Rice lobbies to keep UNLV job

It’s essentially election week at UNLV. Dave Rice, the incumbent basketball coach, is on the campaign trail and making promises.

He has a propitious combination of returning players and incoming recruits. He has a plan. At the end of his fourth season, he’s guaranteeing better results. He’s asking for another year to prove it.

“I think it has the makings of a very special team,” Rice said. “We need to have a breakout year, and we will. I will hold myself to that high standard.”

The Rebels’ season that just concluded was way below standard — an 18-15 record, a seventh-place finish in the Mountain West and an exit in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.

A year ago, after entertaining an offer from South Florida, Rice received a two-year contract extension through the 2018-19 season. UNLV athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy, who recommended the extension, is now confronted by another big decision.

There are disappointed fans and powerful boosters who want Rice out. Kunzer-Murphy said Friday she is hearing from all angles and listening to everything. There is a pro-Rice contingent, too.

Kunzer-Murphy and Rice are scheduled to meet early in the week to review the season and look into a big-picture future that Rice will paint in bright colors.

Assuming all five true freshmen return — and it’s never safe to assume that in a program seemingly in constant chaos — Rice could put his best team yet on the floor. Rashad Vaughn, Patrick McCaw, Jordan Cornish, Dwayne Morgan and Goodluck Okonoboh are the freshmen forming the foundation.

Vaughn, recovering from a second knee injury, is considering a jump to the NBA. Sophomore forward Chris Wood is a near certainty to declare for the draft.

“We’re excited about the guys that will be coming back. Right now, it’s too early to say who those guys will be,” Rice said. “I made the decision last spring to put this group together. I’m proud of the progress they made.

“I think the future’s extremely bright. I think everyone that is objective about that sees that.”

While critics pick on Rice for his in-game coaching ability and failure to motivate his players consistently, among other things, he and his staff continue to recruit at an elite level. UNLV was more talented than about 90 percent of the teams on its schedule this season, and it beat one of the teams (Arizona) with more talent.

But at the same time, the Rebels went 0-5 against Boise State and San Diego State and were sitting at home when a senior-filled Wyoming team with one marginal NBA prospect won the Mountain West tournament Saturday at the Thomas &Mack Center. That line would look bad on Rice’s resume.

He also won’t boast about the declining win totals in his four seasons — from 26 to 25 to 20 to 18. Rice had his most success with players mostly recruited by former coach Lon Kruger.

Rice’s top recruit, Anthony Bennett from Findlay Prep, was selected No. 1 in the 2013 NBA Draft. Still, UNLV has not won a conference title or an NCAA Tournament game in Rice’s brief era.

The Rebels, missing the postseason for the second consecutive March, lose senior guards Cody Doolin and Jelan Kendrick, transfers who were minor contributors.

“We had plenty of chances this season to just fold up and go home, and we didn’t and we battled until the end,” Doolin said. “A lot of freshmen were thrown in the fire. They gained a lot of experience, invaluable experience. I think next year, it’s really going to show.”

The themes of this season — youth, injuries and close losses — are excuses no one wants to hear in the future.

Rice is past the rebuilding phase and would be reloading next season. Junior forward Ben Carter, an Oregon transfer and Bishop Gorman High School product, should be an impact player. Jerome Seagears, a Rutgers transfer, is a more athletic point guard than Doolin.

The Rebels require an upgrade at point guard, and 6-foot-4-inch Jalen Poyser, a top prospect from Canada, signed in the fall. He is the type of playmaker Rice has been seeking. Derrick Jones, a 6-6 forward and an explosive athlete from Pennsylvania, chose UNLV instead of Connecticut. Jones is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 43 player in the nation.

Stephen Zimmerman, a 7-foot senior from Bishop Gorman, is ranked No. 11 by Rivals. And he appears set to commit to UNLV — instead of Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky or UCLA — but only if Rice and his staff are retained.

Ben Howland, who coached UCLA to three consecutive Final Fours, is known to be interested in the Rebels’ job if it opens.

In four years, Rice has 89 wins but has not delivered the running offensive teams or tough defensive teams he once promised. He’s delivered talented players and teams with diminishing returns.

Rice promises it will happen in his fifth year.

Will he get the votes he needs?

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.