Caleb Grill calls UNLV’s fan support brutal

After his freshman season at Iowa State, Caleb Grill teamed up with T.J. Otzelberger at UNLV. And now Grill is following his coach back to Iowa State and out of Las Vegas. 

Based on what Grill told the Wichita Eagle, he did not enjoy his time in the desert. 

“I kind of want to get out of here. We don’t really live in the nicest area of Vegas and it’s 18 hours away from home,” Grill said. 

Grill originally committed to Otzelberger at South Dakota State. When Otzelberger took the job in Vegas, Grill decided to head to Iowa State. It was closer to his home in Wichita. 

But after a season where he played 13.8 minutes per game, Grill came to UNLV and got 33.2 minutes a night.

However Grill’s unhappiness with Las Vegas goes far beyond homesickness. The UNLV fanbase didn’t make him feel welcome. 

“The fan support out here is also brutal. I get ruthless (direct messages) from fans all the time that expect a little too much of us because they went to the Final Four in the 90s. They still expect that every year. People, in general, are just rude out here,” Grill said.

First off, don’t be a jackass and DM college athletes. Probably shouldn’t even tweet at them. 

But overall that is a horrible impression UNLV fans have left on a former player. The UNLV fanbase is shrinking in numbers, but not in passion. 

Normally passion is good. But not when used against the players on the home team, especially one of the players that was actually good last season. 

Grill was the third leading scorer and top perimeter defender. Sure, UNLV sucked. But it wasn’t Caleb Grill’s fault. 

Even if it was, you don’t need to tell him. 

I interact with plenty of UNLV fans on a daily basis. Most of you are great fans. Hell, you stick with a team that hasn’t sniffed an NCAA Tournament since 2013. You deserve better.

But so do the players.