Hello Josh Pastner !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Swoll Cracker]

[MissionTrails]

On 1/30/2025 at 9:08 AM, Swoll Cracker said:

The irony with that sign is.....USU and UNLV won't be in the same conference moving forward (allegedly). Classic sign, nonetheless. 

[VincentVegaBond2]

On 1/30/2025 at 3:07 PM, MissionTrails said:

The irony with that sign is.....USU and UNLV won't be in the same conference moving forward (allegedly). Classic sign, nonetheless. 

Still doesn't hold a candle to the best sign I ever saw. During a game in Provo against BYU back when they were still in the MW and our biggest rivals, one of the Rice Netters calmly walked up to the front rows of the arena, turned around, and unveiled a sign that said:

I Banged

Your wife while

U were on your mission

He got kicked out of the game but miraculously didn't get his a$$ kicked.

[MissionTrails]

On 1/30/2025 at 4:43 PM, VincentVegaBond2 said:

Still doesn't hold a candle to the best sign I ever saw. During a game in Provo against BYU back when they were still in the MW and our biggest rivals, one of the Rice Netters calmly walked up to the front rows of the arena, turned around, and unveiled a sign that said:

I Banged

Your wife while

U were on your mission

He got kicked out of the game but miraculously didn't get his a$$ kicked.

Please tell me he really wrote "wives" 😂

[renoskier]

On 1/30/2025 at 3:07 PM, MissionTrails said:

The irony with that sign is.....USU and UNLV won't be in the same conference moving forward (allegedly). Classic sign, nonetheless. 

One more year!

[Just_Chris]

On 1/29/2025 at 8:01 PM, VincentVegaBond2 said:

They've also got the LV Lights soccer team and Vegas Thrill volleyball. Those plus what you mentioned above arguably more entertaining to a casual fan than a long mediocre UNLV squad taking on UC Riverside.

Yeah I forgot about the Lights... I had no idea there was a volleyball team in Vegas. 

I know for me if I could only go to one sporting event when I come back to visit Rebel hoops are way down my list. I went to an HSK game last time I was home and even though they stink DLC is a cool little arena and the game was entertaining. 

[4UNLV]

 

On 1/30/2025 at 9:08 AM, Swoll Cracker said:

 

The rebellion used to have signs saying ‘extend Polian’. 😆

I doubt these kids remember that though, lol. 

[VincentVegaBond2]

On 1/28/2025 at 12:57 PM, RebelTexan said:

I admit when I was on Reb-Net I was drinking the CDR Kool Aid too.  Golf course Lon was doing OK, but along with everybody else, I got greedy and wanted more of the Findlay Prep blue-chip type recruits to take the program to the next level.  CDR brought the recruits but I realized after about year 4 that he didn't have the charisma or experience to get those horses to produce.  I guess I'm a slow learner.

I was in a similar boat although I never liked or understood their highly irrational constant bashing of "Golf Course Lon" after all he did for UNLV.   He was not only a great coach but also a great guy and established a culture we could be proud of.  Maybe it's because I sadly didn't experience any of the Tark years so in my lifetime as a fan Lon was the best we ever had.

I was personally upset to see Lon go and was afraid UNLV would regress without him which they did (that's an understatement).  The hatred for Lon over there was and still is just so puzzling, especially combined with the worshipping of Rice after what Rice "achieved" compared to Lon. Doesn't even remotely make any sense.

That said I was SUPER excited when Rice was hired and immediately started landing recruits of the caliber that Lon was never able to sniff. What he did with those talent loaded teams is another story.

I was fully on board with Rice through the first 2 years even despite the in season regression and disappointing NCAA losses both years.  His 3rd year disaster is when I started to realize his complete incompetence and notice a clear pattern with his teams, and his disastrous 4th year sealed it in stone for me.  I wanted him gone after year 4 but Zimmermom and Rice Net and Co heroically stepped in and temporarily postponed the inevitable. 

[Just_Chris]

On 1/31/2025 at 10:08 AM, VincentVegaBond2 said:

I was in a similar boat although I never liked or understood their highly irrational constant bashing of "Golf Course Lon" after all he did for UNLV.   He was not only a great coach but also a great guy and established a culture we could be proud of.  Maybe it's because I sadly didn't experience any of the Tark years so in my lifetime as a fan Lon was the best we ever had.

