Bailey ready to answer call for Rebels

After graduating from high school, Corey Bailey spent about three years as a blue-collar employee, learning the air conditioning trade near his hometown of Tampa, Fla.

In his first year at UNLV, he looked a lot like a 9-to-5 repairman learning to be a basketball player.

Lacking confidence and struggling to adjust to college life, Bailey barely saw the floor in several games. When he was on the floor, he usually wanted to hide.

Everyone noticed it, too, and let him know about it.

"I was getting crazy phone calls from friends. They were saying, 'What are you doing? You get in the game and you look lost.' I was already kind of down and out, so I didn't want them to be in my ear," he said.

Bailey stopped answering his phone, saying he "strayed away" from friends because he was tired of hearing the same criticisms.

Now, there is nowhere to hide. The five seniors who led the Rebels to a 30-7 record and the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 last season are gone.

Bailey is one of two seniors -- along with Curtis Terry -- on a young team facing a rebuilding job. He must be a major contributor for it to be a successful one.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger predicts it will be a "breakout year" for Bailey, a 6-foot-5-inch forward who averaged just 2.8 points and 9.8 minutes per game as a junior.

"Corey knows the opportunity is going to be there, and I think he's going to take it and run with it," Kruger said.

It's time for that to happen. After working in the real world and spending two years at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., Bailey is no kid anymore. He turns 27 on Nov. 23, making him a relative graybeard among college basketball players.

But after so much time away from the game, he is still learning.

Kruger has encouraged Bailey to play instinctively and let his natural ability show. He tells him to be more assertive and more confident. He tells him he can be a great player.

He also told him the same things last season.

"It was me who had to believe it in order for it to happen," Bailey said. "I'm starting to believe it more and more."

Bailey welcomes the positive reinforcement. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he meets for about 15 minutes with Ed Kline, a sports psychologist who volunteered to work with some players. Bailey receives motivation and is told to visualize himself succeeding.

He's becoming a more aggressive person in all areas. A university studies major, Bailey said his grades have improved because he's more confident in the classroom.

"It's a huge step for me," he said. "I kind of hurt myself last year because I didn't have a lot of confidence. It's not that Coach Kruger didn't want to play me, but I don't think he felt like I had the confidence in myself to be out on the floor.

"I worried about making mistakes instead of actually playing. There were a lot of times where I was thinking and wondering and going out there and not even knowing what to do sometimes."

Bailey did show brief flashes of his potential last season, when he started seven of the 33 games he played in. He scored 10 points in two games, against Brigham Young and Northern Arizona.

But he too often went back into hiding, and that's what he plans on changing.

His role model is junior guard Wink Adams, the Rebels' top returning scorer and only returning starter.

"I learned a lot from Wink last year," Bailey said. "I saw how he would just go out there and play and score, which I wasn't doing. I was going out and thinking if I mess up, Coach Kruger is going to pull me out.

"I feel a lot more responsibility, because Coach really looks for the seniors to set the tone."

• NOTES -- UNLV is scrimmaging Friday against Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. The scrimmage is closed to the public. ... The Rebels host Washburn in an exhibition game at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.