Three Up, Three Down: If Rice returns as coach, he’ll help carry the couch

Before Brigham Young assistant Dave Rice became a leading candidate to replace Lon Kruger as UNLV basketball coach, he was a leading candidate for a Rhodes scholarship.

Shortly after that, he showed up at a fellow sports writer's apartment to help move his belongings across town on a bazillion-degree day.

This says a lot about what kind of guy Dave Rice is.

It also is why I'm not totally buying the Rhodes scholar thing.

That was one of the first thoughts that popped into my mind after Kruger hitched his wagon to the Sooner Schooner on Friday. He'll be the guy changing the tire if Bob Stoops gets a flat.

Here are some other thoughts:

■ Reggie Theus never helped a fellow sports writer move, but he would provide that edge or swagger or whatever it is that a lot of old-time UNLV fans have been clamoring for since the glory days of Jerry Tarkanian. Edge and swagger help when you are recruiting 6-foot-11-inch guys from the city.

■ Favorite Kruger memory: When he saw me standing off to the side in the press room after getting whacked at home by Louisville on a Wednesday night and went out of his way to wish me and mine a Happy Thanksgiving. You don't usually get that in the Big East.

■ Christian Laettner is looking for a job as a Division I assistant. Really.

■ So, apparently, is Larry Johnson.

■ UNLV basketball budget: $3.4 million. Oklahoma basketball budget: $5.7 million. UNLV football bottom line: $1.3 million, red. Oklahoma football bottom line: $38.1 million, black.

■ This might not be the reason Kruger jumped to Oklahoma, but he seems like the kind of guy who would consider a new challenge if it meant more money for his assistants, too.

■ At least he admitted it was about the money, to a certain degree.

■ Only five of 11 UNLV scholarship players showed up for a meeting during which Kruger said goodbye. That percentage of .454 was remarkably close to the Rebels' field-goal percentage of .459.

■ Utah, Brigham Young and Texas Christian, going or gone from the Mountain West. Kruger, gone. Carson City demanding a 20 percent budget cut. Certain people in other high places allegedly going after his head. I don't think this is what Jim Livengood had in mind when he agreed to become UNLV athletic director.

■ I thought one of the main reasons for Findlay Prep was to steer players to UNLV, not Texas. Apparently, I thought wrong.

■ Kruger was among the last of a vanishing breed: good coaches at midmajor programs who seem content to remain there. Now it's up to Mark Few (12 seasons at Gonzaga) and Jim Larranaga (14 at George Mason after 10 at Bowling Green) to be the big fish in the small pond. Maybe Dave Rose (six seasons at BYU). Oh, yeah, and Brad Stevens (four seasons at Butler.) He can be the whale in the pond. If he stays.

■ Maybe the bloom was off his rose, but if you were to rank the all-time UNLV basketball coaches, you'd probably put Kruger second, a little ahead of Rolland Todd and a lot ahead of everybody else.

■ Except the towel-chomping guy.

THREE UP

■ UNLV's Amanda Oliveto tossed her second consecutive softball no-hitter Friday, blanking Seattle 9-0 at Eller Media Stadium. I'm thinking she could be the long lost niece of Johnny Vander Meer.

■ I'm sensing everybody around UNLV is pleased the season-opening football game against Wisconsin has been moved to Thursday night, even if playing on Thursday and other days that aren't Saturday is supposed to be a bad deal, and rot your teeth. Isn't that what nine out of 10 dentists -- er, university presidents -- agreed upon before launching The Mtn.? 

■ The Shadow Creek Golf Club at which Michael Jordan and his pals played golf this past week after secret bets were made is so spectacular and magnificently groomed, I kept waiting for a cranky old man to shake his fist and yell at us kids to keep off the yard.

THREE DOWN

■ I will be watching Durango High grad Lindy La Rocque and the Stanford Cardinal in the women's Final Four starting tonight. I am a bigger fan of women's basketball than most. But if the women want to be treated more like the men, they can start by listing their weights in the program.    

■ This is the worst schedule in 51s history. The team will play 14 games before the first Dollar Beer Night of the season April 21 against the dreaded Salt Lake Bees. But it gets better after that. The 51s will be home the next three Thursdays after the first one for Dollar Beer Nights against the dreaded Sacramento River Cats, the dreaded Reno Aces and the dreaded Albuquerque Isotopes.

■ Saturday, April 16, is Wearable Fleece Blanket Night at Cashman Field, against the dreaded Fresno Grizzlies. A wearable fleece blanket is basically the same thing as a Snuggie. If you wear one to Cashman Field on Thursday night, I can almost guarantee you also will be wearing a dollar beer by the top of the second inning.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.