Dave Rice to UNLV

Sun Apr 10, 2011 4:31 pm

Dave Rice is the new coach at UNLV. Appears to be a solid hire.

Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:35 pm

Rice-a-roni at UNLV & Shyatt happens at UW.

Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:54 am

I think this is a poop hire. Dave Rice is nothing special IMO...sure he was on the magical teams at UNLV (1990 & 1991) but he was a benchwarmer...seeing hardly any PT.

I will be interested (and hold my predictions) until his staff is named though, as to how UNLV will show in the next few years.

How do you wash off the years of living & working in Provostan?

Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:54 am

McPeachy wrote:I think this is a s##t hire. Dave Rice is nothing special IMO...sure he was on the magical teams at UNLV (1990 & 1991) but he was a benchwarmer...seeing hardly any PT.

I will be interested (and hold my predictions) until his staff is named though, as to how UNLV will show in the next few years.

How do you wash off the years of living & working in Provostan?

By hiring away one of SDSU's assissants?

Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:14 am

How do you wash off the years of living & working in Provostan?[/quote]

Might have to ask Tub. I think it was a good hire.

Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:56 am

They had a chance to get Larry Brown.

Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:30 pm

Personally, I think Rice was a great hire for UNLV. He is one of the best X's and O's coaches in the college basketball game. Add in the fact that he will be able to attract top level talent at UNLV, and I think he has the oppurtunity to really make a name for himself.

No, it wasn't a splash hire, but if the goal was to win games, then this was probably the best hire they could have made. Look at the bright side though...this is another HUGE blow to BYU.

Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:40 pm

zappinpoke wrote:Might have to ask Tub

I still scratch my head on that. After all the years of Danny vs. Charles...he ended up assistant coaching there.

Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:06 pm

I think this is a great hire for UNLV, considering the late stage this all went down. I would be very happy if I was a Rebel fan.

Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:51 pm

Count me in the great hire category. Aside from the fact that I think there is a lot of evidence that Dave Rice is just a very good basketball coach (has been the top assistant on the most consistently successful team in the league over the last few years and has been more than just that with Rose's health issues), he is going to tap into some serious talent in LV.

You can debate the ethics of it, but Rice will be able to funnel players through both Bishop Gorman (where his brother has been head coach for years) and through Findlay Prep (where Findlay just happens to be a UNLV booster). Rice wasn't able to fully take advantage of the Gorman pipeline at BYU because of BYU's restrictions (honor code, etc.) although he did place Tavernari there for a year. I don't think the Findlay prep pipeline has really been utilized for UNLV the way it could have been in recent years (most of the top recruits went elsewhere, Texas, etc.). I think Kruger was a little skittish about that setup. Rice will take advantage of it.

Between the talent sources and his coaching ability, UNLV will be a very tough program for years to come.

Personally I was hoping they would hire Theus. A great recruiter, but his teams at NMSU played very sloppy and he recruited a lot of very questionable characters and the whole thing kind of blew up. I think Rice is the much better coach...dammit.

Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:15 am

NowherePoke wrote:Count me in the great hire category. Aside from the fact that I think there is a lot of evidence that Dave Rice is just a very good basketball coach (has been the top assistant on the most consistently successful team in the league over the last few years and has been more than just that with Rose's health issues), he is going to tap into some serious talent in LV.

You can debate the ethics of it, but Rice will be able to funnel players through both Bishop Gorman (where his brother has been head coach for years) and through Findlay Prep (where Findlay just happens to be a UNLV booster). Rice wasn't able to fully take advantage of the Gorman pipeline at BYU because of BYU's restrictions (honor code, etc.) although he did place Tavernari there for a year. I don't think the Findlay prep pipeline has really been utilized for UNLV the way it could have been in recent years (most of the top recruits went elsewhere, Texas, etc.). I think Kruger was a little skittish about that setup. Rice will take advantage of it.

Between the talent sources and his coaching ability, UNLV will be a very tough program for years to come.

Personally I was hoping they would hire Theus. A great recruiter, but his teams at NMSU played very sloppy and he recruited a lot of very questionable characters and the whole thing kind of blew up. I think Rice is the much better coach...dammit.

Cant argue with any of this, Rice will do great there. He's the guy I wanted here, although I am happy Shyatt.

Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:50 pm

NowherePoke wrote:Count me in the great hire category. Aside from the fact that I think there is a lot of evidence that Dave Rice is just a very good basketball coach (has been the top assistant on the most consistently successful team in the league over the last few years and has been more than just that with Rose's health issues), he is going to tap into some serious talent in LV.

You can debate the ethics of it, but Rice will be able to funnel players through both Bishop Gorman (where his brother has been head coach for years) and through Findlay Prep (where Findlay just happens to be a UNLV booster). Rice wasn't able to fully take advantage of the Gorman pipeline at BYU because of BYU's restrictions (honor code, etc.) although he did place Tavernari there for a year. I don't think the Findlay prep pipeline has really been utilized for UNLV the way it could have been in recent years (most of the top recruits went elsewhere, Texas, etc.). I think Kruger was a little skittish about that setup. Rice will take advantage of it.

Between the talent sources and his coaching ability, UNLV will be a very tough program for years to come.

Personally I was hoping they would hire Theus. A great recruiter, but his teams at NMSU played very sloppy and he recruited a lot of very questionable characters and the whole thing kind of blew up. I think Rice is the much better coach...dammit.

When you consider Rice's ties to the LV community and his background he may have even been the #1 candidate regardless of the timing of Kruger leaving. I can't think of many candidates that would be more appealing and realistic than Dave Rice.