UNLV is losing junior forward Roscoe Smith who has officially declared for the NBA Draft, giving up his final year of eligibility. Smith began his first two years of college basketball playing for the Connecticut Huskies but then transferred for UNLV and he played just one year in Las Vegas.
In his one year at UNLV he averaged 11.1 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, Smith ranked 10th in the country with 16 double-doubles and also earned honorable mention consideration in the Mountain West. Smith comes in at 6-foot-8 and 215 pounds and has a 7-foot-1 wingspan which helps him in rebounding, but his defense was not great in college and he will struggled at the next level.
Smith releases a fairly standard release about why he was leaving UNLV for the NBA:
"I had a great experience at UNLV and really enjoyed playing for Coach Rice and his staff," Smith said. "I am ready to take the next step in my career, but I love UNLV and will always be a Runnin' Rebel. I am planning to finish my classes this semester in addition to preparing for the draft."
Smith is not even considered to be drafted and there are no mock drafts out there that have him being taken at all. Draft Express has Smith as the 35th best junior and is not in their top-100 prospects for the 2014 draft.
It is likely that Smith will hope to catch on a NBA team's summer league, head to the NBA D-League or head overseas to Europe to continue playing basketball and at the professional level.
This is a big loss for UNLV as they already lost Bryce Dejean-Jones who is planning on transferring and the Rebels also could lose junior Khem Birch.