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.
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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.
Erick Harper now sits in the seat at UNLV most responsible for understanding the national landscape and how best the Rebels fit. He’s also auditioning to be the full-time athletic director.
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.
Beginnings can be memorable or brutal. There isn’t much in between when talking wins and losses. Except this one. It was just nuts.
Marcus Arroyo’s second season at UNLV begins with Thursday night’s game against Eastern Washington at Allegiant Stadium. He’s looking for his first win after last year’s 0-6 finish.
Keith Whitfield as university president is now taxed with replacing Desiree Reed-Francois, who departed for Missouri of the Southeastern Conference.
There’s a reason UNLV athletic director Desiree-Reed Francois was listed among candidates for essentially all Power Five openings the past year or so: Climbers want to climb.
UNLV Rebels guard Jordan McCabe and his 450,000 social media followers is an example of how some will profit off name, image and likeness legislation.
However culture will ultimately be defined under the second-year head coach Marcus Arroyo, fixing a major apathy problem among UNLV football fans is paramount.
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.