By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The kiss of death for any business is to cease being relevant.
And if you saw a UNLV basketball game at Thomas & Mack during the past three seasons and the small crowds, you could not ignore the obvious: there were more open red seats in the building than there were actual bodies watching Runnin’ Rebels basketball.
In the dynamic and growing sports market of Las Vegas, the once-flagship sports brand of UNLV hoops was being swallowed up and being rendered more and more irrelevant. Back in the day when Larry Johnson jerseys were being bought as often as Marc-Andre Fleury sweaters, UNLV basketball occupied the throne that the Vegas Golden Knights are occupying these days. But those days are ancient history.
While the other Nevada university had its Reno-based basketball players on UNLV’s home court prepping for a Mountain West tourney semifinal game against San Diego State, UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois staged her first big news conference in the neighboring Mendenhall Center where basketball practices are held.
Reed-Francois said she no longer had confidence in the UNLV basketball program under coach Marvin Menzies, so she she cut loose Menzies after three seasons and a 48-48 record.
“Ultimately, after a thoughtful and methodical review, I felt a new direction was necessary for the long term, best interests of the program and our athletics department,” Reed-Francois said.
In the world of business, it’s all about finding the right fit for your top manager and building the right connection to the greater community.
I never did see Menzies as a right fit for Las Vegas. Nice guy? Absolutely. Right fit for a flowering sports market where the local university’s basketball program needed a jolt? No.
He was hired before Reed-Francois arrived and was hardly the first choice after Chris Beard was around for a 19-day stint at UNLV before he hightailed it out of Las Vegas for a five-year deal with Texas Tech in 2016.
A former New Mexico State coach and ex-WAC coach of the year, Menzies was scooped up on the fly to lead an unsettled basketball program. UNLV had an awful 11-21 team his first season, but improved to 20-13 in season two before the 2018-19 season ended with a loss to San Diego State during the Mountain West tourney. The Runnin’ Rebels finished at 17-14, with no signature victories in Menzies’ season three.
Reed-Francois offered no names of potential candidates during her 4:30 p.m. news conference — 90 minutes before the Nevada-San Diego State MWC semifinal game. Reed-Francois said her new coach could be coaching doing the March Madness games going on right now.
Does she have a person lined up for the coaching job? Who knows. For the record, she has hired former college basketball coach Eddie Fogler to help her find Menzies’ replacement.
Meanwhile, UNLV’s Mountain West rivals — San Diego State and Nevada — played a spirited semifinal as two non-UNLV fan bases took over the Runnin’ Rebels gym for the night. San Diego State knocked out Nevada and moves to the Mountain West tourney final at 3 p.m. Saturday at Thomas & Mack Center.
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