UNLV football cranks up summer recruiting with wave of signings

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 | 2 a.m.

From his introductory press conference in December 2022 to his most recent meeting with the media after the spring game in April, head coach Barry Odom has made it clear he wants to build the UNLV football program with high-school recruits.

According to Odom’s philosophy, the transfer portal can be mined to augment the roster, but he wants the foundation comprised of four-year program players.

“We’re a high-school recruiting program,” Odom said back in December at his signing day press conference. “We’re going to be very select and very direct on guys that we would we take who are not high-school graduates, whether it’s junior college, transfer, 4-year, 2-year schools or what that looks like.”

And now, in his first full offseason at the helm, it appears Odom has got his recruiting apparatus up and running at full capacity, as the Scarlet and Gray reeled in a bevy of prep commitments from the Class of 2025 over the past two weeks.

Six players announced for UNLV during that span, including a trio of defensive backs and three skill-position stars, bringing the total of commits for 2025 up to 10.

After the recruiting frenzy, Odom took to Twitter and used not one, not two, but three fire emojis to express his pleasure:

The program’s hot streak began on June 9, when running back Kamran Williams and safety Vinaz Cobb committed. Tight end Jon Grimmett announced on June 10, and a week later, athlete Hayden Anderson (June 17), safety Logan Christensen (June 18) and safety Antonio Parker (June 22) joined the program.

All are 3-star prospects according to 247Sports, and the additions moved UNLV to No. 1 in the Mountain West recruiting rankings.

Williams is a 5-foot-10 speedster from Jefferson, Texas, who also had offers from Houston, Michigan and Texas Tech; the 247Sports composite ranking has him as the No. 53 running back in his class. As a junior in 2023, he carried the ball 214 times for 1,983 yards (9.3 yards per attempt) and scored 24 touchdowns.

Cobb chose UNLV over Indiana and Iowa State, while his Cardinal Ritter (St. Louis) teammate Parker had offers from Arkansas, Kansas, Wyoming and others.

Grimmett is a developing 6-foot-4 receiving tight end with a basketball background. As a junior he went for 308 yards and four touchdowns.

Anderson is a multiposition athlete who logged 957 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last year while intercepting four passes on defense. UNLV faced stiff competition for the 6-foot-1 flash, with Odom and his staff eventually prevailing over schools such as Washington, Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State and Utah. According to 247Sports, Anderson is the No. 61 athlete in the Class of 2025.

Christensen is another athlete/defensive back who had power-conference suitors, as UNLV had to beat out Auburn, Arizona, BYU, Michigan and Kansas for his commitment. San Jose State had also offered.

UNLV is coming off a breakthrough 9-4 campaign in Odom’s first year in charge. The Scarlet and Gray hosted the Mountain West championship game and played in a bowl game for the first time since 2013, losing to Kansas in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix.

Now, with 2025 shaping up to be a banner class as well, Odom may have UNLV set up for the kind of long-term success that has eluded the program since its inception in 1968.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.