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.
On the day Josh Adams signed with Wyoming, there was no live announcement on ESPN. He was not a five-star prospect surrounded by hype. Four years later, he’s the nation’s No. 4 scorer, averaging 25.7 points.
When in doubt — and doubt surrounds most of the basketball teams in the Mountain West at the moment — it would be easy to side with Steve Fisher. He gets the job done at San Diego State year after year.
The curtain is set to be raised on the 18-game Mountain West schedule. Here’s the predicted order of finish:
The quote goes like this: Seize the moment, because some opportunities don’t come twice.
With the Mountain West men’s basketball conference play beginning Wednesday, the Review-Journal peeked into the MW writers’ notes exchange network and looked at how beat writers around the league evaluate the teams they cover.
The Mountain West Conference has reprimanded Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt for his statements about the league’s decision to limit the conference tournament to eight teams rather than 11 as it has invited in the past.
Wyoming not only lost its superstar in swingman Larry Nance Jr., it lost five seniors from a team that went to the top of the Mountain West, winning the conference tournament, earning the school’s first NCAA Tounament bid since 2002 and going 25-10.
The Mountain West’s contract with the Thomas & Mack Center, which expires after this season, is expected to be extended for three years.
The Mountain West decided 12 football teams and 11 in basketball were enough and will not expand. The league considered adding Rice and Texas-El Paso, but declined to take such action at the conference meetings on Sunday at Monday in Phoenix.
UNLV now apparently has an important ally in its efforts to bring NCAA-sanctioned events back to Las Vegas.
Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said the conference plans to keep its basketball tournaments in Las Vegas, but he is exploring a possible change of venue after 2016, when a contract with the Thomas & Mack Center expires.
It was as ugly as it gets, a grinding game about defense. But there were a few style points, and Josh Adams got the credit. He let a shot fly that was a thing of beauty.
Josh Adams scored 27 points and Larry Nance 20 as Wyoming upset No. 1 seed Boise State 71-66 in overtime in a Mountain West tournament semifinal Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Cowboys will play San Diego State, which defeated Colorado State 56-43, for the title Saturday.
Boise State defeats New Mexico 66-60 to win the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, giving the Broncos the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
