Laterrance Welch, Donovan Spellman No Longer Listed on UNLV Roster Ahead of Memphis

LAS VEGAS — Laterrance Welch and Donovan Spellman were not at UNLV practice Monday. Neither player is listed on the active online roster or the numerical roster included in UNLV’s game notes for Saturday’s opener against Memphis.

UNLV has not said why.

Coach Dan Mullen was asked directly whether he had an update on Welch or Spellman following the latest court ruling. He did not address either player by name and did not say whether they will be available Saturday.

That leaves both players in a different position than they were two weeks ago. Spellman returned to practice Aug. 6, Welch followed one day later and both were added to the public roster during fall camp.

Mullen said Aug. 10 that both players were available and ready to play. They continued working with the defense before disappearing from practice and the two rosters UNLV made public for Memphis week.

The changes followed Friday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to stay a preliminary injunction in Wisne v. NCAA. The July 31 injunction had prevented the NCAA from enforcing its four-season limit against qualifying athletes from the 2022 high school class while the lawsuit continued.

Friday’s stay suspended that class-wide protection while the NCAA’s appeal proceeds. It did not end the case, and it does not by itself establish why Welch and Spellman are no longer listed.

UNLV has not connected either player’s removal to the ruling. The timing raises the eligibility question, but the university has not provided the answer.

Mullen instead discussed several UNLV players waiting on court decisions or NCAA waivers. He said the program has seen identical waiver requests receive different answers.

“We’ve had two kids with identical waivers already been cleared,” Mullen said. “We have two other kids with the identical deal we’re still waiting on. Hopefully the NCAA can get their act together and get this organized.”

Mullen did not identify those players and did not say Welch or Spellman were among them. Nothing in his answer confirmed that either defender has a waiver pending or that the appeals court decision caused the roster change.

Safety Jake Pope was also asked about players moving in and out of the defense because of the court cases. He said the rest of the group has tried to support the players involved while continuing to prepare for Memphis.

“It is tough, and I hate to see it because I feel like sometimes it’s not the players’ fault,” Pope said. “We just gotta keep moving forward as a team and stay behind those guys. If they’re here, great. If not, we’ll just stay patient with it and move on.”

Welch’s absence would create the bigger change to UNLV’s projected defense. He started 10 games last season, led the Rebels with five interceptions and returned during camp as another proven corner in Paul Guenther’s system.

UNLV spent most of the offseason preparing to replace Welch before the July ruling gave him a possible route back. Avery Helm, Quandarius Keyes, Mumu Bin-Wahad, Tre Fulton and Denver Harris remain among the defensive backs competing for roles, while Pope returns after starting every game at safety.

Spellman appeared in all 14 games last season and recorded 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup. His return gave UNLV another experienced option at linebacker and along the edge, even if he was not projected for the same role as Welch.

UNLV has not ruled either player out for the season, but it has not listed either one as available. Five days before the opener, the status of Welch and Spellman for Memphis and every game after it remains up in the air.