Marvin Menzies inks deal to coach at UNLV
NEWEST UPDATE: NMSU head coach Marvin Menzies is now the new UNLV head coach. UNLV offically made the announcement on Saturday afternoon.
Menizes leaves the NMSU program after nine seasons with the team including five WAC Tournament championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances.
UPDATE: ESPN and the Las Vegas Review-Journal report UNLV and New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies have verbally agreed to a deal.
ESPN reports Menzies will replace Chris Beard, who left the Rebels just three weeks after being hired and will instead coach Texas Tech.
While George Karl had been linked to the UNLV job, a source told ESPN that Karl is still mulling whether he wants to return to coaching so soon after a difficult tenure with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and while dealing with a nagging knee injury.
On Friday, UNLV Athletics Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said she was extremely disappointed that Chris Beard had left the job after only one week to go to Texas Tech, but in a statement said the university had good options to replace him.
“Our search process allowed us to develop a deep pool of qualified candidates, from which we will select a great coach who really wants to be here and who will honor his commitments in leading the Runnin’ Rebels,” said Kunzer-Murphy.
ORIGINAL:
New Mexico State could be looking for a new men’s basketball coach very soon.
Multiple sources are reporting that NMSU head basketball coach Marvin Menzies will take the vacant UNLV job if both parties can reach a deal.
Menzies has been part of a tangled web involving multiple coaches and schools for the past three weeks.
Less than a month ago, Menzies was considered one of the front-runners for the UNLV job. He ended up pulling out of the race, and the Rebels chose Arkansas – Little Rock’s Chris Beard as their new coach.
However, Chris Beard left UNLV Friday to become the head coach at Texas Tech, a spot that only opened up Thursday, when former Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith bolted for the top job at Memphis.
Multiple names have been circulated in addition to Menzies. Those names included UNLV associate head coach Ryan Miller and NBA coaching veteran George Karl.
New Mexico State did not release a statement regarding the situation on Friday.
