Olivier coming back to UNLV

UNLV has looked into its past in hopes of making its women's basketball program successful again.

The school has reached an agreement in principle with Kathy Olivier, a former Lady Rebels standout who spent the past 15 seasons as UCLA's coach, to take over at UNLV, an athletic department source said Sunday.

The source, who did not want to be named because an official announcement has not been made, said a news conference could be called Tuesday. Olivier is expected to sign a multiyear deal.

While not specifically identifying Olivier, UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick said he was hopeful the hire would be announced soon.

"We expect to get the thing finalized here in the next couple of days," Hamrick said. "Until we do get all the final details worked out, we won't make an official announcement."

An attempt to reach Olivier was unsuccessful, but her former UNLV coach, Dan Ayala, praised Hamrick and the athletic administration.

"I think Kathy is a great hire for UNLV and for the Las Vegas community," Ayala said. "I think she will go a great job not only winning, but she will represent the community and use her resources to bring the women's basketball community together.

"So I'm happy for those who have supported it, and I'm going to get involved and other people will get involved, and I'm proud of what she brings to the table."

Olivier succeeds Regina Miller, the Lady Rebels' coach for 10 seasons. Miller, who took over a struggling UNLV program, posted winning records her first eight seasons, but experienced back-to-back losing season to close her Lady Rebels career.

Olivier, then known as Kathy Ricks, played for the Lady Rebels in the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons. She was an honorable-mention All-American her first season after averaging 16.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. As a senior, Olivier averaged 20.2 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Her coaching career began at UNLV as a graduate assistant in the 1981-82 season.

Olivier eventually rose to head coach at UCLA, where she guided the program for the past 15 seasons. She went 232-208, leading the Bruins to five NCAA Tournaments, including the Elite Eight in 1999.

Olivier resigned after the Bruins finished 16-15 this past season to head into administration. She previously said she loved UCLA, but UNLV was the one school that could lure her from the Westwood campus.

"Vegas was very good to me, and I learned a lot and became the person I am because of Las Vegas," Olivier said.

She was the first of six candidates to interview on campus.

The others were Washington assistant Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, Texas-El Paso coach Keitha Adams, Northern Arizona coach Laurie Kelly, South Florida coach Jose Fernandez and Rutgers assistant Carlene Mitchell.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.