Rice fills last opening by hiring coach’s kid
With one spot remaining on his staff, UNLV coach Dave Rice looked at several assistants who had coaching aspirations. His choice was a coach’s daughter.
Rice announced the hiring of Kreigh Warkentien as director of basketball operations Tuesday.
Rice opted to restructure the director of operations role and put Warkentien in the noncoaching administrative position where she will be a liaison between the coaches and UNLV’s athletics administration while serving as the program’s academic coordinator.
“I was considering a lot of options all the way through,” Rice said. “I had always thought to really make it into an administrative position was definitely a viable option. Kreigh is going to do a terrific job in that role. The most important thing for me that Kreigh will do is academics. That’s a huge emphasis.”
She is the daughter of Mark Warkentien, a Rebels assistant coach from 1981 to 1987, the NBA Executive of the Year with the Denver Nuggets in 2009 and currently the New York Knicks’ director of pro player personnel.
Kreigh Warkentien’s godfather is Tim Grgurich, a 12-year UNLV assistant under Jerry Tarkanian and the Rebels’ head coach for seven games in 1994-95.
“He will be around our program a lot,” Rice said of Grgurich, who is assisting the Dallas Mavericks.
Rice said his confidence in the three assistant coaches he hired — Justin Hutson, Stacey Augmon and Heath Schroyer — allowed him to fill out his staff with someone with no coaching experience.
“I’m really excited about those three guys,” said Rice, who will handle the team’s scheduling along with Schroyer.
Kreigh Warkentien was previously Arizona State’s program coordinator. She was responsible for leading the academic support efforts, among various other duties, for coach Herb Sendek. She also worked for the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers in game operations.
“I was born in the Runnin’ Rebel family. I took some of my first steps in the newly built Thomas & Mack Center, and I grew up loving the Rebels. This is a great opportunity,” said Warkentien, who earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Arizona State in 2009.
Rice also said Rich Hilliard’s title has been changed from video coordinator to director of student-athlete development.
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.