Kevin Kruger grew tremendously as a head basketball coach off the court as his players did on it during the 2021-22 season.
Sports Columns
While it’s always a pleasing sound for basketball coaches when a fax machine signals the impending arrival of a signed letter of intent, welcoming new players to your program in 2017 now comes with a hint of apprehension.
UNLV athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy was answering questions Sunday evening about the firing (with a capital F) of Dave Rice when the future was mentioned, specifically if the school will commence a national search to identify a new full-time basketball coach.
The story behind why Derrick Jones Jr. wears No. 1 can be found on Page 43 of your trusty UNLV basketball media guide. It’s simple reasoning, not some profound wisdom that has a long and intense and complex story behind it.
A movie once was made on the idea that a mirror has two faces, that the relationship between mind and body can take different forms, that what we see on the outside might not necessarily be a person’s true character.
The talent keeps coming for UNLV basketball, keeps believing in the vision Dave Rice has created, keeps talking about a style of play that if the Rebels ever get around to implementing, just might produce the sort of success a third-year coaching staff insists is attainable.
Dave Rice wasn’t joking Wednesday night. He stood outside the visitor’s locker room in Albuquerque, dejected about with his basketball team’s five-point loss to New Mexico moments earlier, and looked to the future.
UNLV basketball fans can take solace today: Should the Rebels meet San Diego State a fourth time this season, it would be no sooner than the Final Four.