UNLV’s Tyrell Green trying to make up for lost time

Tyrell Green walked over to the couch in the lobby of Mendenhall Center looking noticeably more trim than he did a few months ago.

It was the most obvious sign that rather than stew over nearly an entirely lost basketball season, Green was determined not to relive 2015-16.

Especially if 2016-17 is his last UNLV season.

“It feels good coming out here and playing again,” Green said. “After sitting out last year, I learned a lot watching everybody. Hopefully, now I can put it all out there on the court.

“I haven’t been so ready to play in forever.”

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Green, a 6-foot-7-inch senior forward, is working to help make up for lost time. UNLV practiced this past week and will have another week of work before departing Saturday for the Bahamas, where the Rebels will play three exhibition games.

He is one of just three returning players, but the entire team is in a similar situation of having to learn a new system under a new coaching staff.

“Over the summer, I was hoping that we were going on this trip because I felt like it would be the best way for us to develop chemistry faster than most teams,” Green said. “I feel like this trip will be a good thing for us on and off the court. We’ll learn more about each other going into the season.”

Coach Marvin Menzies will have a better idea of where Green fits into the lineup after this three-week stretch, though questions will still remain. With just one week of practice behind him, Menzies was still trying to get a handle on Green and the rest of the Rebels.

“I think all the guys have had really bright moments in practice,” Menzies said. “Tyrell obviously can really shoot the ball and stretch the floor. I think he can lend into some of the things we do offensively, but until we get in a position where we’re really competing at a high level, 5-on-5, and then get a chance to evaluate these guys a little bit differently, which is what I will be able to do in September and October.

“But he’s a great kid. He’s working hard. He’s doing everything I’m asking him to do, which puts him in the conversation.”

Green, who is from Toronto, signed with UNLV out of Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas, but he ran into injury problems nearly from the beginning.

Backs spasms, tendinitis in his right knee, an injured right hamstring.

Green played eight games, averaging 4.9 minutes, and none at all since last appearing Dec. 22 against South Dakota.

Sitting on the bench watching his teammates struggle to an 18-15 season was difficult for Green to watch, especially as players kept getting injured and the active roster thinned. Green thought he could help if he wasn’t stuck with his own set of injuries.

Once the season ended, he took those emotions and turned them into action, deciding he needed to drop some of the 235 to 240 pounds he carried.

Green dedicated himself to the weight room, with the team and on his own, and worked on his conditioning. Now, he said he’s down to 215 pounds with 7 percent body fat.

“My body’s completely changed,” Green said. “So I feel like that’s going to help me to prevent all these injuries.”

And now he’s ready to go, and even though UNLV has applied for a medical redshirt for Green, he is treating this as his final college season.

“Whatever Coach Menzies sees in me or wants me to do, I can do it,” Green said. “I feel like I can fit in anywhere in a good way.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow on Twitter: @markanderson65