The 2016–17 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Runnin' Rebels were led by first-year head coach Marvin Menzies. They played their home games at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 11–21, 4–14 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for tenth place. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to San Diego State.
Previous season The 2015–16 Runnin' Rebels finished the 2015–16 season 18–15, 8–10 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They defeated Air Force to advance to the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament, where they lost to Fresno State.
On January 10, 2016, UNLV announced that head coach Dave Rice and the school had mutually agreed for him to step down as head coach. Associate head coach Todd Simon was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season. On March 28, the school announced that Chris Beard had been hired as head coach. However, less than three weeks later, Beard left UNLV to accept the head coaching position at Texas Tech. On April 16, the school hired Mavin Menzies as head coach.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Ike Nwamu 34 G 6'5" 210 RS senior Greensboro, NC Graduated Jerome Seagears 2 G 6'1" 180 RS senior Silver Spring, MD Graduated Alex Perez 14 G 6'4" 180 Senior San Diego, CA Graduated Daquan Cook 10 G 6'2" 170 Senior Baltimore, MD Dismissed from the team due to a DUI Chris Obekpa 35 C 6'10" 225 Senior Makurdi, Nigeria Declared for 2016 NBA draft Ben Carter 13 F 6'9" 225 RS junior Las Vegas, NV Graduate transferred to Michigan State Patrick McCaw 22 G 6'7" 185 Sophomore St. Louis, MO Declared for 2016 NBA draft Jordan Cornish 3 G 6'6" 220 Sophomore New Orleans, LA Transferred to Tulane Goodluck Okonoboh 11 F/C 6'10" 225 Sophomore Woburn, MA Declared for 2016 NBA draft Derrick Jones Jr. 1 F 6'7" 190 Freshman Philadelphia, PA Declared for 2016 NBA draft Austin Starr 20 G 6'3" 185 Freshman Las Vegas, NV Transferred to College of Southern Idaho Stephen Zimmerman 33 C 7'0" 240 Freshman Las Vegas, NV Declared for 2016 NBA draft
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Kris Clyburn 1 G 6'3" 170 Sophomore Romulus, MI Junior college transferred from Ranger College Uche Ofoegbu 2 F 6'4" 214 RS senior San Antonio, TX Transferred from San Francisco. Was eligible to play immediately since he graduated from San Francisco. Christian Jones 20 F 6'7" 230 RS senior Arlington, TX Transferred from St. John's. Was eligible to play immediately since he graduated from St. John's. Jordan Johnson 24 G 5'9" 175 Senior Waukegan, IL Transferred from Milwaukee. Under NCAA transfer rules, Johnson had to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Had one year of remaining eligibility. Jovan Mooring 30 G 6'2" 205 Junior Chicago, IL Junior college transferred from South Suburban College
2016 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Mountain West regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Mountain West tournament
References