FBI wiretap aftermath might end up galvanizing Arizona
Yknew it was coming. As embattled Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller shook hands with myriad Colorado Buffaloes after the Wildcats’ 83-67 victory in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals Thursday, leather-lunged fans sitting behind the CU bench at T-mobile Arena let him have it. The words were harsh.
At least three or four were among the seven George Carlin said one could never say on television.
On Feb. 23, ESPN reported that Miller was caught on an FBI wiretap discussing a $100,000 payment with agent Christian Dawkins that would guarantee
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Thomas & Mack Center, meaning the second season under coach Marvin Menzies ends with a 20-13 record.
It has concluded because the Rebels made clear they aren’t open to accepting an invitation to a postseason event such as the College Basketball Invitational, which falls well below the NCAA Tournament and National Invitation Tournament for prestige and yet allows teams to continue to play and, even more important, gain additional practices for those who will return the following season.
The price tag to play in the CBI reportedly hovers around $40,000, and yet athletic director Desiree Reed-francois said money wasn’t the reason for not pursuing a berth.
It couldn’t be, because had the administration called the Runnin’ Rebels Club, which raises funds specifically for the basketball program and that has offset such financial needs countless times over the years, Menzies would have had a check for the total by halftime of the second quarterfinal game.
But nobody called and nobody asked.
So maybe it’s this simple: “Coach Menzies doesn’t believe it’s the right thing for us right now, and I’m going to support him 100 percent,” Reed-francois said. “He has a plan, and if this was something he believed would advance the program,
I would beg, borrow and plead to make it happen. This should be his decision, and he doesn’t want to play, so that’s how it’s going to be.”
Um, OK. If you choose not to go because your team is beat up or your players don’t have the desire, so be it. Academics really isn’t a believable reason, because I’m guessing time for schoolwork would be discovered during an NCAA or NIT trip.
Reed-francois also said Menzies doesn’t believe such an event strengthens UNLV’S global brand, and yet I’m guessing the kid in
Ghana doesn’t care and thinks CBI is a TV show about a team of crimescene investigators solving murders.
It also can’t be a question of arrogance for UNLV, because this is what it is: A program that will miss the postseason for the fifth straight year and that last won an NCAA bracket game in 2007; one that hasn’t claimed a regular-season conference title since 1999-2000 — when it was co-champion — and that was 11th place last season and eighth this one.
“It’s going to take baby steps,” said Jim Bolla, the former UNLV women’s coach who had his teams in the 1980s and 1990s ranked as high as second nationally and knows well the glorified men’s past so many can’t seem to grasp isn’t reality now. “You have to first understand who you are in this time.”
Begin here: UNLV was terrible defensively this season. Beyond bad.
The Rebels couldn’t guard you, and I have no idea who you are.
It’s a tough year when your best allaround game occurs Nov. 22 against Utah. Think about that. The Rebels played well in spots — during a weak nonconference schedule, winning at UNR, almost winning at Boise
State — but they were never as good as that night against the Utes four months ago.
They also lost six of their final seven games — four by double digits.
Menzies has 31 wins in two seasons, an admirable number given the nightmare he inherited. The nonleague schedule will toughen next year. He is setting a foundation.
This is no easy fix.
This was beginning at Death Valley and staring at a climb up Mount Whitney.
But while most fans will rightly hold a skewed and at times unrealistic judgment of a program’s reality — that’s why they’re fans —an administration and coaching staff shouldn’t.
Play in an event like the CBI. Don’t play. Whatever. Your decision.
But don’t think for a second you’re above it, because you’re not.
The only way UNLV moves forward is by accepting the reality of what it is.
And then getting to work to become something much better.
Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @ edgraney on Twitter.
Vegas the home of the very best of Pac-12 men’s and women’s basketball,” Scott said in a statement. “The quality of our women’s basketball programs has driven increasing fan interest over the past several years, and we look forward to continuing to build upon this success in Las Vegas and to creating a true festival of Pac12 basketball across our men’s and women’s events in March.”
After hosting the tournament in Seattle for the past six seasons, Scott said the Pac-12 women needed a new home with Seattle’s Keyarena slated for a major two-year renovation as the city makes a bid for an NHL team.
The Pac-12 will return to the MGM Grand, where the men played from 2013 to 2016 before moving to the bigger Strip venue last March. The women’s tournament will be played a week before the men hit the court.
In 2020, Mandalay Bay could be the home of the Pac-12 women’s tournament and the Las Vegas Aces, the WNBA franchise that left San Antonio last year.
The Mandalay Bay Events Center will undergo a $10 million renovation toward improving the arena’s scoreboard, seats, locker rooms and surfaces in preparation for the WNBA season, which includes 17 home games.
Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Gmanzano24 on Twitter.