The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are the men's basketball team that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Mountain West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); it plays at the Thomas & Mack Center on campus. As of 2023, UNLV has the seventh-highest winning percentage (.687) in Division I history. UNLV is 33–19 all-time in the NCAA tournament with a 63.5 winning percentage. In July 2008, ESPNU named the program the eighth most prestigious collegiate basketball program in the nation since the 1984–85 season.
History
Founding
One year after the establishment of Nevada Southern University, the fledgling school began playing basketball at a municipal gym in downtown Las Vegas. The team later moved on campus to the Nevada Southern Gym, which is now the Marjorie Barrick Museum. Most games were against junior colleges or teams fielded by military bases in the Western United States. The school adopted the Rebels mascot to symbolize its independence from the University of Nevada, Reno, 350 miles northwest of Las Vegas, with a scraggly wolf in grey symbolizing the school's contrast from the bow-tied wolf from UNR.
In 1969, UNLV joined the West Coast Athletic Conference, coached by Rolland Todd before he left to helm the expansion Portland Trail Blazers. Todd led the Rebels three straight NCAA playoff appearances. In 1966, the team moved its games to The Rotunda, a silver-domed 6,300-seat arena in the Las Vegas Convention Center. UNLV changed its mascot from the scraggly wolf, which had strong Confederate undertones, to a "mountain man" style mascot resembling Yosemite Sam in 1983 after briefly debating whether to make the mascot the "Minuteman."
Jerry Tarkanian era
On March 23, 1973, UNLV hired former Long Beach State head coach Jerry Tarkanian to lead the program. Tarkanian's success was immediate and ultimately led him to enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 1977, just seven years after joining Division I, The Rebels made the Final Four with a squad nicknamed the "Hardway Eight". At the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, UNLV lost 84–83 to North Carolina in the first of four Final Four appearances for the Rebels.
In 1983, UNLV moved to an on-campus arena, the 18,500 seat Thomas & Mack Center. The massive arena, clad with red seats and lined with luxury suites, became famous for its extravagance relative to the rest of college basketball at the time. Games were regularly televised in Nevada and Southern California, with Los Angeles radio icons Chick Hearn and Ross Porter handling play-by-play duties. National TV broadcasts became a regular occurrence. UNLV consistently led the nation in points scored, turnovers forced, and most importantly – wins. The Runnin' Rebels were well known for going on long runs that turned close games into blowouts. They were also known for up-tempo offense and stifling defense.
In 1986, UNLV returned to the Final Four, having gone 37–1 before losing 97–93 to Indiana.
In 1990, UNLV won the NCAA Championship by beating Duke by a record-setting margin of 103–73, becoming the first team and only team to score over 100 points in the championship game. Before becoming a basketball powerhouse in the late 1970s, UNLV was often referred to as "Tumbleweed Tech" due to its relative obscurity.
Tarkanian regularly ran afoul of the NCAA, dating to his time at Long Beach State. He was repeatedly investigated for allegedly offering payments or other benefits to players, allegations he both denied and said were selectively enforced. He told the Los Angeles Times that the NCAA would "get so upset at UCLA, they'll put Northridge on two years probation," implying that the regulating body favored established programs over smaller schools. The NCAA was equally critical of Tarkanian, criticizing him for recruiting student-athletes from urban areas. NCAA executive director Walter Byers said "Tark's black players play a fast city-lot basketball without much style. Grab ball and run like hell, not lots of passing to set up the shots."
In 1990, the NCAA banned UNLV from defending its national title, a decision it later reversed. The 1991 team was 34-0 heading into its Final Four matchup in Indianapolis with Duke, which it had defeated in the title game a year earlier. Duke prevailed 79–77, and UNLV was banned from television and the postseason in 1991–92. Ultimately, in 1992, Tarkanian was forced to resign by UNLV president Robert Maxson. In 1998 Tarkanian received a $2.5 million out of court settlement when he sued the NCAA for violations stemming from its investigation of UNLV. The last Rebel squad coached by Tarkanian won their tenth consecutive Big West Conference regular season title.
On November 26, 2005, for his achievements as coach of the Runnin' Rebels (he was 509–105 in 19 years as head coach), the basketball court at the Thomas & Mack Center was renamed Jerry Tarkanian Court, despite the recruiting sanctions and controversies.
Post-Tarkanian struggles The years after Tarkanian's departure were tumultuous. UNLV hired Villanova coach Rollie Massimino to replace Tarkanian, but after two seasons and a 15–13 record in 1993–94, he was let go. There was outrage when it was revealed that Massimino had been awarded a secret contract— a deal that ultimately led to Maxson's departure from UNLV.
Massimino was replaced by well–respected Tarkanian assistant Tim Grgurich, but he lasted just 7 games in 1994 before resigning. Howie Landa and Cleveland Edwards finished the 1994–95 season, which ended with a 12–16 record—the school's first losing season in 34 years, and first since moving up to Division I. The team hired UMass assistant Bill Bayno for the 1995–96 season. With a still-depleted roster, Bayno's first year ended with a 10–16 record, the worst in school history.
