Sanford pins hopes on prep recruits

But history has taught Sanford, entering what is expected to be a make-or-break season at UNLV, that signing such players does not guarantee immediate success.

So Sanford, 6-29 in three seasons with the Rebels, recruited like a coach who had just signed a five-year contract extension. He announced a signing class Wednesday of 22 players that includes only one junior college transfer.

"I think there’s a false reality about recruiting JC guys," Sanford said. "Everybody thinks they’re more mature, they can play faster, but there’s also a factor (that) there’s a reason why they’re in JC. And with recruiting JC players, you don’t get to know them as well as you get to know high school players. You don’t get to know about the intangibles and the character and all those kind of things, and that’s something you are able to do with high school players."

Sanford said the junior college player he signed, defensive end Heivaha Mafi (6 feet 2 inches, 235 pounds) of Laney College in Oakland, Calif., occurred because of a relationship with that school’s coach. Jacob Wright, who coached current Rebels standout tailback Frank Summers, recommended Mafi.

Because Mafi signed in December, he will go through spring practices and possibly become the replacement for Jeremy Geathers, who left early for the NFL Draft.

Sanford, though, has been burned by other junior college transfers he hoped would become program-changing players.

Defensive end Larry Dennis and defensive back Lamont Long, two top recruits from last year’s class, never became academically eligible. Wide receiver Aaron Straiten, the headline signee of the 2006 class, failed to live up to his hype. And in Sanford’s initial class, Jarrod Jackson was signed to be the starting quarterback, only to end his UNLV career as a safety.

The Rebels’ high school signees have had a bigger impact, with 10 freshmen or sophomores starting by the end of last season.

UNLV’s class included a school-record 95 percent prep recruits. Scout.com ranked it fourth in the nine-team Mountain West Conference.

"I feel great about this class," Sanford said. "I really feel we recruited well."

Sanford listed several reasons for a successful recruiting season, including current players selling the program to recruits, on-campus tours that showed a growing university, and the effort to show prospects and their families there is much more to Las Vegas than the Strip.

Sanford said he also went after players who could get into games next season.

He said he didn’t know how many incoming freshmen would have a realistic opportunity to play, but acknowledged it was a selling point.

"I would say that would be one of the factors," Sanford said. "We have an improved group of players coming back. Our freshmen and sophomores are now getting to be juniors. We’re bringing in guys to compete to play."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2914.