The Mt. Rushmore of Las Vegas | Part 3

After we recently announced the All-Time Ultimate Hoops Mt. Rushmore, LC Comine and Joe Neuenfeldt decided to dive into the UH Las Vegas history and select a Mt. Rushmore specific to Vegas.

Here is Part 3. Read Part 1 | Part 2

Who belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of UH Vegas?  With UH Nation voting on the Mt. Rushmore for all the positions across UH, I have decided to look at our region and come up with our own Mt. Rushmore. 

Criteria for this second spot: Which person has done the most for Ultimate Hoops Las Vegas?

Joe’s selection:  Derek Adkins

Derek Adkins

Criteria for this Spot; I believe it belongs to someone who's been apart of UH Vegas every step of the way. 

I'll start with apologies to NFZ Travis Scribner, Charles "The Beast" Vinson, Kerry Knoll and Mark Trevino. All of these guys were there for night one in the summer of 2011, when we had one functioning scoreboard and an on the fly paper scoreboard on the JV court (do they still call it that?).

Luckily for me, I had an enthusiastic about basketball kid sitting next to me at the scorer's table, which helped keep me calm and focused during an opening night of turmoil.

That was my introduction to Derek.

A few hours later, Derek had given "The Beast" his nickname and he was on an unlikely journey of almost a decade and counting in the Ultimate Hoops world. I can't even begin to name the staff that came and went during my four years in UH Vegas.

The list is endless. And it's been five years since.

The only constant as I see it when it comes to UH Vegas staff is Derek. In fact, I firmly believe he is the longest tenured Ultimate Hoops employee in the entire country, besides Alan of course.

Derek has done every job the league has. He was even League Coordinator for a season.  Derek legitimately started as a child and grew into an adult throughout his years in Ultimate Hoops. He has seen every possible thing you could see:

On the front line and behind the scenes. Every ounce of turmoil and drama. National Tournament madness as a player, staff member and partier. He's played on bad teams, free agent teams and been on championship teams. He is responsible for introducing countless players to Ultimate Hoops.

Also, don't sleep on Derek as a player. To begin with, he's far more unselfish than he should be. That kind of thing slights him with others nationally. But anyone who has played on his team or against him knows how good he is. And bigger than that, how important he is to every team he's on. He's also UH Top 100 of All Time in three categories: Assists (50th), Steals (21st) and Blocks (65th).

I'm not going to research and figure out the position of everyone ahead of him but it's safe to say you won't find many point guards ahead of him when it comes to blocks. Derek is a defensive minded guy. And he's one of the rare and positively irritating guys to play against who is a lot stronger than his slight build would indicate. He basically plays the same on every team he's on.

He'll take as many shots in a Draft League game as he will a National Tournament game. Yet when you watch him out there, you can tell he belongs. More than holds his own with the big boys. He just can't bring himself to be selfish. His basketball intelligence will not allow it.

He truly would rather see his team play great than score a point. How many guys can truthfully say that?

I hope Derek continues to always stay in UH Vegas. And one day he can tell that tale of the league from when it began to whatever it evolves into. 

L.C’s selection:  Jordan Cannon

Cannon has averaged 29.4 ppg for his career

I had a different criteria for this selection.  I went with someone who really was the “guy” who has cemented themself as the best player in the league during my time as coordinator. 

There is no question it has been Jordan Cannon. This selection is probably one of the most important for me in my tenure as League Coordinator.  See Joe and Chase would be on this Mt. Rushmore if we did this in 2016,  2017, or 2018 but Jordan probably would not be. 

In fact, some would be surprised that Jordan only has 127 career games which until this past season which was cut short by the pandemic Jordan was only playing in 1 league.

Cannon made his UH Vegas debut on October 3rd, 2016 as a member of Hibachi as they defeated OHE 87-78.  Cannon would then go on to join OHE the next season which then would transition into BTE in the Summer of 2018 and with that would turn Cannon into a household name around UH Nation. 

Even before BTE Cannon was putting up MVP type numbers but he didn’t have that supporting cast next to him or that other MVP level type player that teams seem to have in Vegas.  What we saw from Jordan and BTE is a run that has really never been seen before.  BTE went on to win 5 out of 6 titles in their first six seasons with a record of 56-4.

Cannon emerged as the very best player in ALL of Las Vegas and the combination of himself and Andre McFarland won 5 MVP’s combined in those title winning seasons.  Cannon and McFarland have become the most deadly duo in all of Las Vegas and quite possibly all of UH Nation.  They are what make BTE go and they are the reason they have won those titles. Without them or even one of them you have to wonder if they would have been successful. 

But make no mistake Cannon has made his mark over the last 2 years because of BTE. Jordan also has shined when the spotlight has been on him and the spotlight was no bigger when the national tournament was in town.

Cannon has played in 2 national tourneys.  1 for the Rudedogs and 1 for the Villains.  Both years Jordan really showed up and made his mark and really made a name for himself on the national level.  Jordan, averages 18.6 PPG in his 8 game total. His shooting splits are almost on par with his UH career at 57/40/67 which is very impressive considering the level of competition in the National tournament. 

Jordan’s career stats are astonishing.  He averages 29.4 PPG, 7.7 REB, 7.5 AST, 2.5. STL.  His shooting splits are:  60/44/82.  He hasn’t cracked the top 100 in any major statistical category yet but as seasons go by and leagues grow in Las Vegas I imagine we will see Jordan’s name rise the ranks and one day Jordan will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

It’s a shame we didn’t get to finish the season this past winter.  Jordan was having a season for the ages in Green Valley.  It was his first season playing in the GV Open league and also playing with some other talent. Cannon was averaging 42 PPG and was leading an undefeated Mob team to a potential open title prior to the season being cancelled. 

Right now, there is not a more complete player in all of Las Vegas nor a more dynamic player than Jordan Cannon.  I am sure he will come back ready to go and will be more determined than ever to continue the terror he has been on.