No deal reached between UNLV, Cronin
UNLV officials and Cincinnati basketball coach Mick Cronin met Wednesday regarding the vacant Rebels job, but no agreement was reached.
Rebels athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said in a text message she had “no news to report,” and a source close to the situation said no developments would occur Wednesday. Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Tom Groeschen tweeted that a source said there was “zero happening.”
UNLV president Len Jessup did not respond to a text message asking for comment.
The University of Nevada Board of Regents canceled its ad hoc Committee on Athletics meeting scheduled for Wednesday and full board meeting planned for Thursday. All the contractual information would have been needed by Friday, and now the regents will wait until a coach is hired before scheduling a meeting.
They probably will schedule a full board meeting only when a coach is named to decide whether to approve the contract.
Cincinnati still hopes to retain Cronin, who arrived in Las Vegas late Monday.
“I’ve been in touch with (athletic director) Mike Bohn, and he is doing everything he can to negotiate with Mick to keep him in Cincinnati,” university president Santa Ono tweeted.
UNLV officials have made Cronin, 44, their top choice for the job. Speculation on Twitter was Pittsburgh also might be interested, but it was difficult to gauge how seriously the Panthers are looking at Cronin.
Cronin has spent 10 seasons at Cincinnati, leading the Bearcats to a 207-129 record. The Bearcats have made the NCAA Tournament the past six years, and this season they went 22-11 and lost 78-76 to Saint Joseph’s in the first round.
He was born in Cincinnati and graduated from that university.
If Cronin reaches an agreement with UNLV, it could be worth up to $3 million a year. He makes up to $2.2 million annually with incentives at Cincinnati.
Money might not be the primary issue, however.
Cronin has long wanted upgrades to Cincinnati’s facilities, including Fifth Third Arena, where the Bearcats play. The arena is scheduled to undergo an $87 million renovation that is expected to be completed in the fall of 2018, a year later than originally planned.
He also wants more money for recruiting and a chartered plane for recruiting trips.
Should UNLV be forced to look elsewhere for a coach, several candidates remain even as other schools fill their positions. Former UCLA and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin and current New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies are believed to be among those interested in coaching the Rebels.
UNLV players seemed to have a good time by posting several tweets throughout the afternoon.
Derrick Jones Jr. posted a movie clip of Will Smith and the words: “Dumb choices make me and my bros go the other way.”
A tweet from Derrick Jones Jr. that was deleted soon after tweeted https://t.co/sjMK5pD3qd
— britt anderson (@imbrittanderson) March 23, 2016
Ben Carter posted a photo from the movie “Anchorman” in which Steve Carell’s character screams with the words: “Why is everybody yelling!”
— Ben Carter (@Ben_Carter13) March 23, 2016
Jordan Cornish posted a fuzzy image from SpongeBob SquarePants.
— Jordan Cornish (@JordanCornish5_) March 23, 2016
And Chris Obekpa post a clip from Batman villain The Joker, who had a gun in his mouth saying, “Everything becomes chaos.”
The tweets appeared anything but random, and either the players were trying to make a statement or they were trying to keep everyone guessing. The tweets began after word surfaced in the morning that sophomore forward Dwayne Morgan was going to ask for his release from UNLV.
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65
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