Rebels guard Doolin displays ‘great feel’ as team’s vocal leader

On and off the floor, UNLV point guard Cody Doolin is a nonstop talker. He orchestrates the offense, directs the defense and then holds court with the media after a game.

Someday, he probably could be a coach. For now, he is the Rebels’ floor leader, a senior with 104 career starts running a basketball team made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores.

“He has such a great feel for what to say and when to say it,” coach Dave Rice said. “It’s all positive stuff. It’s a gift.

“Cody is the leader that we recruited him to be. I just think Cody makes us all better.”

Doolin’s debut displayed his value to the team, and he leads UNLV (1-0) against Sam Houston State (1-0) at 5 p.m. today in the second game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Thomas &Mack Center.

In Friday’s opener, Doolin and freshman Rashad Vaughn, the Rebels’ starting backcourt, combined for 29 points on 9-for-19 shooting in a 60-59 victory over Morehead State. Doolin took one shot and contributed three points, so obviously Vaughn was the shooting and scoring star of the two.

But that’s exactly how Doolin wants it, and exactly what he predicted in a conversation with Rice several months ago.

A graduate transfer from the University of San Francisco, Doolin holds a bachelor’s degree in finance. He knows all about numbers, especially in the assist category.

When he was being recruited by Rice, Doolin told him, “Coach, one thing you have to understand about me is I take great pride in not shooting if I don’t need to.”

Doolin finished with seven assists and one turnover Friday. His only field goal came on a driving layup that put UNLV up 55-52 with 4:17 remaining. His dribble penetration and passing against Morehead’s zone defense proved crucial to the Rebels’ second-half comeback.

“I always think those games are the most fun, when you can have a pretty large effect on the game and never shoot the ball,” said Doolin, who also grabbed six rebounds.

In three-plus seasons at San Francisco, Doolin totaled 1,007 points and 451 assists. He scored a career-high 33 points against UNR last November before leaving the team four games into the season.

Doolin’s impact is reminiscent of Kevin Kruger, a graduate transfer from Arizona State who ran the point and led UNLV to a 30-7 season and the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2007. But Kruger was more of a scorer. Doolin might be too unselfish with the ball.

“He likes to get other players involved,” Rice said. “Cody will do a great job of getting Rashad the ball and giving him confidence on the floor. We need Cody to shoot the ball some to keep defenses honest and open up more passing lanes. I love watching Cody shoot.”

Rice also likes seeing Doolin play as much as possible. After picking up his second foul with 9:22 left in the first half, Doolin went to the bench for 3½ minutes, and during that time the Rebels were outscored 13-5.

“I told him, ‘Stop fouling. We need you on the floor,’ ” Rice said. “We hit a little bit of a rough stretch there in the first half when he got two fouls.”

Doolin scolded himself for “some dumb fouls, some uncharacteristic fouls,” but said it was important for all of the players to learn from mistakes and still win the game.

“I think that was a good win for us, first and foremost,” Doolin said. “If you can win those games, you can potentially be a pretty good team. It was a lot of fun. I had a great time.”

Doolin, a native of Austin, Texas, praised Vaughn’s performance in his first college game. The former Findlay Prep star scored 26 points and hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:06 to go.

“It was just a big shot,” Doolin said. “I’ve played a lot of college basketball games, and I would have been really hesitant to shoot that one. I did tell him he did play great.”

■ NOTES — Sam Houston State, which defeated the Austin College Kangaroos 100-52 on Friday, was predicted to finish second in the Southland Conference. The Bearkats returned four starters from last season’s 24-11 team. … Rice ran his team through a light one-hour practice Saturday after a film session.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.