UNLV coaching search should focus on fit, not flash

We will, for clarity’s sake, offer the following thoughts under an assumption that the next UNLV basketball coach will not come from the current staff. But if the Rebels ultimately decide to move in the direction of names such as Stacey Augmon or Todd Simon, the central premise remains constant:

It’s all about fit.

A few miles from where the Rebels finished their season with a Mountain West tournament loss to Fresno State on Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, New Mexico State is trying to secure a fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth and sixth in the past seven years.

The Aggies, Kings of the Western Athletic Conference, defeated Missouri-Kansas City 78-64 in one semifinal Friday at Orleans Arena.

Marvin Menzies is the New Mexico State coach whose name is included on most lists of candidates for the UNLV job. So, too, is that of Brad Underwood at Stephen F. Austin, which defeated Houston Baptist 104-68 in a Southland Conference Tournament semifinal Friday.

Know there is risk with any hire. Rick Pitino would even be one if UNLV could land him, which it can’t, given the amount of money and commitment it would take to bring the Louisville coach and his entourage of support to Las Vegas. All of it would come with massive expectations about overnight success, and anything short of immediate deep NCAA runs would undoubtedly draw the ire of a Rebels fan base that hasn’t proven the most realistic of sorts.

But in terms of minimizing a university’s risk in relation to its pledge financially and through other levels of assistance when hiring a coach, there are some who have been extremely successful at the college level and could potentially parlay all the advantages UNLV offers into even greater results.

Menzies is one.

So is Underwood.

Menzies is in his ninth season at New Mexico State and has coached under the likes of Pitino and Steve Fisher and Lon Kruger, meaning one Hall of Famer and two others whose credentials could easily one day have them making induction speeches.

The Aggies have won at a 73 percent rate in conference under Menzies and are 61-14 since 2011-12. This, at a school and in a town of Las Cruces that doesn’t come close to matching what UNLV can in facilities and history and overall support to basketball.

When asked after his team’s victory Friday about his interest in the UNLV position, Menzies declined specific comment.

“Well, you don’t think about any of that,” he said. “You focus on the task at hand, the job you have. I basically just focus on our guys, our team, what is in front of us — the opportunity in front of us. Being able to go to five straight NCAAs and six of seven would be pretty special. I’m just worried about winning with the Aggies. That’s it.”

Underwood played at Kansas State, and his roots are traced to the Midwest, but he has done wonders in Nacogdoches, Texas, where the Lumberjacks are 51-1 in conference in the past three seasons.

Read that record again.

Kansas State passed on Underwood when it hired Bruce Weber in 2012, but the odds of that happening again should the Wildcats soon make a change are long. Oklahoma State also might be looking for a coach any day now. So, too, could Texas Christian, and it’s true one’s geographical base (Big 12 country would mean Big 12 money) often dictates the direction in which someone such as Underwood might be pulled.

UNLV has a responsibility to pursue names such as Pitino and Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh should they show a serious level of interest, but with such coaches often come exorbitant contractual buyouts and other demands that make landing them much tougher than many presume.

UNLV is a good job. I’m not sure it’s a great one, but it has all the needed qualities that should have the program competing annually for conference titles and NCAA berths. And what coaches such as Menzies or Underwood could do when elevated to a conference in which NCAA seeding would finally give them a chance to win games and make runs in the tournament shouldn’t be ignored by those making the hire.

It’s about fit for the coach and school, landing someone who can relate to the type of high-level players UNLV recruits and who has consistently competed for championships and NCAA berths.

The best fit might be guys such as Menzies and Underwood, who have done a whole lot more with a whole lot less than what UNLV will offer its next coach.

I’ll say it again: UNLV needs to stop worrying about winning the news conference and hire someone who can win the conference.

Or, well, at least finish higher than seventh.

Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney