UNLV celebrates its past

Remembering the high times at UNLV is much easier for Larry Johnson now. He turned 40 in March, and the passing of the years has put a hint of gray in his beard and any hard feelings in the past.

Johnson is arguably the greatest player in Rebels history, and his impact on the program is immeasurable.

He was a larger-than-life figure at a time when UNLV dominated college basketball and put together a two-year run highlighted by the 1990 national championship.

But Johnson left school as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft in 1991, and coach Jerry Tarkanian was forced to follow him out the door the next year amid controversy and turbulence at the university. Johnson and many of the players who helped build the Rebels' program quickly lost touch with it.

"When we first left and Coach left, the first five or six years everybody was a little bit disconnected," Johnson said. "Nobody really came back."

Johnson, Tarkanian and most of the key contributors from the 1989-90 team are making their presence felt again, returning for a 20-year reunion celebration at halftime of UNLV's exhibition game against Washburn (Kan.) at 7 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Greg Anthony, David Butler, Anderson Hunt, Moses Scurry, Travis Bice, Dave Rice, Chris Jeter, James Jones, Stacey Cvijanovich, Bryan Emerzian and others attended an anniversary gala Monday night at Green Valley Ranch.

Rebels coach Lon Kruger, in his sixth season, has successfully built a bridge to the Tarkanian era by welcoming back the legends of the past.

"It feels good to be able to wear some college gear and say you went to UNLV," said Johnson, whose jersey No. 4 was retired with Stacey Augmon's No. 32 in December 1995.

"Coach Kruger has really done a hell of a job with us. He understands what went down at first. He's trying to get everybody back.

"I believe Coach Kruger won't take long at all to get this team back rolling, back winning and back on the high level it's supposed to be. With recruiting, he can get older guys like myself to come back and help. When these high school guys and junior college guys see that, they'll think about the tradition and the '90 team and what we did, and then we'll get the recruits here and get this thing going."

Johnson, who splits time between his homes in Dallas and Las Vegas, is majority owner of an energy drink company and does promotional work for one of his former NBA teams, the New York Knicks.

He has a family -- one of his sons, Larry Johnson Jr., is a high school senior in Detroit and a power forward being recruited by Michigan State and several other schools -- and is getting reconnected with UNLV.

"Larry should be part of the program," Tarkanian said. "I think he should be involved in some type of community relations. I can't think of anybody better in public relations.

"There's no question he's the best player we ever had. He's also probably the best kid UNLV ever had. He's such a wonderful person. The people who met Larry, they all loved him."

Johnson, who earned his bachelor of arts degree in social science studies from UNLV in December 2007, has turned down offers to be an NBA assistant coach but still aspires to get into coaching.

"If I coach, it will be high school," Johnson said. "It's got to be some children -- 18, 16 years old -- where I can really make an impact on their life."

After leading the Rebels to back-to-back Final Fours, Johnson had a 10-year NBA career. He retired in 2001 because of chronic back problems.

Anthony and Augmon also enjoyed long NBA playing careers, and Augmon is now an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets. Anthony has been highly visible as a TV analyst for CBS and ESPN. Augmon and George Ackles were among the few who could not attend the reunion.

Hunt, named the Most Outstanding Player at the 1990 Final Four, overcame some post-college legal problems and manages real estate in Detroit.

Butler, who lives in Washington, D.C., played about 10 years overseas in Greece, Spain and Turkey. He runs a basketball training camp and is a high school assistant coach.

"My thing is giving back to kids. Anything I can do for the younger generation," Butler said. "I teach the kids there is a life after basketball."

Butler surveyed a room filled with his former teammates and said, "A lot of the guys really still look young."

Tarkanian recalled the 1989-90 team as one of the closest-knit groups he ever coached, and almost all of them stay in touch in some form.

"I can walk around these guys and be myself," Johnson said. "I can walk around and I can be Larry Demetric Johnson and they love me.

"Good buddies, great guys, we loved each other, but if you played basketball against us you would hate us. When we hit the floor, move out of the way."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0353.