Hard Work Pays Off for Bice : Walk-On From Simi Valley Earned Scholarship at Las Vegas

It seemed more like a circus than a basketball game, but this Big Top was the Thomas and Mack Center, an off-campus sports venue that is home to the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

A silhouetted image of a shark circled the top of the arena while a throng of nearly 18,000 mimicked the ocean predator’s jaw motion with their arms or demonstratively waved three-point hankies. Then, adding to the carnival-like atmosphere, there were the indoor fireworks, from which the smell of sulfureous smoke lingered well into the first half of a recent basketball game between the host Running Rebels and New Mexico State.

Occupying center stage were the members of the UNLV basketball team, who were slam-dunking and fast-breaking the capacity crowd into a frenzy.

Travis Bice, a freshman from Simi Valley, sat quietly on the bench, obviously not the main attraction of this show. He played in only the last three minutes of the game, but that he was there at all was quite an accomplishment.

Bice averaged just 10 points a game during his senior season at Simi Valley High. He was good enough to catch the attention of several Division II scouts, but the basketball powers were not interested. Bice, a 6-4, 144-pound guard, looked like he needed a meal, not a basketball scholarship.

“People look at him and automatically assume that he needs a pint of blood,” Simi Valley Coach Bob Hawking said. “But he’s the fastest player we’ve ever had at Simi Valley High. He’s a great perimeter shooter and a very determined competitor. Those kinds of kids find a way to get the job done.”

Indeed, Bice so impressed Coach Jerry Tarkanian that he was given a full scholarship six weeks after he walked on at the Nevada campus. He is averaging only two points a game for the Rebels (27-5), who play Southwest Missouri (22-6) Friday night in an NCAA Western regional game at Pauley Pavilion. Tarkanian, however, is pleased with the freshman’s performance.

“We’re very happy to have him here, “ Tarkanian said. “He worked so hard and everybody liked him so much we put him on a full scholarship. We consider him our most improved player.”

Initially, Bice doubted his ability to play at UNLV. Although he had several of Southern California’s top high school players as teammates a year ago, it was hardly comparable to competing against players such as Jarvis Basnight.

“I was awe-struck when I saw how high these guys could jump and how fast they could run,” Bice said. “I was more than a little scared coming in.”

He also was mesmerized by the capacity crowds. Now, however, he has become something of a favorite among the fans, who cheer wildly when Bice enters the game.

“It makes you real excited and I think I missed a lot of shots because of all the fans and everything,” Bice said. “But a lot of it has to do with sitting on the bench so long and getting anxious and wanting to play. They call me the crowd favorite. I don’t know how that happened but they go crazy if I do anything. If I get in the game they love it.”

With that kind of adulation, Bice can only feel good about his decision to attend Nevada Las Vegas. And he has some advice for a former teammate who has yet to decide where he will attend college--Don MacLean, Simi Valley’s 6-10 All-American center.

“He should go to a place where the people in the town love you as much as they do here,” Bice said. “That kind of support is just tremendous. He can go anywhere he wants so he should go where he can get the playing time that he wants, the good coaching and the crowd support. For me, all of that is here.”