The UNLV Runnin' Rebels have had an extremely disappointing season so far, despite the fact that they are loaded with talent. Part of the problem is that UNLV has had their fair share of bad luck so far this season, as they have dealt with a bunch of injuries that have really hurt their depth.
The frontcourt is the area where UNLV has been hit the hardest. Talented freshman center Stephen Zimmerman has missed time recently due to a sprained knee, Ben Carter is out for the year with a torn ACL, and Dwayne Morgan is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury. On top of that, their coach, Dave Rice, was fired earlier this season, a player quit the team, and another player was dismissed last month.
To say this season has been a rough one for the Rebels is the understatement of the century, but there is now more bad news to pile on. Freshman forward Derrick Jones has been ruled ineligible for the rest of the season by the NCAA after his ACT scores were invalidated.
The reason for the issue with Jones' ACT scores is that the NCAA has concern over the site where he took the test. Jones took the test at a site in Baltimore, and he was not the only one who had their results cancelled, as every other student who took the test there did too.
Jones' attorney, Don Jackson, said that UNLV was informed last summer that there could be trouble with the testing site, but the University allowed Jones to play anyway. Jones insists that he did not cheat on the test and pointed to his current 3.25 GPA at UNLV as evidence of that. His lawyer has said that there might be racial motivation behind this ruling.
The forward is unsure of his next step now that this ruling has come down, but it is unfortunate news for him and the Runnin' Rebels. The freshman was playing some of his best basketball before this news broke and was averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game on the season. UNLV has one more game left in the regular season on Saturday before the Mountain West conference tournament begins next week. In order for the team to make the NCAA tournament, they would have to win their conference tournament, but based on all the players they will be missing, that seems like a longshot at best.
