Marvin Menzies will be new UNLV head coach

Marvin Menzies, who was nearly hired by UNLV back in March, will now get his shot at leading the Runnin’ Rebels. The New Mexico State coach initially lost out the job to Chris Beard, who last week backed away from UNLV and took the head coaching gig at Texas Tech.

Menzies has been at New Mexico State since 2007, leading the Aggies to 5 NCAA Tournament appearances and 3 WAC regular season titles. As a Los Angeles-native and graduate of both UCLA and Sacramento State, Menzies has the West Coast ties that Beard was lacking. Menzies also spent one year on UNLV staff under Lon Kruger (2004-05) before working under Rick Pitino at Louisville (2005-2007) and eventually landing the NMSU gig. Before UNLV, Menzies spent four seasons under Steve Fisher at San Diego State and seven years in various positions at Santa Monica CC, including one year as head coach (1994-95).

The hiring of Menzies puts an end to a long saga at UNLV, with the hiring and departure of Chris Beard. Unfortunately, the Rebels find themselves behind in the recruiting game and currently have a roster with quite a few holes. More than half of last year’s team is gone by way of transfer, graduation and NBA Draft attrition. Menzies has established himself is a capable recruiter who will likely be able to use his West Coast ties to build up the UNLV roster.