Rougeau, with a tip or two from Hamrick, speaks at rally

By Rob Miech

Friday, Jan. 23, 2009 | 4:07 p.m.

UNLV senior swingman René Rougeau is accustomed to playing basketball before 15,000 to 20,000 people.

However, his palms were sweating when he spoke to a crowd of a couple thousand Thursday night near the Student Union on campus.

“I was definitely nervous,” Rougeau said Friday afternoon after practice. “At first, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know it was that big of a deal. People really care about education.”

Rougeau was invited to speak at a rally on Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons’s proposed 36-percent budget cuts that could affect UNLV students.

Rougeau realized the magnitude of the event after he parked his car and walked down a long concrete strip to the rally.

“I was like, ‘Man, I didn’t know so many people would be there,’ ” he said. “You would have thought it was a concert.”

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick gave Rougeau some tips.

“He did a great job,” Hamrick said. “He talked about the fact that he had paid for his own schooling for three years and he knew what students go through.

“He’s on scholarship now, but he talked about knowing how hard it would be if these budget cuts go through and tuition goes up. He was really good.”

Hamrick stood to the side and had some difficulty hearing all of Rougeau’s five-minute speech, over the din of the crowd, but he heard the key points.

“He knows it would be difficult for people to get an education,” Hamrick said. “He said, ‘This is my school. I want UNLV to be a great university. With these budget cuts, I don’t think it can be.’

“He was wonderful. He loves UNLV. He said, ‘If higher education is not important in this state … I disagree with that. I think it’s important.’ ”

Rougeau said he spoke up on behalf of all Rebels athletes.

“We know people love seeing us play, just all the programs … football, soccer, whatever it is,” he said. “If there are budget cuts, we’ll all be affected. A lot of important people were there and it was a great honor.”