UNLV coaches try to rally support at community-outreach event

By Taylor Bern

Friday, May 29, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Fans were told they could ask anything they wanted, so when the mic was brought around Wednesday night at UNLV’s Coaches Caravan, the questions included how men’s basketball coach Dave Rice planned to better coach free throws, what football coach Tony Sanchez will do to avoid injuries, and one concerned grandmother wanted to know what the Rebels will do to get her grandson to go to games like he did with her now that he’s a UNLV student.

Which is to say, topics were all over the map as Rice, Sanchez and Athletic Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy sat on a stage near the Green Valley Ranch Resort pool for a 20-minute question-and-answer session wrapping up the community outreach event.

Whether universities call them town hall meetings, meet-and-greets or caravans, the idea is basically the same. Get the coaches out in the public while giving fans an opportunity to rub elbows and have their say.

This is the first time in recent history that the Rebel Athletic Fund has put together an official event like this, and between last week’s event at Red Rock Resort and this week’s at GVR it got nearly 500 to come out and pay $20 or $25 for some food, beer and conversation. The entry fee was to cover costs at the venues, but the real importance was the interaction in a relaxed setting.

“At the end of the day this is a community deal,” Sanchez told the crowd.

Volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick and women’s golf coach Amy Bush-Herzer, who are both coming off some of the best seasons in their programs' histories, got onstage to make their pitches for support and, as expected at a fan event, the evening was mostly optimistic with a few pointed barbs thrown in.

The event was originally supposed to have more destinations — two stops isn’t much of a caravan, after all — but Kunzer-Murphy said they plan to expand it next year, including possibly out of state. Here were a few of the evening’s news and notes:

• Rice played a little game of Guess the Opponent when discussing UNLV’s Dec. 4 game at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“The contract hasn’t been signed, so I won’t say their name, but they wear green and yellow and they play in the Pacific Northwest,” Rice said.

The answer, in case you haven’t had any coffee yet, is Oregon. The Rebels and Ducks will meet for the first time since Oregon won at the Thomas & Mack Center in 2012, handing Rice his first career home loss.

This will be UNLV’s second-ever game at the Grand Garden Arena, and unlike last year’s participation in the MGM Grand Showcase doubleheader, this one will be included in the Rebels’ season-ticket package. That news drew a round of applause.

Rice also mentioned that UNLV’s roster compiled perfect APR scores of 1,000 in both the fall and spring semesters. The program’s current multiyear score is 948, the lowest in a few years but in no danger of dropping to the NCAA’s minimum of 930.

• When asked about potential conference realignment, Kunzer-Murphy said she and most of the other Mountain West representatives who recently met for the annual meetings think more change is inevitable. And it’s probably coming in the next five to eight years.

“We believe there’s going to be another realignment,” she said. “It’s probably going to change the landscape of college athletics. We think there’s going to be 80 programs in it and UNLV is going to be one of them.”

Right now it’s very likely that the Rebels would be on the outside looking in. Changing that requires not just some on-field success from the university’s two most visible programs, men’s basketball and football, but also the continued development of many projects that have been discussed for years.

A new football stadium is likely a prerequisite, but more important is UNLV’s push for a medical school and its ambition to become a Tier One public research university.

“You don’t go into those power conferences just because of your athletic ability,” she said.

• Construction has already begun on UNLV baseball’s new clubhouse, which is expected to be ready in spring 2016. Soon there’s expected to be another structure going up just across the walkway at Rebel Park.

Sanchez updated the crowd on the status of a football-only practice facility that he’s put at the top of the list of things the program needs to rebuild its infrastructure.

“We’ve got renderings done, we’ve gone out and asked for some lead gifts, but we do need the community and hopefully some institutional support to step up,” Sanchez said. “If this really is important to our community and our university, we’re going to find out real soon.”

The construction of the Anthony and Lyndy Marnell III Baseball Clubhouse will cost $2.75 million, all paid for by Anthony Marnell III, the president and minority owner of the M Resort and one of UNLV coach Tim Chambers’ former players at Bishop Gorman High. The university is paying for the construction around the area and a bulk of the costs for the equipment, furniture and design inside.

A similar split of one or many large donations with some university money is Plan A for football’s new digs.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.