I was personally upset to see Lon go and was afraid UNLV would regress without him which they did (that's an understatement).  The hatred for Lon over there was and still is just so puzzling, especially combined with the worshipping of Rice after what Rice "achieved" compared to Lon. Doesn't even remotely make any sense.

That said I was SUPER excited when Rice was hired and immediately started landing recruits of the caliber that Lon was never able to sniff. What he did with those talent loaded teams is another story.

I was fully on board with Rice through the first 2 years even despite the in season regression and disappointing NCAA losses both years.  His 3rd year disaster is when I started to realize his complete incompetence and notice a clear pattern with his teams, and his disastrous 4th year sealed it in stone for me.  I wanted him gone after year 4 but Zimmermom and Rice Net and Co heroically stepped in and temporarily postponed the inevitable. 

It's because he wasn't scoring 90 + points a night and recruiting 5 star guys (ironically one of the 5 star guys he did recruit was hot garbage) 

Who cares that he won 3 more NCAA tournament games than anyone post Tark

 

[VincentVegaBond2]

On 1/31/2025 at 3:47 PM, Just_Chris said:

It's because he wasn't scoring 90 + points a night and recruiting 5 star guys (ironically one of the 5 star guys he did recruit was hot garbage) 

Who cares that he won 3 more NCAA tournament games than anyone post Tark

 

He won 3 more NCAA games than every UNLV COACH COMBINED post Tark.

Everyone forgets that Lon also had Findlay Prep star and McD's AA Nigel Williams Goss locked up; he backed out of his LOI once Lon left and went on to star at Washington and Gonzaga, leading Gonzaga to the National Championship game in his senior year where they narrowly lost to North Carolina.

I'd personally take NWG and Lon's competent coaching over the underachieving duds Rice brought in with his terrible coaching. This is all moot of course but I feel had Lon stayed along with NWG we'd have been winning even more NCAA games in the subsequent 5 years rather than having our program nuked like Rice did.

[RebelTexan]

On 1/31/2025 at 4:17 PM, VincentVegaBond2 said:

He won 3 more NCAA games than every UNLV COACH COMBINED post Tark.

Everyone forgets that Lon also had Findlay Prep star and McD's AA Nigel Williams Goss locked up; he backed out of his LOI once Lon left and went on to star at Washington and Gonzaga, leading Gonzaga to the National Championship game in his senior year where they narrowly lost to North Carolina.

I'd personally take NWG and Lon's competent coaching over the underachieving duds Rice brought in with his terrible coaching. This is all moot of course but I feel had Lon stayed along with NWG we'd have been winning even more NCAA games in the subsequent 5 years rather than having our program nuked like Rice did.

I remember Lon just finished building his retirement/forever house in Vegas around the time Oklahoma came calling.  Not sure how much $ UNLV would have needed, but seemed like Lon was willing to work for less than OK's offer to stay in Vegas.  The problem was there was no appetite by the boosters/admin to try and keep him and many of the fans thought UNLV could do better.  What a huge mistake that ended up being.   Another thing that gets overlooked is that Lon recruited without the benefit of the Mendenhall Center.  Lon was the main driver to get the funding to build it and never got the chance to practice in it or recruit to it. 

[4UNLV]

On 1/31/2025 at 6:07 PM, RebelTexan said:

I remember Lon just finished building his retirement/forever house in Vegas around the time Oklahoma came calling.  Not sure how much $ UNLV would have needed, but seemed like Lon was willing to work for less than OK's offer to stay in Vegas.  The problem was there was no appetite by the boosters/admin to try and keep him and many of the fans thought UNLV could do better.  What a huge mistake that ended up being.   Another thing that gets overlooked is that Lon recruited without the benefit of the Mendenhall Center.  Lon was the main driver to get the funding to build it and never got the chance to practice in it or recruit to it. 

In all honesty I’m not so sure that was such a huge mistake, insomuch as the fact that Livengood hired a very nice but incompetent (and cheap) rookie to replace him. Imagine if he’d have hired a great coach on his way out the door, they were certainly knocking on the door at that time. A good coach could have actually elevated the program after Lon left. Mistake after mistake after he left is what got us here, but it didn’t have to be that way.

