Menzies has flair for rebuilding

Recruiting coups needed to replicate Aztecs-style overhaul

SAN DIEGO — Marvin Menzies began his major college basketball coaching career in 1999 at a downtrodden San Diego State program.

Coach Steve Fisher had one mission for Menzies: recruit.

So Menzies hit the trail hard, and he helped the Aztecs land a top-40 class for a program that hadn’t had a 20-win season in 15 years. Menzies stayed another three seasons, playing a key part in bringing in players such as Brandon Heath, Randy Holcomb and Al Faux to help turn San Diego State from a perennial loser into the class of the Mountain West.

“We were well aware (in 1999) that we needed players if we wanted to be competitive,” Fisher said. “Not that we didn’t work hard with the ones we had, we just didn’t have enough talent. We all knew that. We knew it going in.

“(Menzies) did a magnificent job for us.”

And now Menzies is trying to do the same thing as the first-year coach at UNLV (10-16, 3-10 MW), which will try to break a six-game losing streak when it plays San Diego State (15-10, 7-6) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Viejas Arena. CBS Sports Network will televise the game, and the Aztecs are 14-point fa-

vorites.

Menzies has the dual task of coaching this team and populating future ones with recruits. As a former junior college and high school coach in Southern California, Menzies made a lot of contacts that have helped him through his college career.

Unlike that first season at San Diego State, Menzies isn’t assigning a coach to spend just about all his time on the road. All three assistants — Eric Brown, Rob Jeter and Andre LaFleur — have been on the bench for each game.

“We’ve had coaches miss practice from time to time, but I don’t want to diminish the percentage of winning current games as well by not being fully engaged with the staff,” Menzies said. “So it’s a little different in that we’re still trying to win games now, but we’re also recruiting at a high level.”

HOPING FOR MCCOY

The coaches got a late start for the 2016 class when Menzies was hired in mid-April and had to put together a roster by picking up leftover scraps as most schools were finalizing their classes. And recruiting for the 2017 class was only slightly better because relationships with top players are years in the making, and at his previous stop at New Mexico State, Menzies focused on finding overlooked recruits who could develop over time.

But that doesn’t mean the Rebels are completely shut out. They are heavily in the running for 6-foot 11inch center Brandon McCoy of San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic High School. ESPN.com rates him as the nation’s No. 6 recruit.

McCoy also is considering San Diego State, Arizona, Michigan State and Oregon and will decide sometime after the McDonald’s All-Star Game on March 29. Shaun Manning, McCoy’s guardian, said an announcement date hasn’t been set.

Getting McCoy would be important for UNLV simply because of the talent upgrade, but the domino effect of landing such a player could create even more wide-ranging benefits.

“You’d be beating out some blueblood, elite, Final Four-type programs, which always makes a statement,” said Adam Zagoria, a New York Times contributor and editor of Zagsblog.com. “Any time you get a player of that caliber, it should cause a stir and help get some headlines. Then maybe you can tie in and get other California kids or other AAU kids that Brandon McCoy knows, too. Kids recruit other kids.”

UNLV has two members of the current class in place. Jay Green, a 6-5 guard from Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, signed in November. Anthony Smith, a 6-7 forward from Feather River College in Quincy, California, committed last month.

That would leave one available spot, but chances are more will clear up after the season when some current Rebels move on or are forced out. Menzies wouldn’t address how many spots might come open, but it’s common practice for rebuilding programs to recruit over current players.

Adding high school and junior college players are the priority, and Menzies said he didn’t plan to sign any graduate transfers. He signed two last year, and both became starters — guard Uche Ofoegbu from San Francisco and forward Christian Jones from St. John’s.

“This year was a special set of circumstances that made that much more appealing,” Menzies said. “In general, I don’t think that’s a way that I would like to recruit.”

RETURN TO GLORY?

UNLV’s coaches aren’t recruiting players only for this class, but as far out as 2020.

Zagoria has reported UNLV offered scholarships to Baltimore recruits Che Evans Jr. and Justin Lewis, who are expected to be two of that year’s top prospects.

Those are the kinds of players Menzies thought he had no shot of landing while at New Mexico State and would not have recruited them. His menu at UNLV is significantly larger.

“As the program progresses, I’d like to get upper-echelon high school kids,” Menzies said.

And, he hopes, return UNLV to being a national power.

The rebuild looks as if it will take time.

Times have changed since 1991 when the Rebels last appeared in a Final Four.

“I think most of these kids don’t know about that, and I don’t think that’s unique to UNLV,” Zagoria said. “St. John’s hired Chris Mullin, and Arizona State hired Bobby Hurley, but these kids never saw Chris Mullin play or Bobby Hurley play. Their parents know who they are. They never saw Stacey Augmon or Larry Johnson play at UNLV.”

Fisher said Menzies can get the job done.

“I love him like a brother,” Fisher said. “I’ll never forget what he’s done for me, for us. He won’t, either.

“Marvin stepped into a (tough) situation in Vegas. That’s probably why he got the job; it became open. But it’s talent shy compared to what they used to be. Given Marvin Menzies’ track record, it won’t be that way for long. Marvin had great impact on what happened here, and those of us who were with him, players and coaches, know that, value that, and will never forget that.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.