Rebel ready to take big step

Once in a while, Mareceo Rutledge would reflect and wonder if he took the wrong turn at the fork in the road.

Did he squander his basketball talent? Did he make a mistake by not putting more effort into school?

"It kept popping up in my head every now and then," he said.

Driving a forklift around a furniture warehouse for $9 an hour eventually made him reconsider his future, and he decided it was not too late to turn around.

"Once I realized that I wasn't making enough money, I wanted to go back to school," he said.

Because of what he calls "a lot of better choices," the UNLV guard is a 25-year-old senior-to-be and on track to earn a degree. But after a disappointing junior season, he still has a lot to accomplish in basketball.

"I definitely approach things differently. This is my senior year, and I'm definitely out there taking it serious," he said. "I've got to be motivated and just willing to work harder."

Rutledge is not afraid to work. After graduating from high school in Sacramento, Calif., in 2001, Rutledge moved to Atlanta with his girlfriend and started a blue-collar job.

About 21/2 years later, Rutledge broke up with his girlfriend, moved back home and enrolled at Yuba College in Marysville, Calif.

He averaged 23.4 points per game as a freshman and 19.0 as a sophomore, and was recruited by Rebels assistant coach Greg Grensing.

However, Rutledge's scoring ability rarely was on display for UNLV last season, when he shot 41 percent from the field, including 14-for-50 on 3-pointers, and averaged 3.4 points per game.

"I think last year he spent most of the time trying to not make mistakes instead of just playing," coach Lon Kruger said. "He's conscientious, he's a smart guy, and he wants to do well. He doesn't want to hurt the team."

During practices for the Rebels' two-week tour of Australia, which begins next week, the 6-foot-3-inch Rutledge has shown improvement and is shooting with less of a hitch in his jumper. Kruger said he needs to see more of that in UNLV's six exhibition games in Australia.

"This trip is really a good opportunity for him to kind of just free up and play, be aggressive and attack the goal," Kruger said.

"If anything, he's just so conscientious. He's a very good student and he wants to do everything right. We try to tell him, let's err on the other end -- swing away, let it go -- but that's not his nature."

Rutledge said his lack of playing time was "a little bit embarrassing" last season. He played in 32 of the Rebels' 35 games but averaged only 11.2 minutes per game.

"We know what Mo can do," senior guard Wink Adams said. "He can outrebound our bigs and go right back up with it. Being a powerful guard, he can play a lot of positions.

"He's playing better and he's taking his open shots. Last year he was passing up a lot of those shots. He's going to be a big factor for this team."

Rutledge, who has a 3.25 cumulative grade-point average in his major of university studies, earned spring Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors Thursday.

He has dropped four pounds to reach 224, reduced his body fat from 11 percent to 8 percent, and is meeting with Dr. Ed Klein, a sports psychologist who worked with former Rebels Joel Anthony and Corey Bailey.

"I feel a few pounds lighter," Rutledge said. "I feel a lot more energetic and a little bit more confident."

He does not miss warehouse work but still talks to the girl he left behind in Atlanta. "She calls me every now and then, yelling at me like she's still my girlfriend," he said with a laugh.

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