As the process plays out slowly regarding getting approval on new UNLV basketball coach Chris Beard’s contract, hanging in the background is the memory of 1994 and a secret second contract given to Rollie Massimino to succeed Jerry Tarkanian.
Basketball
UNLV basketball coach Chris Beard has met with assistants Stacey Augmon and Ryan Miller, but there was no indication of whether either would be retained.
In his only season as a Division I head coach, Chris Beard won 30 games, including one in the NCAA Tournament. But he has much more on his resume.
New UNLV basketball coach Chris Beard spent Tuesday in meetings with his players. The recruiting process on his own roster has begun.
Monday, there was silence from Stacey Augmon. He did not return phone calls or text messages seeking comment on his being snubbed.
The pain of March 30, 1991, will never completely go away. UNLV’s 79-77 loss to Duke at the Final Four at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis remains one of the great upsets not only in the history of college basketball but also all of sports.
UNLV athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy can’t wait to share new coach Chris Beard with the world. But she wants the process to play out first, which means finalizing the contract through the legal process and getting it approved by the University of Nevada Board of Regents, which likely will be Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
UNLV has found yet another person to coach the men’s basketball team.
UNLV officials were spurned by Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin last week to start a wild sequence of events. It became clear Sunday night that UNLV’s latest top candidate was Beard after New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies pulled out of the race.
Chris Beard’s head coaching stops include time at community colleges in Seminole State and Fort Scott, a level that demands coaches travel to places far and wide and often unknown to discover players.
Bob Knight crossed paths with Chris Beard, the head coach at Seminole State College in Oklahoma. It’s not easy to make a big impression on Bob Knight, but Beard did.
Musiette McKinney from The Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach heard that Chris Beard, the Arkansas-Little Rock basketball coach, was in town to interview for the UNLV job that Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin didn’t want and she was so excited.
UNLV 7-foot freshman Stephen Zimmerman Jr. officially announced Monday on Twitter that he is declaring himself eligible for the NBA Draft.
Chris Beard oversaw a 17-game turnaround this season at Arkansas-Little Rock, and UNLV hopes he can pull off a similar feat at UNLV. He agreed in principle Sunday to become the Rebels’ next basketball coach, according to sources close to the search.
UNLV 7-foot freshman Stephen Zimmerman Jr. plans to hire an agent and turn pro this week, according to a Yahoo! Sports report.
