LB Melvin Johnson, UNLV's first 2015 commit, ruled ineligible

Melvin Johnson's loyalty to UNLV will apparently only go so far.

The Las Vegas native was a two-star linebacker recruit in the class of 2015. He was new UNLV coach Tony Sanchez's first commitment and signed with the school in February. However, he's been deemed academically ineligible and must spend time at a junior college before he can play at a four-year school.

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He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he's willing to go back to UNLV. With a catch.

"I'm going to play at a junior college, and hopefully I will get a scholarship better than UNLV," Johnson said. "If not, I will go back to UNLV."

Well then. If you're a Rebel fan, do you want Johnson to improve dramatically in his time at a lower level and risk losing him to a different school? Or do you want no one else to see any potential and have some certainty he could head back? That is, of course, assuming UNLV wants him back.

According to Rivals, Johnson had one other scholarship offer and it was from Weber State. He seemed pumped to join the team in December.

“(Sanchez) says he wants me to be the new face of UNLV. I took that as motivation,” Johnson told the Las Vegas Sun seven months ago.

Now he appears to be using his academic status as motivation. He was the only member of UNLV's recruiting class to fail to qualify.

"I really am disappointed," he told the Review-Journal. "I'll get to work, though."

For more UNLV news, visit Rebel-Net.com.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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