Failure abounds in Rice’s exit at UNLV

I remember the telephone conversation, the optimism in his voice and determination to build a winning basketball program and excitement about coming home. Dave Rice was talking from his car that afternoon, en route with his family from Provo, Utah, to Las Vegas.

He was traveling to what he believed would not only be his first head coaching stop, but also his final one, having been selected to lead the same UNLV program he once won a national championship with as a player and later helped direct as an assistant coach.

That was April 2011.

On Sunday, he was fired.

The headline and accompanying quotes of a news release stated Rice resigned, but anyone who knows him and understands his loyal-to-a-fault devotion to his alma mater immediately realized the insincerity in even suggesting that's how things concluded.

Rice never would turn his back on his school, his players, his program. I've known him for 25 years and consider him a close friend, although I'm sure there have been many days he didn't return the sentiment upon reading my words.

But he understood the job. He got it when those around him didn't.

And he never, ever, would walk away from that program and his players.

I never can understand why those who decide the fate of others have such a difficult time saying it. They fired him. No one believes anything different.

This was as much a mutual decision as anything Stalin declared in World War II.

The Rebels return to the court against New Mexico at the Thomas & Mack Center on Tuesday night, when what has turned into a forgettable 0-3 stretch to begin Mountain West play continues. From there, 15 league games and a conference tournament remain for interim head coach Todd Simon and the Rebels to try to turn around a season quickly slipping away.

But today, for now, you can consider how UNLV arrived at the extremely uncommon decision to fire a basketball coach in midseason a total failure by all involved.

I mean everyone.

Rice failed at the most basic of elements when evaluating any coach. He didn't win enough.

His best season was his first when coaching those players inherited from Lon Kruger, when the Rebels went 26-9 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

From there, the number of victories descended from 25 to 20 to 18 to a 9-7 mark this season. He never finished higher than third in the Mountain West and departs with a conference record of 37-32. His teams missed the past two NCAA fields.

In a bottom-line business at a school whose fan expectations for their basketball program in 2016 exist somewhere between reachable and ridiculous, his results weren't up to par.

"I think you only fail if you stop trying," Rice said. "Any of us in life, whatever we do, if we can lie our head on the pillow at night and say every decision we made was with the right heart and that I gave it everything I had every day, you can't have any second thoughts. You learn from the past, and you try to do better moving forward. That's how I look at it."

His administration failed him.

Rice was granted a two-year extension in 2014 with no pay raise. Think about that. When does that happen at this level?

It was in response to him holding an offer to become head coach at South Florida, but at the center of the decision to extend was this: UNLV athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy (and some influential boosters) feared that if Rice was allowed to walk, the program would lose part or all of a recruiting class ranked fifth nationally.

That players such as Rashad Vaughn and Dwayne Morgan and Goodluck Okonoboh and Patrick McCaw either would choose another school or ask to be released from their letters of intent.

UNLV didn't extend Rice because it viewed him as a sure thing on the sidelines (far from it), but because those recruits supposedly were too important to the program's future.

By the way, how has that class worked out?

"I feel very responsible for this," Kunzer-Murphy said. "It's my responsibility to hire coaches and make changes with coaches. I hope at the end of the day, whatever people might say, is that I was a coach's athletic director and supported her coaches. Was it the right thing to (extend Rice in 2014)? I thought it was. We expect to win (in basketball) here. Am I responsible? Absolutely."

Rice's staff failed him.

You can't overstate the importance of those who assist a head coach in college basketball, in how often wins and losses are determined by how well those people do their jobs in terms of scouting and preparation and in-game suggestions.

Rice's staff hasn't been good enough. Not close. It was incredibly weakened upon Justin Hutson departing after two years and returning to a similar position at San Diego State.

Hasn't been as strong since.

However the decision was made to name Simon interim head coach — if Kunzer-Murphy truly believes he is the best option over others on the staff with college head-coaching and/or NBA assistant experience, if booster Cliff Findlay "suggested" his former Findlay Prep coach be the choice — it's done, and Simon has at least 16 games in which to audition.

But for all the hype that has surrounded UNLV's recent recruiting classes — of which Simon and assistant coach Ryan Miller are afforded much of the credit for landing — and for all the supposed talent the Rebels have, how in the world is UNLV this bad at the point guard spot, and why does its players continue to make the same foolish (unintelligent) mistakes game after game?

"When you're brought in, you're doing everything you can for your boss," Simon said. "(Rice) is not only a friend, but somebody you spend more time with than your own family. You want to do everything you can to try and make him successful. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough W's to the L's."

It wasn't a good day Sunday, and not because Rice shouldn't have been fired. His record had drifted in the direction that a change was imminent, now or at season's end. The Rebels just weren't getting any better. He knows the deal.

But as you would expect from Rice, one of UNLV's own, a loyal soldier to the end, a man who wanted to coach his alma mater forever and hungered for its success like no one else, he stood in front of assembled cameras and recorders and answered all questions.

He never passed blame.

He never once shook responsibility.

He is a good, honest, respectful man who simply didn't win enough.

"There are great kids in this program," Rice said. "High-character kids. I think the future is extremely bright because of that. I'm excited that I was part of something extremely special. I love the players. I can't wait to be with them on senior night, when they graduate, when they have kids.

"I just wanted to be part of something bigger than me. It's a great program, and I'm just honored I was able to be part of it as a player, assistant coach and head coach."

It was a sad day, not because of what occurred but because of how it did.

This was a group effort in failure.

I mean everyone.

— Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on "Seat and Ed" on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney.