UNLV loses another guard, Dantley Walker out 3-4 weeks

Dantley Walker is the second Rebel to go down with a knee injury in the last week. The crowd-pleasing shooter will miss 3-4 weeks with a sprained MCL in his right knee.

According to a release from UNLV, Walker suffered the injury during the Runnin’ Rebels loss at Air Force on Saturday. This comes shortly after the news that Rashad Vaughn would be out until the end of the regular season at a minimum with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Walker had not gotten a large portion of playing time, but with Vaughn out, Walker became the eighth man for UNLV. Walker played eight minutes against Air Force, shooting 1 of 5 from field.

"We are very disappointed for Dantley," Dave Rice said in a statement. "He is an important part of our team and we know he will work extremely hard to get back to playing as soon as possible."

Walker had only played in five conference games. The team’s best shooter had gotten 20 threes this season, making eight, four of which came against Saint Katherine.

Without Walker and Vaughn, UNLV is down to seven healthy scholarship players. The four players in the backcourt are Cody Doolin, Patrick McCaw, Jordan Cornish and Jelan Kendrick. The eighth man in the rotation is likely walk-on Barry Cheaney. The walk-on has scored 13 points in three games this season.

The only other eligible player for Rice is Cheaney’s fellow walk-on, Charles Rushman, who has scored six points in three games.

If Walker comes back in three weeks, he’d be back on March 9; the Mountain West Tournament starts on March 11.  Missing four weeks would mean Walker would miss the conference tournament. So barring a UNLV title run in the conference tournament, Walker’s season may be over, as UNLV will likely miss the NCAA Tournament and NIT and decline any invites to the CBI or CIT.