However, Bayno engineered a very quick return to respectability. He was an excellent recruiter, bringing in future NBA talent including Shawn Marion, Tyrone Nesby, and Keon Clark. The Rebels returned to the NCAA tournament in 1997, their first appearance in six years. Bayno was let go in 2000, after the NCAA found that UNLV had violated rules while recruiting Lamar Odom, who ultimately chose Rhode Island over UNLV.
It was in the wake of Bayno that UNLV began looking for a well-respected coach to act as an anchor for the program. The school intensely pursued former University of Kentucky and Boston Celtics coach Rick Pitino, who ultimately spurned the university before choosing to work at Louisville. Former Saint Louis University coach Charlie Spoonhour replaced Bayno for the 2001–02 season, compiling a 54–31 record before resigning in the middle of the 2004 season.
Lon Kruger era The anchor turned out to be Lon Kruger, who came to Las Vegas after an unsuccessful stint as the coach of the Atlanta Hawks, with successful college stints at Kansas State, Florida and Illinois. Kruger's stint at UNLV began with a mediocre 17–15 record in the 2004–05 season that including seven losses in conference play and a poor start to the 2005–06 season that ultimately finished a respectable 17–13 and a loss in the conference tournament semifinals. Despite being picked to come in sixth in the Mountain West, UNLV started the 2006–07 season 3–0 led by future NBA player Joel Anthony and Lon Kruger's son, Kevin Kruger. Despite losing their next game, UNLV responded by winning a significant road game at Nevada 58–49, ranked No. 20 in the nation at the time, marking the first time since 1991 that UNLV beat a ranked team on the road. After defeating Texas Tech in late December and upsetting a nationally ranked Air Force squad, UNLV received their first national ranking in 14 years. Winning the Mountain West Conference tournament over BYU sealed their bid to the NCAA tournament and UNLV received a No. 7 seed. After narrowly beating Georgia Tech, the Rebels shocked 2nd seeded Wisconsin, sending them to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in over 15 seasons. However, their magical season came to an end as the Runnin' Rebels ultimately lost to Oregon in the Sweet 16, 76–72. The team finished 14th in the polls with a 30–6 record.
The next season, 2007–08, despite being picked to finish in fifth Mountain West Conference, UNLV surprised critics by starting the year 12–3. They finished in second place in the conference, with 12–4 record behind BYU. UNLV defeated BYU again to win the 2008 Mountain West tournament. Star guard Wink Adams scored 23 points and was given the MVP title. They received a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament and beat Kent State in the First Round. UNLV lost in the Second Round to Kansas. They finished that season 27–8.
The Rebels started the 2008–09 season 5–0, their best start since 1999. A 73–55 loss to the California Golden Bears and 67–65 loss to Cincinnati the next day marked the first time in over 3 years that the Rebels had lost consecutive games. On December 31, 2008, they beat No. 18 Louisville 56–55, on the road, which was the highest ranked opponent the Rebels have beaten on the road since they beat No. 12 New Mexico in 1991. They also started off the first half of their season 13–2, their best 15 game start since they went 15–0 1991. They fell out in the second half of the season, going 8–7 and finished the regular season with a 21–9 record and 5th in their conference, though they did manage to sweep the season series with BYU and upset Utah at home. They were denied a third consecutive Mountain West Conference tournament Championship when they lost to the rival San Diego State Aztecs 71–57, on March 12, 2009. The Rebels went on to become a No. 5 seed in the 2009 NIT, but suffered a loss against Kentucky in the first round.
Despite losing three starters from the previous era's squad, the Rebels started off strong once again for their 2009–10 campaign with their second consecutive 5–0 start, the first time since 1989–90 and 1990–91 that they have done so. Their victory over No. 16 Louisville was their first home victory against a ranked opponent since 2007 and the highest ranked opponent the Rebels have beaten since defeating the Wisconsin Badgers (ranked 6th in the final AP Poll) in 2007. On November 30, 2009, the Rebels were ranked 24th in the AP Polls and 21st in the USA Today/ESPN Polls, making it the first time the team was ranked since 2007. However, UNLV soon dropped out of the AP Top 25 with losses to Kansas State and USC. In early February, however, UNLV upset a No. 14 and Jimmer Fredette–lead BYU team. As a result, UNLV returned to the national rankings, but after losing their next three, they soon dropped out, though they recovered at the end of the season, and finished 11–5 in MWC play. On March 6, 2010, they ended their 2009–10 campaign with 74–56 win over Wyoming at home. They finished the season 23–7, their best win–loss season since 2007. Despite losing in the finals of the Mountain West tournament the following weekend, UNLV did manage to defeat BYU for the fifth time in six matchups. On March 14, 2010, the Runnin' Rebels returned to the NCAA tournament after missing out in 2009. They finished the season with a 25–9 record, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Northern Iowa 69–66, thanks to a 3–pointer with under 3 seconds to go by the Panthers.