Spokane (Wash.) Ferris defensive tackle Kjelby Oiland committed to UNLV on Thursday.
Offered by head coach Bobby Hauck last week, Oiland took an official visit to UNLV over the weekend.
“It went real good there,” said Oiland. “They offered me a couple days ahead of time but
I had an offer from the staff when they were at Montana. The funny thing was, the previous staff was recruiting me, but once they got fired, I thought it wasn’t going to happen. When Coach Hauck went there, I kind of had a gut feeling I’d get an offer since they still wanted me.”
The familiarity with the Rebels coaches is one reason they landed Oiland.
“I’ve known the coaching staff for a long time and I like them a lot,” said Oiland. “They’re real cool and real funny, and they’re going to win down there and they want to win right away.”
He also liked the city and campus.
“The campus was real nice and they have some real nice facilities, plus the library and rec center,” said Oiland. “People think, in Vegas you have all the distractions, but the players said you don’t even worry about it.”
Oiland was hosted by Matt Kravetz on his trip and talked extensively with Hauck.
“They want me as a d-tackle and they want to go nine-deep so my goal is getting into that rotation early.”
Oiland said the UNLV coaches would be coming by for an in-home visit on Thursday.
“I feel good about going D-I, and playing in the Mountain West Conference, UNLV is up on the rise with this coaching staff. We’ll be pretty good.”