[VincentVegaBond2]

On 1/31/2025 at 6:07 PM, RebelTexan said:

I remember Lon just finished building his retirement/forever house in Vegas around the time Oklahoma came calling.  Not sure how much $ UNLV would have needed, but seemed like Lon was willing to work for less than OK's offer to stay in Vegas.  The problem was there was no appetite by the boosters/admin to try and keep him and many of the fans thought UNLV could do better.  What a huge mistake that ended up being.   Another thing that gets overlooked is that Lon recruited without the benefit of the Mendenhall Center.  Lon was the main driver to get the funding to build it and never got the chance to practice in it or recruit to it. 

Tragically, everything you said is true. Wouldn't have taken a ton to have Lon return, just a respectable counteroffer and a little (deserved) appreciation. Unbelievably bad decision.

[Just_Chris]

On 1/31/2025 at 4:17 PM, VincentVegaBond2 said:

He won 3 more NCAA games than every UNLV COACH COMBINED post Tark.

Everyone forgets that Lon also had Findlay Prep star and McD's AA Nigel Williams Goss locked up; he backed out of his LOI once Lon left and went on to star at Washington and Gonzaga, leading Gonzaga to the National Championship game in his senior year where they narrowly lost to North Carolina.

I'd personally take NWG and Lon's competent coaching over the underachieving duds Rice brought in with his terrible coaching. This is all moot of course but I feel had Lon stayed along with NWG we'd have been winning even more NCAA games in the subsequent 5 years rather than having our program nuked like Rice did.

Yeah that's what I meant ... lol 

I liked Lon, I was sad to see him go. I liked Rice too but after about 2 seasons much like you I realized he was in way over his head. The boosters really kind of screwed the pooch and then of course the fiasco with the dude who choked his wife. 

It's been rough but maybe Harper will make a good hire before he likely gets a call from a big 4 school. 

[RebelTexan]

On 1/31/2025 at 6:48 PM, 4UNLV said:

In all honesty I’m not so sure that was such a huge mistake, insomuch as the fact that Livengood hired a very nice but incompetent (and cheap) rookie to replace him. Imagine if he’d have hired a great coach on his way out the door, they were certainly knocking on the door at that time. A good coach could have actually elevated the program after Lon left. Mistake after mistake after he left is what got us here, but it didn’t have to be that way.

Good point.  That's what I dont get.  Why did Livengood go the cheapo route after Lon left instead of getting the money together and going after another established coach?  And why Rice?  He's a great assistant, but doesnt seem like head coach material.  Even Tark thought Theus was more suited for the job.

[B_Lootz]

On 1/31/2025 at 9:32 PM, RebelTexan said:

Good point.  That's what I dont get.  Why did Livengood go the cheapo route after Lon left instead of getting the money together and going after another established coach?  And why Rice?  He's a great assistant, but doesnt seem like head coach material.  Even Tark thought Theus was more suited for the job.

Rice’s stock was soaring sky high after BYU’s amazing 30-win/S16 season. It wasn’t only their success but BYU’s team was hella fun to watch, averaging over 80 ppg with Jimmer as the star. Since Rice was the one that ran the offense, I think many in Vegas, including myself, were salivating at the prospect of seeing a similar type of fast paced exciting offense at UNLV.  

In hindsight… we should’ve made a more concerted effort to keep Lon instead of allowing him to walk and hiring either Rice or Theus.

[UNLV2001]

On 1/31/2025 at 7:42 PM, VincentVegaBond2 said:

Tragically, everything you said is true. Wouldn't have taken a ton to have Lon return, just a respectable counteroffer and a little (deserved) appreciation. Unbelievably bad decision.

 

On 1/31/2025 at 6:48 PM, 4UNLV said:

In all honesty I’m not so sure that was such a huge mistake, insomuch as the fact that Livengood hired a very nice but incompetent (and cheap) rookie to replace him. Imagine if he’d have hired a great coach on his way out the door, they were certainly knocking on the door at that time. A good coach could have actually elevated the program after Lon left. Mistake after mistake after he left is what got us here, but it didn’t have to be that way.

 

On 1/31/2025 at 8:32 PM, RebelTexan said:

Good point.  That's what I dont get.  Why did Livengood go the cheapo route after Lon left instead of getting the money together and going after another established coach?  And why Rice?  He's a great assistant, but doesnt seem like head coach material.  Even Tark thought Theus was more suited for the job.

