Rice: The time is now

In no way does Dave Rice live in a cocoon, impervious to criticism and pressure. He’s well aware of the realities of being UNLV’s basketball coach.

He’s well aware that missing the NCAA Tournament two years in a row put his job security in jeopardy, and that missing it again next spring ... well, that’s not an option he wants to consider.

As he looks ahead to a potential make-or-break fifth season, Rice is thinking only about making the Rebels contenders for a Mountain West title and winning meaningful games in March.

“We all want to win,” he said. “There is pressure every year. There was pressure my first year, there was pressure last year and there will be pressure this coming year. That’s the nature of college basketball and being at a place like UNLV. I accept that pressure and have a lot of confidence in our team, my development as a coach and our development as a staff.

“I think we have the pieces in place to have a breakout season. This is UNLV, and I believe that we need to be relevant in March, and we will be relevant in March.”

Promises are easy to make and tougher to keep. Rice is well aware of that, too.

He has plans to improve his program in several aspects, but the first step is getting the personnel in place. By the end of April, he should know the roster for 2015-16, and it does not appear Rashad Vaughn will be on it.

Reports continue to circulate that Vaughn, the Rebels’ leading scorer as a freshman, will not return for his sophomore season. The 6-foot-6-inch shooting guard is seemingly close to signing with an agent and declaring for the NBA Draft.

Chris Wood, a 6-11 forward who until recently appeared more likely to enter the draft, is giving serious consideration to returning for his junior season.

Those departing for certain are senior guards Cody Doolin and Jelan Kendrick and redshirt freshman Dantley Walker, who plans to transfer.

UNLV stumbled to an 18-15 record — its most losses since the 1995-96 season — a seventh-place finish in the Mountain West and an exit in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament. If there was a positive to take away from that mess, it was the playing time the young players received.

In postseason meetings, Rice said freshmen Patrick McCaw, Dwayne Morgan, Goodluck Okonoboh and Jordan Cornish indicated they plan to return. If so, that’s a good place to start. Unlike last spring, Rice is not rebuilding the entire roster.

“You can’t start over every year,” Rice said. “I do think our guys got valuable experience.”

If Vaughn leaves, either Wood (15.7 points per game) or McCaw (9.6) will be the top returning scorer. McCaw, a 6-6 guard, developed into a go-to scorer after Vaughn went down with a knee injury in February.

“Even after the Rashad injury, I thought we were playing some of our best team basketball at the end of the season,” Rice said.

Two players who redshirted could emerge as leaders. Junior forward Ben Carter, an Oregon transfer and Bishop Gorman High School product, should be an impact player along with senior point guard Jerome Seagears, a Rutgers transfer.

Rice’s recruiting is as strong as ever. Jalen Poyser, a top prospect from Canada, is a 6-4 point guard who signed in the fall. Derrick Jones, a 6-6 forward from Pennsylvania who is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 43 player in the nation, was labeled by Bleacher Report as “the best dunker in high school basketball.”

UNLV is considered the favorite among the finalists to land Stephen Zimmerman, a 7-foot senior from Bishop Gorman and a McDonald’s All-American.

Justin Jackson, a 6-7 forward from Findlay Prep, was originally in the class of 2016 but could reclassify and be a part of the Rebels’ incoming class.

If that group comes together — and another recruit is potentially added — Rice believes he has a team capable of winning the league, something he has yet to do.

After four years, Rice’s teams have established no solid identity. He has not had great offensive or defensive teams, his system has been nothing unique, and his teams have been too soft.

So, a big part of his plan is to develop a team that is physical and tough.

“Our two goals in the offseason are we need to get bigger in the weight room and we have to get tougher. We have to get physically bigger, build our defense and get tougher defensively,” Rice said. “That’s got to start with me.”

Rice plans to coach with more of an edge and lose part of the nice-guy act. A coach who lost 28 games the past two years cannot afford to lose many more.

When he examines his program, he spends a lot of time looking in the mirror.

“There’s no substitute for experience, and I’ve gotten a lot of valuable experience, and I’m very excited about the future,” he said. “One thing I think I’m good at is looking back and learning from things that I would do different. I don’t think you can spend too much time doing that or it becomes paralyzing, but you have to learn from mistakes you made.

“From a win-loss standpoint, I was not happy with this past season. We have to do better. The fans have a right, we all have a right to have high expectations for this coming season, and I’m not going to distance myself from that.

“There are no ifs. It’s time. It’s time to compete for a league championship and be relevant in March. The time is now.”

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.