New UNLV Runnin Rebels head coach Josh Pastner continues to hit the transfer portal hard.
According to 247Sports, the Running Rebels have landed former Alabama forward Naas Cunningham from the portal, bringing him to Las Vegas for next season.
Cunningham entered the portal after Alabama’s season ending loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight. He did not see any playing time on what was a stacked Crimson Tide roster. When asked about the lack of playing time in February, Alabama head coach Nate Oats mentioned that injuries were a factor.
“When he’s at his peak, it looks like he should be an NBA player,” Oats said. “Can we get that every time or a lot more consistent than what it is? It’s hard for me to say right now just because he’s been out with illness and injuries so much. So right now we’re just trying to get him to continue to gain weight because he kind of lost a lot of what he gained when he got sick.
Now with UNLV, Cunningham has a chance to flash the upside that made him such a highly-touted recruit.
Cunningham graded as a four-star prospect by most outlets, and was the 46th-ranked player in the Class of 2024. Alabama had to beat out the likes of Duke, Kansas, UCLA and many other top programs to bring in Cunningham to what was ultimately their second-ranked recruiting class. Now, UNLV has the opportunity to allow Cunningham to reach his immense potential in a lower-pressure situation, and it is likely that he will be asked to replace former wing Jaden Henley, who committed to Grand Canyon University earlier this month.
Cunningham has four years of eligibility remaining starting this fall.
