Review-Journal reporter Adam Hill covered a little bit of everything in 2023, and his best-of list reflects that. Check out his top stories of the year.
UNLV Football
Jackson Woodard followed coach Barry Odom from Arkansas to Las Vegas, and the junior has responded with a team-leading 104 tackles for the 9-3 Rebels.
UNLV junior Ricky White deserves to be one of the nine All-American wideouts this season, fitting in rightfully alongside big names from elite programs.
The Rebels remain relevant on several fronts in talks about Power Five expansion after Colorado left the Pac-12 to go back to the Big 12.
Any chase for a Mountain West championship begins with athletic director Erick Harper, who boldly set the expectations for Arroyo’s successor. He must win and win quickly.
Spring football practice begin Tuesday at UNLV, and Doug Brumfield, Cameron Friel and Harrison Bailey have 14 more practices to win coach Marcus Arroyo’s trust and earn the respect of the rest of the Rebels.
Former UNLV running back Larry Croom, who played for the Rebels in 2002 and 2003, scored a touchdown in the East-West Shrine Bowl, Hula Bowl and Blue-Gray Classic.
Already, the new UNLV football complex has paid off with several commitments for the 2020 recruiting class, pledges from the sorts of players who likely would have never considered the Rebels if not for such dedication to an on-campus facility.
Tony Sanchez concluded his third season as coach Saturday, when the Rebels lost to a historically bad UNR side 23-16 and with it a chance to become bowl eligible and reclaim ownership of the Fremont Cannon.
With UNLV set to hand the reins this season to highly touted redshirt freshman quarterback Armani Rogers, its win total is 5 at the Golden Nugget and CG Technology, which opened it at 5½ before it was quickly bet down.
This is no Iowa cornfield, and the only farming I have done lately is to roll a broken lawn mower out to the curb for a garage sale, but if you close your eyes and imagine what more than $1 billion might deliver Las Vegas in terms of a domed stadium, you just might see all that Ray Kinsella built and more.
It was at this time last year in a ballroom at the Phoenix Convention Center when Roger Goodell was posed a familiar question at his annual state of the league address at the Super Bowl: Did the commissioner think Las Vegas could sustain an NFL team?
A couple of hours after Bobby Hauck resigned as UNLV football coach on Friday, Gonzaga beat St. John’s in one of those sort-of-attractive early season college basketball matchups on TV.
Prediction: If there isn’t a fundamental change in assistance and vision, if facilities and salaries aren’t upgraded and academic support strengthened, you’re going to read this exact same column five years from now, minus a few name changes.
The Rebels are excited about opportunities and not worried about obstacles as they open the season against heavily favored Arizona. That’s an important change for Bobby Hauck’s team.