UCLA — ranked second nationally but not the country’s second-best team right now — had no problem whipping the Rebels 73-51.
Ed Graney
Ed Graney is a sports columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, covering a variety of topics and the Las Vegas sports scene.
egraney@reviewjournal.com … @edgraney on Twitter. 702-383-4618
UNLV, under first-year coach Kevin Kruger, lost to No. 4 Michigan on Friday night, but the Rebels stayed with the Wolverines for most of 40 minutes.
Rare was the familiar face running up and down the Mendenhall Center courts for a UNLV team featuring nine transfers. But the effort and intensity were there.
Coaches have been free to leave for another job without penalty forever. Now players have the same right. So coaches need to quit complaining and embrace the new reality.
That UNLV team was ranked No. 1 all season and had just one game decided by fewer than 10 points. Three of the NBA’s top 12 draft picks that year played for Jerry Tarkanian.
The former UNLV basketball coach is retiring to Las Vegas, where he will watch son Kevin take over the Rebels program while trying to inspire a fan base.
Kevin Kruger was among the first to enter the transfer portal when he transferred from Arizona State to UNLV in 2006, so he’s familiar with what has become a major pipeline for talent.
The hire by UNLV’s Desiree Reed-Francois is a gamble. When you hand the keys of a program to a coach who has never sat in the lead chair, unknowns outweigh certainties.
Kevin Kruger, who led the Rebels to an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 while playing for his father, was named the program’s new head coach on Sunday.
The Rebels are in search of another basketball coach and, like so many times before, Pitino is the most popular wish among scarlet and gray fans.
Turnover is coming for the UNLV basketball program, and it might not end with the players.
UNLV, which struggled to defend the 3-point line most of the season, held Air Force to 0 of 9 in the first half and 2 of 18 overall on 3s in Wednesday’s blowout.
It’s much easier — not to mention cheaper — for UNLV to ditch a mascot than the nickname the university has been known by since the mid-1950s.
New Mexico relocated out of state Nov. 20 and has pretty much been on the road since. The Lobos found home bases in Lubbock, Texas, and most recently St. George, Utah.
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