Tarver Commits to UNLV

Shon Tarver, who led Santa Clara High to two consecutive state Division IV basketball championships, announced Tuesday that he has given an oral commitment to attend Nevada Las Vegas.

Tarver, a 6-foot-5 off-guard who averaged 31.6 points this season, was also named Division IV Player of the Year on Tuesday for the second year in a row.

Lou Cvijanovich, Santa Clara’s basketball coach and the father of UNLV senior reserve guard Stacey Cvijanovich, accompanied Tarver to the NCAA West Regionals last weekend at the Oakland Coliseum arena.

UNLV defeated Ball State and Loyola Marymount to advance to the Final Four, apparently making the choice clear to Tarver.

“The guard situation at UNLV is great for me and there was good communication between their coaches and my parents,” Tarver said.

UNLV’s off-guard is Anderson Hunt, a sophomore, and the point guard is Greg Anthony, a junior.

“I have a good chance to be the third guard next year but it’s going to take a lot of hard work,” Tarver said.

Tarver made trips before the season to UNLV, UCLA, Syracuse and Notre Dame. He was planning to make a final trip to Georgia Tech in April, but the decision couldn’t wait. “I wanted to get the monkey off my back,” Tarver said.

Cvijanovich said that Tarver did not inform him of the decision until late Tuesday.

“I asked him today (Tuesday) during sixth period and he said he wanted to talk with his father before making the final decision,” Cvijanovich said. “He is convinced he can play with anybody. All we talked about all weekend was basketball.”

Tarver will play April 21 in the McDonald’s Western Classic, an all-star game in Tucson. He is also playing on weekends for Orange Crush, an all-star team based in Orange County.