Recruiting priority for Rice’s assistants

In his first month on the job, UNLV associate head coach Justin Hutson has hit the road to recruit, run players through individual workouts and generally adjusted to his surroundings.

Another significant moment for Hutson happened Tuesday, when he met Stacey Augmon for the first time.

"It was exciting meeting Stacey," Hutson said. "That was a jolt."

Rebels coach Dave Rice plans on all of his assistant coaches -- Hutson, Augmon and Heath Schroyer -- providing a jolt to the program's recruiting efforts.

Hutson is the lead recruiter. Augmon, one of the greatest players in UNLV basketball history, walked into his new office at the Thomas & Mack Center and said he's ready to get started.

"I can't wait. I'm excited about recruiting," Augmon said. "I know there's a big difference from when I was coming out because there are a lot of rules that they really tightened up on, and I'm not aware of what the rules are now.

"I can't wait to take this NCAA test. I'll be taking the test soon to find out what I can and can't do so I won't make any mistakes."

Augmon, who played with Rice on the 1990 NCAA championship team, has a transition to make after spending four years in the NBA as a Denver Nuggets assistant for player development.

"In the NBA, after the season for three or four months straight, you do nothing," Augmon said, laughing. "Here it's a full-time job. I can work with any level of kids. I can work to make any kid better.

"I was excited about the job offer. I was surprised that Dave gave me a call. It's a good feeling. This is a special place for me."

Hutson, a respected recruiter and defensive coach at San Diego State, said Rice added the right pieces to UNLV's staff.

"I think we all complement each other, and the staff chemistry is going to be great," Hutson said. "Obviously you want to recruit nationally. You want to build a home base in the West, and that starts here in Vegas. You have to go where the players are, and right now we don't have to go too far because there's a lot of players here in Vegas."

Some of the top players are at Findlay Prep. Rice said he expects to name a director of basketball operations this week or early next week, but Findlay Prep coach Michael Peck is not a candidate for that position because of a relatively new NCAA rule. If a college hires a director of operations from the high school level, the college is prohibited from signing players from the coach's previous school for two years.

Jay Spoonhour, head coach at Moberly (Mo.) Community College and UNLV's interim coach for the final 10 games in 2004, is a candidate for Rice's final staff opening.

Augmon said Tim Grgurich, a 12-year Rebels assistant under Jerry Tarkanian and the program's head coach for seven games in 1994-95, will return to UNLV as an adviser of sorts. Grgurich is currently assisting the Dallas Mavericks.

"I'll make sure of that," Augmon said. "Coach (Grgurich) is coming back with us to help us out. He's definitely excited about it, and that's rare coming from him."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.