Mountain West Connection,

If you don't already know, Birch is on the way to UNLV for next season and he recently opened up about his experience at Pitt to a few of the Pittsburgh area media outlets and it wasn't pretty. He essentially is saying not so flattering things about the players and paints a picture of the program that is not good. The only question that I had when I read this earlier this morning is, Why? I'm not sure this was the best move for Khem but he did it anyway. There is obvious frustration on his part about being there if he were to come out and say these comments but why now? Why feel the need to air it out in the local media? Anyway, I just hope he can turn his young collegiate career around because if he can't this will be a point of reference for many.

This news broke out late last night and I figured I'd post the link now. It came down to Florida and UNLV and Khem Birch, the highly prized reclassified-early-to-go-to-PItt-only-to-transfer-ten-games-later forward is heading to Las Vegas. I personally thought that he would end up at Gonzaga since his friend Kevin Pangos was already there plus the team has had NCAA Tournament success. On top of that, Coach Mark Few has had been able to turn guys into very good players. Obviously that wasn't enough and Birch is heading to the glitz and glamour of the Strip. He fits in well with the currently UNLV system of run and run and he'd likley be able to play between the four and five spots, possibly even the three if he can get his perimeter game up to snuff (don't expect that anytime soon though). The big question I have is whether he can handle the pressure there. UNLV is in a city of many distractions outside basketball and the spotlight will be intense since he's the last All American on the campus in apparently 25 years. There are rumours that Shabazz Mohammed, the highly coveted high school senior is looking favorably at UNLV now that Birch is signed so maybe this could be the turnaround that the Rebels need to get back to the top of the NCAA like they were at in the 90s with LJ, Plastic Man and company. Regardless, we wish him the best of luck here. And I don't need to remind you that it's now a sink or swim situation for him. This is his last D1 stop if he plays a game so it has to work this time.