With start times still unannounced, Rebel fans have had plenty of time to pore over the 2018-19 basketball schedule. When the schedule was released, most of the attention went to the conference schedule and the non-conference games that will matter to the committee in March. Some of these have “revenge” written all over them
Because of this, much of the discussion was centered on two games for different reasons: the Dec. 1 matchup with Cincinnati and Dec. 15 when the Rebels take on BYU. While the matchup with the Bearcats is the beginning of a home-and-home series, for Rebels fans, it’s still about coach Mick Cronin and his flirtation with the UNLV head coaching job in 2016.
Why not? The Cincinnati coach already played UNLV once for a nice contract. Lol
— Carl Kountze (@CarlUNLVfan) June 1, 2018
UNLV taking on BYU has its own history stretching back decades. Former UNLV coach Dave Rice was an assistant coach there when Brazilian forward Jonathan Tavernari magically enrolled at Bishop Gorman — coached by Rice’s brother Dave — after spending his junior year at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah. Literally in the shadow of BYU, Tavernari’s visa situation wouldn’t allow him to play his senior season at Timpview, so he moved in with Gorman booster for his senior year with the Gaels.
Tavernari was temporarily ruled ineligible in 2006, citing a long-established NIAA law requiring any transfer not residing with a parent or guardian to sit out 180 days before participating with his respective team. The well-connected Gorman legal team went to work and appealed before an arbitrator in December of 2005, and lost, only to have a court of law deem Tavernari — a legal adult — emancipated on Jan. 5, and therefore eligible to play by NIAA standards.
Shenanigans, indeed. Justly, Gorman failed to win the state title that year.
Of course, Tavernari immediately left Vegas seconds after he graduated and headed back to Provo, where he excelled for BYU and was a thorn in UNLV’s side for his entire college career. The rivalry was never hotter, thanks to Rice and the way he used his brother’s Gorman connection to help BYU out, not UNLV. Some fans never forgot or forgave Dave Rice for this, which is a story for another day.
But the most aggressive, and revenge-filled game of the season will be the easily-overlooked matchup with Southern Utah University. While a home game against a team that finished 13–19 in the Big Sky Conference is easy to ignore for Rebels fans, it’s the “Game of the Year” on the other side.
Even though the Thunderbirds will also face USC and San Jose State next season, the UNLV game will be emotionally charged for several members of the SUU team and it all starts at the top. For the past two season, the Thunderbirds head coach has been Todd Simon. The same Simon who had been a part of the Las Vegas/UNLV community since 2004.
He was an assistant coach under Lon Kruger for one year before becoming an assistant at Findlay Prep in Henderson. While at Findlay Prep, he aided in getting future NBA draft pick Anthony Bennett to enroll at UNLV. He coached there before returning to the Rebels in the 2013 season, becoming an integral member of the coaching staff in terms of gameplay and recruiting.
As an assistant, and later interim head coach, with the Rebels he coached six players into the NBA in Khem Birch, Chris Wood, Stephen Zimmerman Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., Rashad Vaughn and Patrick McCaw.
Despite coaching the team to a 9–8 record as the interim coach, Simon wasn’t seriously considered for the head coaching job. Three days after Simon joined the Thunderbirds, Chris Beard was selected as UNLV’s next head coach. While Simon’s tenure is enough to consider this a “revenge” game, a look at the roster adds extra fuel.
The Thunderbirds roster includes four players with Las Vegas connections. Freshman Dillon Glendenning from Findlay Prep, senior Elijah Graves, who graduated from Liberty High School, and senior Matthew Johnson, from neighboring Coronado High School, all went to high school in southern Nevada.
One of the team’s newest members is a former Rebel steeped in controversy.
Dwayne Morgan was signed by the Thunderbirds on Oct. 27 and immediately become a go-to scorer for the team. Morgan’s tenure with the Rebels can only be remembered as rocky at best. After growing into playing time in his first two seasons, he was hampered by shoulder and hip injuries in his junior year. In spite of those injuries, his future was bright at UNLV.
That is, until May 10, 2017. That’s the day that Morgan was arrested for disorderly conduct with a cabdriver. Only two days later, it was reported by the Las Vegas Sun that he behaved erratic through the encounter with the driver and the police. Morgan was then suspended indefinitely, and that suspension became permanent when he left the team in August on his path to Cedar City.
When the Thunderbirds and Rebels do tip-off, SUU will be looking for revenge. The Rebels? They’ll probably just be looking for a win.
