Menzies leaves with Rebels’ blessing

Steve Guiremand

Friday, April 29, 2005 | 10:29 a.m.

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon to check out Steve Wynn's newest megaresort hotel.

Whether he leaves Wynn Las Vegas a winner remains to be seen. But he will be leaving Las Vegas with a new assistant basketball coach.

Rebels assistant Marvin Menzies, long given high marks for his West Coast recruiting skills, called Pitino right after his plane landed to let him know he had decided to accept his offer to replace Reggie Theus as an assistant coach for the Cardinals.

Menzies interviewed for the job on Tuesday in Louisville, was offered it on Wednesday and then decided to accept it on Thursday morning.

"I wanted to sleep on it," Menzies said. "When I woke up (Thursday) morning I wanted to take it. It's tough to leave a school like UNLV based on everything that we're going to do here in the future. We're just starting to get the ball rolling. I don't think people really know a lot about the type of players we have coming in here, and I think the future is bright."

Still, the chance to coach for Pitino, who has developed a reputation for grooming assistants like Tubby Smith, Billy Donovan, Ralph Willard, Herb Sendek and now Theus for head coaching positions, was too much for Menzies to ignore.

"This is obviously an opportunity to work with another reputable head coach who is very respected in the profession," Menzies said. "It's also a chance to move away from the West Coast and kind of spread my wings a little."

Menzies is putting together a pretty nice list of references for his head coaching resume as he embarks on his fourth assistant coaching position in four years.

"This will be the third coach I worked for in that span who has been to the Final Four," said Menzies, who also worked for Steve Fisher at San Diego State. "And Henry Bibby went to the Elite Eight (at USC)."

Menzies takes over the spot on Pitino's staff vacated by Theus, who became head coach at New Mexico State last month.

The Los Angeles native has never coached farther east than Las Vegas in his 15-year college coaching career and felt the move east might enhance his chances of one day landing a Division 1-A head coaching position.

"We're happy for Marvin," Kruger said. "Any time a member of our staff has a chance to explore a new opportunity, and in Marvin's case another part of the country, we're happy for them. It's a chance for him to get some new people and new A.D.'s in a different part of the country which could be beneficial for him. We're happy for him."

Menzies broke the news to the players on Thursday afternoon.

"It's tough news because of the relationship we've developed with him and also for what he brought to our team," junior guard Michael Umeh said. "He does it with such a passion. He's one of the most influential people I have had in my life. I have a deep respect for him. But I understand he has to do what he feels is best for him and his career. I'm proud of him."

"This is a family decision," Menzies said. "At the end of the day, I felt this was a good opportunity for me to further my career. Coach Kruger had just been great through the whole process, which I think speaks volumes about the kind of coach and person he is."

Kruger said he had no timetable for naming a replacement.