It has been a long time since UNLV basketball has been on the elite level that it was in the nineties under legendary Hall of Fame Coach, Jerry Tarkanian. Prior to Tarkanian’s arrival at UNLV in 1973, Las Vegas lacked a sense of community and the Runnin’ Rebels helped bring the city together. A town known only for gaming, now had a sports team to rally around and call their own but UNLV’s monopoly over the hearts and minds of Las Vegas may have come to an end, thanks to this year’s greatest sports story — the Vegas Golden Knights.
UNLV has just nine NCAA tournament appearances and four conference tournament championships since Tarkanian’s departure in 1991, compared to the arrival of the Golden Knights, who reached the Stanley Cup Final this year and captured the heart of the city. The Golden Knights’ odds to make the Stanley Cup playoffs were 500-to-1 prior to the season. They currently have 10-to-1 odds to win it all in 2018-19. The Golden Knights also garnered record TV ratings.
The journey has been a different path for the Runnin’ Rebels since the school’s admin ran off the Hall of Fame head coach. UNLV has made the Sweet 16 only once, after years of west coast dominance. With a lack of success over the years, the popularity of the team and the fan base has diminished, with a half-full Thomas & Mack, and plenty of grumpy Rebel fans trolling social media.
It's sad to see when UNLV Basketball Twitter account tweets and there is 1 comment. But that's par for the course these days for UNLV MBB. I'm a die hard fan but the athletic director and everyone involved needs to be fired period end of story. It's a shame what MBB has become
— SICKxMADE/SHOEKING (@SHOEKINGx23) June 12, 2018
Saw pic of UNLV hoops crowd tonight against a respectable E. Washington team. On a Friday with great weather: FULL SECTIONS of empty seats!
Many poor seasons in a row + @GoldenKnights + new T-Mobile/Park options = a depressing season ahead. Why can't they recruit better?
— Johnny Premier (@JohnnyPremier) November 18, 2017
It has been deja vu for old time Vegas residents, as the excitement of the Golden Knights has brought the city together just as the Runnin’ Rebels did during Tarkanian’s era. With their unprecedented success, the Golden Knights have surpassed the Runnin’ Rebels as the top sports team in Las Vegas.
Their timing could not have been more perfect as they helped to rally the city following the tragedy of 1 October. The enthusiasm, support, and love from the community is palpable. In one short season, the Vegas Golden Knights have beat expectations around every turn, brought a city from the brink of despair to the heights of happiness, and have taken the mojo from the Runnin’ Rebels becoming top dog in the up-and-coming sports town.
Is this the year the Runnin’ Rebels make it back to the tournament?
If they’re going to compete with the Golden Knights, the Rebels need to actually compete. A yearly ticket to the “Big Dance” is a start, but won’t be enough. UNLV men’s basketball coach, Marvin Menzies, has had a rough time since being hired, posting a 31-34 record. However, when you take a closer look, he has done a good job rebuilding the program after Texas Tech “Benedict Arnold” Chris Beard buried the program two years ago.
To refresh your memory, Menzies took over for a program which hired a head coach, who then basically ran off most of its roster and recruits, then bolted within a month for the Texas Tech job when Tubby Smith stepped down. Beard managed to empty the cupboard before betraying the city for the exciting night life of Lubbock, Texas. Needless to say, Beard isn’t welcome around these parts any more than NOFX is.
Despite this initial issue, Menzies won nine more games in his second year than his first year and is looking to make the big step to bring the Rebels back to the NCAA tournament. The team is losing senior guards Jovan Mooring and Jordan Johnson, on top of elite big man Brandon McCoy, who left for the NBA Draft after just one season.
UNLV still can look positively on this next season despite these losses with the addition a local senior transfer point guard Noah Robatham and ESPN 100 recruit shooting guard Bryce Hamilton. Robotham is an experienced point guard with an extremely high basketball IQ who looks to make the people around him better which will be refreshing for the team and fans alike.
Bryce Hamilton is expected to be a very good offensive player who can excel with an experienced point guard like Robotham in the backcourt. The loss of Brandon McCoy will hurt the team but the return of Shakur Juiston will be beneficial as he began to break out as a big time payer for the team at the end of the season. Shakur finished second on the team in points (14.6 PPG) and averaged 10 rebounds a game.
Defense was a team weakness last seasons as they finished 184th in team defense efficiency. This will be a major key that the team needs to change if they want to be able to beat top teams in the Mountain West like UNR, San Diego State, Boise State, and Fresno State.
With the proven track record of success for Marvin Menzies as a coach at New Mexico State, their nine win improvement from last season, the addition of quality guards, and the return of Shakur Juiston, it seems that the team is truly ready to make a run back to the tourney.
