The UNLV basketball program was recently thrown into the Coaching carousel when Lon Kruger jumped ship to take the vacant coaching position at Oklahoma State. Since his departure, like any coaching job, rumors have been swirling around about who might be the next coach at UNLV. The basketball atmosphere in the Mountain West Conference is not as deflated as football, as long as New Mexico and San Diego St. can stay relevant, but with that said UNLV can not afford a mediocre coach to step in and struggle for any period of time. Dave Rice assistant at BYU and Reggie Theus, an assistant for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and former NBA head coach for the Sacramento Kings in 2007-08, both former UNLV players, are considered the top of UNLV's wish list.
One rumor about a candidate expressing interest in the UNLV coaching position was former player, and arguably the best UNLV player of all time Larry Johnson. Larry Johnson is attacking his campaign for the coaching position in true Larry Johnson fashion. http://www.lvrj.com/sports/larry-johnson-has-eye-on-unlv-basketball-coaching-job-119140404.html
Larry Johnson has little to no coaching experience, and has turned down most of, if not all, the coaching opportunities he has been offered. Larry is not currently being considered as a serious candidate for the position at this time.
Another rumored interest in the position is coach Bob “The General” Knight. Bob Knight has the most wins all time in Division I basketball, currently at 902 wins. This total will soon be passed by his protégé Coach “K” at Duke, but with Duke’s poor Tournament appearance Coach “K” will have to wait until next year. Now the fact that Bob Knight is interested in the UNLV coaching position is quite the rumor in and of its self; however, the Bob knight portion of the rumor was only mildly shocking when placed into the full context. The rumor continues that once Bob Knight expressed interest, UNLV quickly made it clear that they were not interested in Coach Knight’s services.
Now I understand that Coach Knight would be a risk for most teams, not for his ability to coach and win games, but for his lack of self control at times and possible embarrassment to the University he represents (I believe that Coach Knight may have better control of his emotions at this stage in his life, but one could only hope). For most teams this would not be a risk worth taking; however, when your UNLV and your city is built around shows, lights, and the unusual, shouldn’t you at least consider the all time Division I leader in wins? Yeah there is that chance he may make the University look bad, but its not like the UNLV basketball history is a squeaky clean program, and I guarantee Coach Knight would not be dipping into Jerry ("Tark the Shark") Tarkanian off the court playbook. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972568-1,00.html
No disrespect to the UNLV basketball team, but a “General” may help to bring promising players back to the “Sin City,” without so much of the “Sin.”
What do you think Tre’von?
That’s what I am talking about Willis!
Jake
No comments:
Post a Comment