Texas grad transfer Elijah Mitrou-Long picks UNLV

Texas graduate transfer Elijah Mitrou-Long signed with UNLV on Tuesday, and he is eligible to play next season.

He could battle junior-to-be Amauri Hardy to be the starting point guard, but the more likely scenario is both start, with the 6-foot-2-inch Hardy playing shooting guard.

The 6-1 Mitrou-Long said he signed with the Rebels for several reasons, but most notably because he was impressed with coach T.J. Otzelberger.

“I’ve been through a lot of schools and I’ve talked to a lot of coaches since I was young … and I think Coach T.J. is probably as real as it’s going to get,” Mitrou-Long said. “I really like the assistants coach, too, coach (Tim) Buckley as well. They cut it straight forward, and they told me what they need. They know it’s my last year. They told me I need to come in there and have a big impact, and I’m going to be a major player and a key player for their program.

“They know I’m a selfless guy, so they want me to be that leader in the locker room and on the court and off the court, and they need somebody that’s older and has been around.”

Mitrou-Long is reunited with his former Mount St. Mary’s teammate Jonah Antonio. Both played there in the 2016-17 season, and Mitrou-Long said that experience formed a strong bond. Antonio stayed in Mitrou-Long’s hotel room on his official visit this past weekend.

“That’s my brother,” Mitrou-Long said. “I told him, ‘It’s my last year, Jonah, so how is this Coach T.J.? Tell me straight up.’ He said, ‘Coach T.J. told me certain things, and he stuck with his word. Sometimes you’re not going to like it, and sometimes you are.’ I can respect a guy like that.”

Mitrou-Long, who averaged 5.6 points last season, said several schools reached out to him, including Arkansas, Cincinnati, UNR and Colorado State, but he said the program that impressed him most other than UNLV was SMU.

“I heard Dallas was a beautiful place, but I felt like UNLV was best for me,” Mitrou-Long said.

His signing puts the Rebels just one scholarship shy of the limit of 13. They will hit that number later this week if South Dakota State transfer David Jenkins chooses UNLV over Gonzaga and Oregon. If not, UNLV will have to search elsewhere to reach the quota.

Three scholarship forwards are in the NCAA transfer portal — Tervell Beck, Shakur Juiston and Joel Ntambwe — as is walk-on post player Louis Bangai.

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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.