it every day. My family wouldn’t tell me what decision to make, but when I told them I was leaning toward UNLV and Coach Menzies, they were like, ‘That’s what we wanted to tell you, too, but we couldn’t say it. We wanted you to make your own decision.’”
In landing Ofoegbu, the Rebels got a player who last season at San Francisco averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds. He also made 50.8 percent of his shots, including 43.5 percent of 3-pointers.
Ofoegbu showed off those shooting skills in three exhibition games in August in the Bahamas, where he averaged 15.7 points. He made 46.9 percent of his shots (15 of 32), though just 20 percent (2 of 10) from the 3-point arc.
“It’s not necessarily all about scoring big numbers every night, it’s basically doing what’s necessary to win,” Ofoegbu said. “It’s my last year, so that’s what I want to be known as is a winner. So if my team needs me to score a whole bunch of points, if they need me to get down and get dirty defensively and guard the best player on the team, I’m going to do that.”
Ofoegbu is one of two graduate transfers. UNLV also picked up 6-7 forward Christian Jones from St. John’s.
“Their importance is, I think, exponential when you look at where we were and how we wanted to put our depth chart together,” Menzies said. “We needed some fifth-year guys.”
Just how the team comes together and exactly what Ofoegbu’s part will be in that development will be known beginning with the Nov. 11 season opener against South Alabama at the Thomas & Mack Center.
He, for certain, will be an important piece.
He’s a player Menzies is glad to have on the roster. The soft sell worked.
“As they say, keep it 100,” Menzies said. “I’ve always operated that way. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve always felt like when you’re just honest and you just present your wares, either the person wants to buy them or they don’t. You can sell them something with great salesmanship, and then they get there and they’re not happy, then that’s not good, either. That’s one of the reasons the transfer rate is so high.
“I’m never going to sit in front of somebody’s grandmother or parents and lie to them. I refuse to do it. The day I’ve got do that, I’ll freakin’ go back to high school.”