UNLV’s Marvin Menzies clarifies comments about ‘racial epithets’
When UNLV coach Marvin Menzies made a comment Friday about receiving racial epithets after being hired in 2016, he didn’t expect it to receive much of a reaction on Twitter.
“I brought that up yesterday to illustrate how ridiculous social media can be but that’s in the past,” he said Saturday in a text message. “Something that happened almost 3 years ago and not an issue.”
Menzies, the only full-time black head basketball coach in school history, met with the media Friday to discuss his team’s game Saturday against San Diego State.
He was asked about the rumors on social media that Rick Pitino could become the Rebels’ coach, leading him to talk about the difference in the mainstream media and those on the internet.
“Media is who you guys are,” Menzies said. “You quote reliable sources, I would hope. I would think that you would have some integrity about the information that you put out there. The Coach Pitino rumor is nonsense. I haven’t even addressed it because it’s unaddressable. You let social media do what they do. When I got hired here, there was a tirade of racial epithets, there was a tirade of negative stuff. You think (his wife) Tammy and I cared about that? We were happy as pigs in slop we got our dream job.”
Tina Kunzer-Murphy, who was athletic director at the time of Menzies’ hiring, declined comment. So did current athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois.
But some fans took to Twitter on Friday to express their anger about Menzies’ comments, questioning whether any such racial animus was expressed.
Most fans contacted before the Rebels’ game against San Diego State said they were unaware of Menzies’ comments. One person, 21-year-old journalism major Jake Gruelle, said he thought the statement was a sign that Menzies was concerned about his job.
“There are a lot of rumors, and he wants to keep control of his team,” Gruelle said. “What he said was untrue. There was nothing bad the UNLV faculty, fans and students have said. As long as he’s the head coach of the Rebels, we’ll show him our support, and that will never change.”
UNLV fan Joe Rodak, 62, said he hadn’t heard Menzies’ comments but added, “I wouldn’t be surprised given the current atmosphere we live in. That’s a sad commentary.”
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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
