Anthony Bennett made a splash when he committed to Dave Rice and UNLV this spring, but the Rebels will be without his services during the team’s mid-August trip to Canada, Taylor Bern of the Las Vegas Sun is reporting.
Bennett is a native of the Toronto area and, though he was cleared by the NCAA, was not able to be enrolled in summer classes in time to be eligible for the Canadian trip, set to take place from Aug. 16-22.
While at Findlay Prep (Nev.) this past season, the 6-7, 235-pound Bennett averaged 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game on his way to earning McDonald’s All-American honors.
He, along with Connecticut transfer Roscoe Smith and swingman Savon Goodman, was part of a fruitful recruiting spring for coach Dave Rice & Co. in Las Vegas.
Along with Bennett, the exhibition eligibility status of Smith is still in question, according to the Sun. For Smith to be eligible to play, he would need to be granted a hardship waiver by the NCAA.
Smith transferred from Connecticut after the Huskies were slapped with a postseason ban by the NCAA as a result of a non-qualifying APR score.
As for former Pittsburgh forward Khem Birch, he is ineligible to play on the trip because he is not eligible until December after transferring.
Both Birch and Smith reportedly sat out of practice Saturday as a “precaution,” as UNLV works to get word on their eligibility.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
