Jalen Poyser will be donning Rebel red come the fall, but before he gets a chance to make an impact on Mountain West basketball, he’ll be representing his country in the U19 FIBA World Championships this summer.
Poyser will be joined by another future Rebel in Justin Jackson, who is currently committed to UNLV for the class of 2016, but could reclassify for the class of 2015, as UNLV has one scholarship still available.
Poyser is a 6-foot-4 point guard from Mississauga, Ontario that will be competing with Daquon Cook for the backup point guard spot. He could potentially push Jerome Seagears for the starting spot as well.
Jackson, a 6-foot-7 wing from Ajax, Ontario, would be in a major cluster if he does come to UNLV next season. The Rebels currently have returning wings Pat McCaw, Jordan Cornish and Dwayne Morgan to go along with incoming transfers Ike Nwamu and Tyrell Bellot-Green and freshman Derrick Jones all competing for playing time.
It is possible – and likely – that some of those wings, including Jackson, could move to the four spot in small lineups. The Rebels only have three post players on the roster in Goodluck Okonoboh, Ben Carter and Stephen Zimmerman.
The Canadian U19 National team will start its run in the FIBA World Championships in Greece on June 27th against Australia. They will also play three exhibitions in Spain leading up to the tournament against Spain, Croatia and Australia starting June 12th.