Bailey flourishes as senior, citizen

One semester at UNLV was all it took for Corey Bailey to reach a crossroads. He already had endured some hard times, including an eye-opening stay in jail, and another obstacle was in his path.

His first academic progress report of his junior year arrived, and it was obvious he was not making progress.

"I took a lot for granted and didn't handle some things in class," said Bailey, describing his first-semester grades as "Cs and Ds, and maybe a B here and an F there."

Rebels assistant coach Steve Henson called him in for a lecture.

"I sat down with Coach Henson, and he asked me, was I trying to stay in school or was I trying to leave?" Bailey said. "I thought about it. I came this far, and there was no sense in me turning around and going the other way with it.

"I think I've matured a lot over the two years I've been here. I came a long way with my academics and basketball."

Bailey, a 6-foot-5-inch forward, will play the final regular-season game of his college career Saturday, when UNLV hosts Utah at the Thomas & Mack Center. He traveled a long, winding road to get to this point. Bailey is a 27-year-old senior, but his age is not the strangest part of his story.

After graduating from East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs, Fla., in 2000, Bailey was unable to achieve the test scores needed to enter college. Instead, he spent about three years working a blue-collar job in the air conditioning trade near Tampa.

He soon ran into trouble. He was cited three times for driving with a suspended license, and the third time, he was arrested and spent 45 days in the Pinellas County Jail.

But, as Bailey said, he was lucky. On two of the stops, he was transporting cocaine and marijuana, but police did not search his car. Bailey said he was not dealing or using drugs, just moving them for friends to make extra money.

"It was a blessing," he said of avoiding more serious charges. "After that happened, I was ready to get back in school."

In 2004, Bailey went to Butler Community College in Kansas, where he began to blossom as a basketball player.

Rebels coach Lon Kruger said he did a background check, and an adviser who helped Bailey get to junior college had "nothing but great things to say about him." Kruger was confident Bailey's bad decisions were behind him.

Until recently, Bailey's tale of jail time wasn't one he shared with UNLV teammates.

"I don't even think they knew," he said. "I don't think they found out until I brought the story out this year."

When he started attending classes on the Las Vegas campus in the fall of 2006, Bailey said he felt out of place.

"I was much older than a lot of guys playing D-I basketball," he said. "I was saying, 'I shouldn't be here. I should be out working.' I really didn't have a lot of confidence and I was always second-guessing myself."

Last summer Bailey began seeing Dr. Ed Klein, a sports psychologist who volunteered to work with some Rebels players. Klein teaches Bailey to visualize himself succeeding, and Bailey said the sessions helped him believe in his academic and athletic potential.

As a junior, Bailey played in 33 of 37 games, starting seven, and averaged just 2.8 points. This season he has started all 29 games for a UNLV team that is 22-7. He is averaging 6.7 points and is one of the team's strongest defenders.

A university studies major, Bailey said he will need to complete two summer courses to earn his degree.

"I got my head right, and now I'm making As and Bs," he said. "As time progressed, I learned to have confidence in myself."

Kruger is pleased to report Bailey has made progress.

"It appears his confidence level has gone way up, and his self-esteem, his assuredness has really improved," Kruger said. "I think that has translated to better minutes on the court. Corey's having a real solid senior year.

"I think when he first came, he really had a lot of questions as to what was going to happen, how he was going to take to it all and what impact he would have, and as it's turned out, it's been a really good story."

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