Transfer Caleb Grill reuniting with Otzelberger at UNLV

Three-star guard Caleb Grill was originally set to make the move from his hometown of Maize, Kansas to Brookings, South Dakota to be a South Dakota State Jack Rabbit.

But, when the coach who recruited him, T.J. Otzelberger, took the head coaching job at UNLV, Grill reopened his recruitment. UNLV was one of the schools pushing hard for him and Grill had them in his final three, but Grill ultimately decided to go to Iowa State.

After a year in Ames, Grill put his name in the transfer portal. And after not choosing UNLV a year ago, Grill has announced he will reconnect with Otzelbeger in Las Vegas and be a Runnin’ Rebel.

With the Cyclones last year, Grill played in 29 games, only averaging 13.8 minutes per game and only 2.1 points a game last year as a true freshman. He only shot 25 percent from three last year, but he averaged just under two attempts per game. Grill did suffer a wrist injury late in the season and and played hurt for about a month.

The injury and lack of playing time should not concern Rebel fans. In high school, Grill averaged 18.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists as a senior in high school. He also shot 48 percent from the field and 35 percent from three.

The 6-foot-3 guard gives UNLV a legitimate threat from behind the arc, which the Rebels need after Jonah Antonio announced he will transfer. And since Otzelberger was so high on Grill, expect him to be an asset on defense for UNLV as well.

Now that Grill has committed to UNLV, the Rebels have 15 scholarship players, two over the limit. It is expected that Donnie Tillman will put his in the transfer portal sooner than later, which would take care of one scholarship.

There still is the possibility that one of the high school recruits could go to a prep school for a season, but there has not been much noise around those possibilities. The two most likely candidates for this option would be Donovan Yap (a 6-foot-3, 160 pound guard from Arbor View High School in Las Vegas) or Isaac Lindsey (even though he told the Las Vegas Sun that option has not been brought up) who was injured and did not play much his senior year.

There is another option that would open up a scholarship. It is possible that a current UNLV player under scholarship, who is a graduate from a high school in the state of Nevada, could choose to walk on and use in-state scholarships to help pay their way through.

The Millennium is just one of several scholarship options for local students. Among local players eligible for the Millennium Scholarship are Coleman, Yap, and Moses Wood.

Grill will have to sit out the upcoming season and will have three years of eligibility remaining. Wichita State and Creighton were the two other schools Grill was considering after deciding to transfer from Iowa State.