UNLV frontcourt features international 7-footer with potential

At a true 7 feet tall, Pape N’Diaye is hard to miss on the court.

He stood out even more during the UNLV men’s basketball team’s practice Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center because coach Kevin Kruger kept yelling his name, which is pronounced “pop.”

“Let’s go, Pape! Really nice, Pape! Good, Pape!” Kruger said as the freshman center snagged two consecutive offensive rebounds and made a smart assist.

Two games into the season, Kruger still has some tinkering to do with his frontcourt lineup. But his excitement surrounding N’Diaye is palpable. His college debut in Saturday’s loss to Memphis was the highlight of a long journey.

N’Diaye made the decision to leave his family in the Ivory Coast to attend Red Rock Academy in Las Vegas during the fall of 2022, and Kruger started recruiting him long before N’Diaye graduated from Trinity International School earlier this year.

But the top prospect was hampered by an undisclosed injury for most of the Rebels’ fall practices, a fact Kruger mentioned when he discussed N’Diaye not getting time in the Rebels’ season-opening win over Alabama State.

“But I think, as everyone saw, the best part about Pape is he didn’t have an opportunity to go out there on Monday night, then you throw Memphis at him and he goes out there and he battles like crazy,” Kruger said. “He’s just like a ball of clay. You ask him to do it. He listens to the coach. He wants to do it the way it’s taught. The sky is the limit for a guy like Pape.”

When N’Diaye got his chance Saturday, he tried a bit of everything. In less than a 10-minute span, he snatched rebounds on both ends of the floor, missed a 3-pointer and blocked a shot.

“I was feeling really, really happy. Because the first game I didn’t come in, I was kind of frustrated a little bit,” he said. “Even if I play seven minutes, I was happy to do my NCAA debut.”

7-foot shooter?

N’Diaye knows it’s not his job right now to score. But he wants to get there.

Kruger said N’Diaye regularly practices 3-pointers and made three of them in UNLV’s preseason game, a closed-door scrimmage against San Diego.

N’Diaye was the last player on the court Tuesday, practicing layups and midrange shots.

“They want me to focus more on rebounds, defense, blocked shots,” N’Diaye said. “That’s the type of player I am right now. But I still work on my offensive game when I come to practice, so I’ll practice by myself.”

Kruger said N’Diaye is just going to get “better and better” on the court, and the same could be said for his English.

The native French speaker is still using apps like Duolingo, but he’s added movies and video games in English to his learning regimen.

In all of his efforts, he’s reminded of his family’s advice.

“They don’t really know about basketball,” N’Diaye said. “They’re just happy for me, because I remember when I got a scholarship and I told them I have to come to the United States to play basketball, that’s it: ‘Oh, wow, congratulations. Just go be great and have a good attitude. Keep practicing. Don’t forget about school.’ That’s all they say.”

Opportunities looming

Freshman forward Jacob Bannarbie also made his debut against Memphis.

Sixth-year forward Jalen Hill and junior center Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry have been the starting bigs in the first two games, while senior forward Rob Whaley and junior center Isaiah Cottrell notched starting reps last season.

Whaley sat out of practice Tuesday and could miss the Rebels’ game Thursday against Omaha. That could mean more time for N’Diaye and Bannarbie, but Kruger is managing those moving pieces in the frontcourt.

“It’s still early,” Kruger said. “Rotations might be a little different here for the next week or so, until we kind of settle through our roles a little bit. I think there’s a lot of guys that can make winning plays and do winning things. If we’re gonna be a really good team, then whoever it is that night — everyone else needs to cheer them on.”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.