How much of the Rice hire was driven by the big $$ boosters that were still around in that era & clamoring for some connection to the Tark years 

Lon Kruger's time at UNLV was 14 to 20 years after the Tark glory years so there was still a good amount of old timers wanting a Tark type era again...........remember the Tim Grgurich disaster in the aftermath of the Massimino debacle -- Pretty sure the old Big $$ boosters hand hands in both Massimino & Grg being hired 

Not sure if the boosters of this era carry the weight of the old timers from the 70's to 190's era --- That was the "old money" Vegas group -- Even the guy who hosted the coaches show when Tark was here was the owner / top guy at Western Linen Service Larry deBouf  -- this was late 70's to mid 80's 

One might think with the NIL & paying players, it's like 1980's all over again at UNLV !!! 

https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/unlv/unlv-basketball/he-was-something-wasnt-he-says-member-of-tarkanians-inner-circle/

On the night of Jerry Tarkanian’s death, there was only one place in Las Vegas to truly honor the man who put UNLV on the college basketball map:

Piero’s.

The Italian restaurant on Convention Center Drive just west of Paradise Road was Tarkanian’s home away from home for years. He would eat the majority of his meals there, hold court with friends, fellow coaches and reporters from across the country, all under the watchful eye of proprietor Freddie Glusman, one of his closest friends and part of Tarkanian’s “Inner Circle” that included Irwin Molasky, Mike Toney, Larry duBoef and Dick Manoogian.

 

Tarkanian stories? Glusman has a ton of them. Like the time he made sure then-athletic director Dennis Finfrock couldn’t gain access to the Rebels’ locker room at Barnhill Arena when they played at Arkansas in a nationally televised game on CBS in 1991.

“I arranged it with the head of the campus police that I would have control of all the locker room passes,” Glusman said. “So when Finfrock tried to get to the door at halftime, the security guards stopped him and asked him where his pass was. Well, he didn’t have a pass, because there’s no way he was getting one from me. That really pissed him off, but Tark loved it when I told him about it after the game.”

And when the Review-Journal ran the infamous “hot tub photo” in 1991 of convicted sports fixer Richard Perry with three of Tarkanian’s players, Glusman offered $25,000 to anyone who could find the person who delivered the picture to the paper.

“I upped it to $35,000, but no one ever collected the money,” Glusman said. “No one came forward.”

DuBoef’s friendship with Tarkanian goes back to his arrival in Las Vegas in 1973. They lived two blocks apart and quickly spawned a friendship that would last more than 40 years.

“He’d come over to my house and watch film, and we spent a lot of time together,” said duBoef, who used to host Tarkanian’s coach’s show on TV and radio. 

[crsmitty04]

On 1/31/2025 at 9:07 PM, RebelTexan said:

I remember Lon just finished building his retirement/forever house in Vegas around the time Oklahoma came calling.  Not sure how much $ UNLV would have needed, but seemed like Lon was willing to work for less than OK's offer to stay in Vegas.  The problem was there was no appetite by the boosters/admin to try and keep him and many of the fans thought UNLV could do better.  What a huge mistake that ended up being.   Another thing that gets overlooked is that Lon recruited without the benefit of the Mendenhall Center.  Lon was the main driver to get the funding to build it and never got the chance to practice in it or recruit to it. 

This × 1,000.

Much like Tony Sanchez helped secure a football complex he'd never get to coach in, Lon helped secure the Mendenhall Center for hoops, despite never getting to lead practices there.

The difference is Lon was a really good coach.

I think Lon (who loves Las Vegas) + the Mendenhall Center would have equated to higher level recruits and regular NCAA tourney appearances. 

I think it'd have been exactly what we're yearning for now. The administration and us wild fans were just too shortsighted and bitter to see it at the time.

 

 

[RebelTexan]

On 2/1/2025 at 9:26 AM, crsmitty04 said:

This × 1,000.

Much like Tony Sanchez helped secure a football complex he'd never get to coach in, Lon helped secure the Mendenhall Center for hoops, despite never getting to lead practices there.

The difference is Lon was a really good coach.

I think Lon (who loves Las Vegas) + the Mendenhall Center would have equated to higher level recruits and regular NCAA tourney appearances. 

I think it'd have been exactly what we're yearning for now. The administration and us wild fans were just too shortsighted and bitter to see it at the time.

 

 

Looking back, he snagged 5-star NWG right before Mendenhall was going to come on line.  His recruiting probably would have gotten a lot better with the new practice facility to sell recruits.  And who knows how far he would have gotten in the tourney with better talent.  I know he got to the F4 at Oklahoma.

[ph90702]

This game is boring AF!