Terry leaves Rebels with fond memories, coach’s praise

Similar to the team he led as a senior, Curtis Terry was considered a long shot to be a success story when his UNLV career started.

But Terry, who often fired long-range jumpers without hesitation, ended up becoming one of coach Lon Kruger's favorite players. Over the past four years, the two were inseparable while the Rebels experienced a revival.

"I couldn't be any more proud or happy for Curtis, given four years ago he comes in and nothing was known and we had no expectations," Kruger said. "He just improved each year, and his role grew.

"And to think four years ago that he was going to be our point guard and leader, no one could have even imagined that. He meant a great deal to our program."

Those were Kruger's parting words Saturday, after eighth-seeded UNLV's 75-56 loss to top-seeded Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional's second round.

Terry walked on the Rebels' team in 2004. He walks away with more memories than he thought possible.

"This has been the most fun in my life," he said.

Terry started 60 games and played in all 133 Kruger has coached at UNLV. Terry defined his career as a senior, helping to guide the Rebels to the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship and a 27-8 record.

In mid-November, after a 20-point home loss to Louisville, a 20-win season seemed a lofty goal for an inexperienced UNLV team.

"We went through a couple things early in the season," Terry said. "Coach Kruger sat us down and said we can either just go along and have a mediocre season or we can really do some things here and have some fun playing basketball.

"Everybody bought into it and didn't want to quit on the season. Nobody else thought we were going to be able to do the things we did this year."

The Rebels did not match what they accomplished in the 2006-07 season, when they reached the Sweet 16 and finished 30-7 behind five seniors. But they came close this season, and they did it with only two seniors -- Terry and starting forward Corey Bailey -- and a depleted roster.

Terry scored a career-high 26 points in a season-opening victory over Montana State. After the game, 6-foot-10-inch junior Emmanuel Adeife was dismissed from the team after arguing with Kruger over his lack of playing time.

UNLV was left short-handed and without a center, because 7-foot freshman Beas Hamga was declared academically ineligible by the NCAA in October. Joe Darger, a 6-7 junior known strictly as a 3-point shooter, sacrificed and filled a role in the middle.

In early December, Kruger made a key move by inserting 6-6 junior Rene Rougeau into the starting lineup. Rougeau, another walk-on, started the final 27 games and developed into a valuable, versatile contributor.

Terry produced plenty of highlights. He scored 21 points in a 70-41 victory over Brigham Young on Jan. 15, and made a 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining to lift the Rebels to a 72-69 victory at San Diego State on Jan. 26.

But there were more bumps in the road. Sophomore forward Lamar Roberson transferred in early January, and sophomore guard Marcus Lawrence, a Bishop Gorman product, was dismissed in mid-February after a traffic accident that resulted in Lawrence being charged with driving under the influence.

Kruger made the most of his limited resources. UNLV finished second in the Mountain West, then followed the leads of Terry and junior guard Wink Adams to defeat Texas Christian, Utah and BYU in the conference tournament.

"Everybody said we were overachieving," said Adams, UNLV's top scorer at 16.9 points per game. "We just wanted to go out and play hard. We knew we would win games."

Darger had 18 points and Adams 17 in the Rebels' first-round NCAA Tournament win over Kent State on Thursday.

Two days later, Adams scored 25 points and Terry 12, but Terry's unpredictable journey concluded with the loss to Kansas at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

"Curtis gave us great leadership all year and kind of captained the ballclub," Kruger said.

Terry, who averaged 11.1 points this season and finished with 893 career points, helped UNLV compile a 57-15 record the past two years.

"I'm very excited to see what these guys are going to do in the future," Terry said. "I see nothing but great things. I'm kind of disappointed I won't have a role in it like I had in the past four years, but I'm definitely going to be their biggest fan."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2907.