South Dakota State’s Otzelberger could be front-runner for UNLV job

South Dakota State basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger has emerged as a strong candidate for the UNLV job, sources close to the search said Tuesday.

Otzelberger disabled his Twitter account, and a South Dakota State spokesman said the coach would not comment on his candidacy.

South Dakota State athletic director Justin Sell told a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, radio host that he doesn’t “deal in rumors. I deal in being prepared.”

UNLV athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois has not spoken publicly since announcing Marvin Menzies’ firing March 15. She is believed to be looking only for head coaches at the midmajor level. An announcement could be made by this weekend.

Reed-Francois would not comment Tuesday on Otzelberger or other candidates for the job.

If the Rebels hire Otzelberger, it will follow a playbook similar to that of Utah State. The Aggies hired Craig Smith out of South Dakota last year, and he led Utah State to a share of the Mountain West regular-season title and the conference tournament championship. He was named the league’s Coach of the Year.

But Otzelberger might have a hard time duplicating that immediate success at UNLV as more players enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. Amauri Hardy entered Tuesday with, reportedly, Nick Blair, joining from last week Cheickna Dembele, Mbacke Diong, Shakur Juiston, Joel Ntambwe and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. They still can choose to remain at UNLV.

Otzelberger’s style of play emphasizes 3-point shooting. The Jackrabbits led the Summit League in shooting 40.8 percent from 3-point range this season, and they were second with 327 made 3s. Three players attempted more than 175 3-pointers. Only Jovan Mooring with 202 a year ago met that threshold in Menzies’ three seasons at UNLV.

Otzelberger, 41, is 70-33 in three seasons at South Dakota State and made the NCAA Tournament in his first two years. This season, the Jackrabbits won the regular-season title for the second consecutive season, but a tournament loss sent them to the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost 79-73 at Texas. They finished 24-9.

South Dakota State was led by Mike Daum, a three-time Summit League Player of the Year. He averaged 25.3 points and 11.7 rebounds this season, the only player nationally to average 25 and 10.

Before going to South Dakota State, Otzelberger was an assistant coach at Iowa State over eight seasons and two stints and at Washington for two years. He recruited more than a dozen players at Iowa State who earned All-Big 12 Conference honors and had a hand in Washington’s 2014-15 recruiting class that was ranked in the top 10.

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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.