Coaching search could use a little bit of imagination

On Friday,  the same day Lon Kruger resigned as UNLV basketball coach, bought a second fiddle and headed off for a (much) greener pasture via the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, some friends and I wandered into Binion's Horseshoe downtown. One of my pals said he had met Benny Binion once, inferring that guys who were not above taking a risk, guys who did not lack for imagination, guys who might haul off and punch you in the nose, if you deserved to be punched in the nose, made Las Vegas what it is -- er, was.

Dave Rice, a Brigham Young assistant coach with lots of upside, a really good guy and a UNLV man -- which is sort of like a Harvard man or a Princeton man, only without the pretense and the stock portfolio -- has the inside track to become the new Rebels basketball coach. From a personal standpoint, this makes me happy, because I have known Rice a long time, and he always returns phone calls.

This will also make a lot of UNLV fans happy. Judging from my Twitter account, they think Rice is an excellent choice to take the Rebels to "the next level," or at least to a level that would have them showing marginal interest in playing Illinois in the NCAA Tournament.

It might have been ordained that Rice would become the new coach the very moment the wind came whippin' down Lon Kruger's plain.

This would explain why 48 hours after the fact, Reggie Theus still was waiting for a phone call from UNLV, the school he helped put on the map when he had a giant Afro.

A lot of UNLV fans, judging from the same Twitter account, also think Theus would be an excellent choice to take the Rebels to the next level.

This is where Benny Binion comes in.

Rice is the safe choice, Theus the riskier one. 

Somebody not named Dave Rice or Reggie Theus? That would require imagination. Apparently, there's no time for imagination, even though hundreds of basketball coaches are only now making their way to the airport in Houston after the Final Four.

How many of those guys charging an overpriced cinnamon roll to their expense accounts also would make a suitable replacement for Kruger? Twenty? Ten? Five? Zero? We'll never know. They literally need not apply. Apparently, there's no interest in them, or money to pay them, even though Cliff Findlay is still selling cars.

Dave Rice is to UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood's one-man search committee what the black school bag was to Jake and Elwood in "The Blues Brothers." He's chained to the wrist, and there's no letting go.

Theus must feel like Carrie Fisher at the end of the movie. He got Jimmered. The phone call finally came, late Sunday night. Probably at the urging of somebody with a lot of money. Probably just lip service, although sources say Theus will interview for the job on Thursday.

The last time, or three times, UNLV was looking for a coach, Theus raised his hand. He was told to get a degree. He did, from some strip mall in Oxnard or the University of Phoenix or someplace like that. He was told to get some experience. He did, under Rick Pitino at Louisville. Much more impressive than the University of Phoenix. He was told to get some head coaching experience. He did. At New Mexico State. Slightly more impressive than the University of Phoenix.

The year before Theus took over, the Aggies went 6-24. In his first year, they went 16-14. In his second year, they went to the NCAA Tournament. In his third year, Theus went to the NBA, to coach the Sacramento Kings. Seemed a good idea at the time. To him, anyway.

As for that safe-risk thing, one could argue it should be the other way around. Theus is a proven winner as a college head coach; Rice hasn't had the chance. This seemed important when UNLV named Bobby Hauck as football coach.

The risk that a lot of people don't like to talk about is that some of the guys Theus recruited to New Mexico State had unruly facial hair, and one or two might have had questionable pasts.

News flash: Players such as Grant Hill and Kyle Singler aren't interested in playing at New Mexico State, or UNLV. They are interested in playing at Duke. I've not met Shelvin Mack's parents, or Matt Howard's, and although there's something very, very cool about having a scantily-clad cocktail waitress serve you free gin and tonic while sitting at a blackjack table at 2 a.m., I can also see why you'd want to send your basketball-playing son to Butler.

Speaking of Butler, I read where a fan on one of the message boards, apparently under the assumption that Bobby Hurley still plays for Duke and that it is still 1991, thinks UNLV should go after Brad Stevens.

I'm not sure even Benny Binion's imagination could make that happen.

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