"I'm really excited about the skillset, the character, the backgrounds, the programs that they're all from," UNLV head coach Barry Odom said while introducing his early recruiting class for Rebel Football. While he's excited about the 22 freshmen that are joining the program in 2024, he added, "This is not the mountaintop for our signees. This is a great step on the journey. Now it's our job to get this group to go play and compete and win a championship next year."
About a third of the 2024 class are from local high schools, including four-star kicker Caden Chittenden, from local Faith Lutheran High School. Defensive end Andre Porter, 6-2, 225, from Liberty High School also signed his Letter of Intent to play at UNLV Wednesday. His father, Donnell is a former Rebel football player and his mom was a UNLV cheerleader.
"The ability to sign seven kids from Las Vegas is huge for us. We're just getting started with what we think is going to be a long-standing opportunity for the City of Vegas, for the kids that grow up here that want to be part of our program.. this group of the seven guys will put a stamp on that," Odom said.
The overall position breakdown for the 22 signees has five offensive linemen, four defensive backs, 3 defensive linemen, 3 linebackers, 2 running backs, 2 wide receivers, 1 QB, 1 tight end and 1 kicker.
One of the top prospects signed on Wednesday was four-star linebacker Melvin Laster, 6-1, 225, from Kansas City, Missouri, Liberty North High School. Laster was recruited by nearly every major P5 school in college football, but decided to come west to play at UNLV. He has a relationship with Coach Odom and Defensive Coordinator/LB's Coach Michael Scherer. Odom said they've known Laster since he was in the 7th grade and weighed 260 pounds. He has trimmed down and was one of the top linebackers in the nation this year.
Odom also said he and his staff recruited players with winning pedigree. "Twleve of the played in state championship games in their classification," according to Odom.
Eight of the 22 players are early signees, meaning they will be on campus for winter conditioning and Spring Football practices.