Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

NCAA TOURNAMENT:

Rebels depart for tournament after spirited farewell event

Making fourth tourney appearance in five years, Rebels open Friday against Illinois

UNLV Rebels Depart for NCAA's

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

UNLV basketball player Quintrell Thomas greets fans as the Rebels get ready to depart for Tulsa and the NCAA basketball tournament Wednesday, March 16, 2011.

Rebels Depart for Tourney

UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger greets fans as the Rebels get ready to depart for Tulsa and the NCAA basketball tournament Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Launch slideshow »
The Rebel Room

Rebel Room: Selection Sunday Edition

The UNLV basketball team received a No. 8 seed Sunday for the NCAA Tournament and will play Illinois at 6:20 p.m. Friday in Tulsa. The winner will likely play top-seeded Kansas. UNLV has been in Kansas' pod in its last three tournament appearances. Additionally, Rebels' coach Lon Kruger is a former coach at Illinois, leading them to three appearances in the NCAA second round before leaving in 2000 to coach the NBA Atlanta Hawks. His successor? Current Kansas coach Bill Self. Ray Brewer, Ryan Greene and Case Keefer discuss the coaching storyline, the rest of the intriguing angles and offer opinions elsewhere within the field of 68.

Some of Chad Owens’ fondest childhood memories occurred at the Thomas & Mack Center while cheering for the UNLV basketball team.

Owens, 31, is providing the same opportunity for his two young children, Tyson and Dillon. They were part of a group of about 100 fans gathered in the parking lot at the Thomas & Mack on Wednesday to send the team off to Tulsa, Okla., for the NCAA Tournament.

The eighth-seeded Rebels open the tournament at 6:20 p.m. Friday against No. 9 seed Illinois. The winner will likely play Kansas on Sunday.

“They love coming to the games,” Owens said. “If we don’t take them, they are crying. Most of the time they are more excited to go than we are.”

The fans chanted “Rebels, Rebels” as the team and other university officials boarded two buses for the short trip to McCarran International Airport.

The traveling party clearly appreciated the enthusiasm of the fans, with the players greeting them with handshakes and smiles, and point guard Oscar Bellfield filming the farewell on his handheld camera.

“This has kind of been a tradition, that is the good thing about it,” UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. “The fans coming out makes the players feel pretty good. The guys have worked really hard. They are excited and ready to go.”

This is UNLV’s fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last five years, highlighted by the 2007 season when they won a tournament game for the first time since the Final Four season of 1991 in eventually reaching the Sweet 16. They also won a game in 2008.

Each year, the school has hosted a similar farewell event.

“(The farewell) is a tradition in our family. We are Rebel fans through and through,” said Matt Guiterez, 32, who is Owens’ brother-in-law and also brought his two children.

Guiterez was also at the rally in 2007 when the team arrived home late at night after beating Wisconsin to advance to the Sweet 16.

“It reminded my of the old days when the Mack was packed with 18,500 fans every game,” Guiterez said.

Kruger greeted the children of Guiterez and Owens in creating a memory for another generation on Rebels fans.

“We passed it on to our kids and hopefully they pass in on to theirs,” Guiterez said. “In this community, (UNLV basketball) brings people together more than anything else.”

Note:

Senior walk-ons Mychal Martinez and Tyler Norman were included in the traveling party. This is the first trip for both.

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