John Loyd turned down the opportunity to play football at UNLV. Now he has the chance to play basketball for the Rebels. 
John Loyd, Bishop Gorman
File photo by Louis Lopez
The Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) point guard's recruitment has already taken a few twists this spring, and it added another this week when he received a scholarship offer from UNLV men's basketball coach Lon Kruger.
Loyd reportedly now has the hometown Rebels in his final three along with Northwestern and George Washington.
The 5-foot-9 Loyd joined the Gorman football team after the first week of the season and was so impressive as a defensive back and kick returner that he earned an offer from new UNLV coach Bobby Hauck. Loyd declined and decided to focus on basketball at the next level.
Before the basketball season, Loyd was receiving interest from several mid-major schools. But after helping the Gaels to their second consecutive Nevada 4A state title and a No. 7 ranking in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 poll, Loyd drew offers from the likes of Michigan State, Florida, Oklahoma and Washington State.
UNLV had a scholarship free up when Findlay Prep (Henderson) point guard Cory Joseph gave a verbal commitment to Texas last week and decided to offer Loyd, who was named the state player of the year and averaged 14.1 points and 8.2 assists for the Gaels (30-2).
Gorman coach Grant Rice did not return phone messages seeking comment. Loyd is Northwestern's top target this spring, and Wildcats coach Bill Carmody recently made an in-home visit. Northwestern is expected to make a run at the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid next season and will have a senior point guard (Michael Thompson), giving Loyd the opportunity to take over the starting spot.
Loyd visited George Washington the weekend of April 16 and could have the chance to play quality minutes early for a Colonials team that is expected to be much-improved in the Atlantic-10 Conference. But the lure of playing at the Thomas & Mack Center might be too much for Loyd to pass up.
In other recruiting news, Findlay Prep seniors Godwin Okonji and Marko Petrovic gave verbal commitments to Loyola Marymount and San Francisco, respectively.
Okonji, a 6-foot-8 power forward who is a native of Nigeria, averaged 8.7 points and 7.7 rebounds for the Pilots. Okonji picked Loyola Marymount over scholarship offers from Marquette, Missouri, Texas Christian and Texas Tech. Petrovic, a 6-3 guard and the nephew of the late former NBA player Drazen Petrovic, averaged 9.5 points in his one season at Findlay Prep. He also had offers from Cal State Fullerton and Delaware.
"I’m very excited for both of them to get it behind them so they can look to the next step and be able to contribute," Findlay Prep coach Michael Peck told NevadaPreps.com. "They’re great fits. Those guys will go in there and be able to contribute sooner rather than later."
GORMAN BASEBALL STAYS HOT
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) rallied with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to beat Sierra Vista (Las Vegas) 6-5 on Saturday in a game between two of the top three 4A baseball teams in the state. Gorman (23-3, 11-0 Southwest League) has won 14 straight games, although it fell to No. 2 in the latest MaxPreps state rankings behind Green Valley (Henderson).
Wesley Denzler scored on a two-out bunt single by Johnny Sewald to tie the game in the fourth inning before Joey Gallo's run-scoring single in the fifth put the Gaels ahead to stay. The No. 3 Mountain Lions (21-5, 10-1) scored four runs in the fourth inning with two outs as Blair Goldsack hit a two-run single and Marquis Towers added a run-scoring single. The teams meet again Saturday at Sierra Vista with first place in the Southwest League again on the line. There are also huge playoff tiebreaker implications, especially if the host Mountain Lions earn the victory.
SNEAK PREVIEW
The top two softball teams in the High Desert League square off this week when Spanish Springs (Sparks) meets Reed (Sparks) in a three-game series beginning Thursday. The Cougars (20-1, 12-0) are the No. 1 team in the MaxPreps state rankings, largely on the strength of Pittsburgh-bound pitcher Karlyn Jones.
The Raiders (18-3, 11-0), meanwhile, are the defending Northern Region champion and state runner-up. They are led by junior pitcher Destince Levesque and senior 1B/P Kristy Pasley.
Here are some other key upcoming games around the state:
1. Foothill (Henderson) at Liberty (Henderson) softball, Thursday: Both teams are tied for second place in the Southeast League at 8-3, meaning the winner has the inside track to the No. 2 seed for the postseason. If Liberty wins, it sets up another big game for the Patriots on Monday at first-place Green Valley (Henderson).
2. Palo Verde (Las Vegas) at Legacy (North Las Vegas) baseball, Friday: First-place Legacy appears safely in the playoffs, but there is a battle between five teams for the final two playoff spots in the Northwest League. Before Wednesday's action, Palo Verde was in third place and dropped four of its last six games as Centennial (Las Vegas), Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas), Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas) and Shadow Ridge (Las Vegas) are hot on the Panthers' heels.
3. Palo Verde (Las Vegas) at Legacy (North Las Vegas) softball, Friday: The visiting Panthers (20-5, 10-1) can all but wrap up the Northwest League crown with a win over the second-place Longhorns (20-3, 9-2). Palo Verde's Melissa McCormick (.519, 6 HR, 34 RBI) leads the Panthers offense and will also try to silence Legacy's potent attack, which features four players batting .500 or better: Darcey Cochran (.541), Kayla Murray(.508), Danielle Pick (.500) and Sierra Pico (.500).
4. Rancho (Las Vegas) at Las Vegas baseball, Tuesday: The Northeast League's best go at it for a third time this season. Rancho (23-3, 11-0) won a non-league contest 20-9 and earned a 1-0 win over the Wildcats (19-5, 10-1) on April 13 in a game that featured a two-hitter by Rams junior Eric Holdren and a near-perfect game by Las Vegas pitcher Eric Fedde.
David Schoen works at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and is a former Associate Sports Editor and Turn2 columnist for the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune. You can reach him at ByDavid1@aol.com.
