it’s going to take some time for things to pick up, especially locally.
Locals had been very ignored the past three seasons. Not 10 minutes ago, had an in person discussion with a HS coach 10 minutes ago, he knew Strawther was going to Gonzaga for awhile. But he was telling me there wasn’t a single out of town coach that was recruiting a Vegas kid that he saw less than Menzies.
Under Kruger, it became “ok” for locals to play at UNLV. It increased with Rice. It died with Menses. To think that Otz could step in here for a couple of weeks and make up lost ground is silly. He’s working on it. But even with Otz, right now, UNLV is not a place that’s “ok” for locals. It’s going to take some time, people are going to want to see what he can do. You may love, like or hate Otz right now but just putting a new face in the head seat - that doesn’t make UNLV stable and attractive. One is an unknown and the other isn’t true. Not right now, not yet.
We now have our 3rd head coach in the past 4+ years. It’s not a great starting point.
My advice might not be with two cents, but it’d be wait and see what happens. I don’t think we are going to see anything amazing in this recruiting cycle. We are going to need to see something more in line with a style, an identity, in competing ... if that falls into place, then I think you’ll see UNLV become more viable for locals. That’s not stopping him from trying to get it all set up, he’s working the valley well. But it was woefully neglected for years. Takes time to repair.
Locals had been very ignored the past three seasons. Not 10 minutes ago, had an in person discussion with a HS coach 10 minutes ago, he knew Strawther was going to Gonzaga for awhile. But he was telling me there wasn’t a single out of town coach that was recruiting a Vegas kid that he saw less than Menzies.
Under Kruger, it became “ok” for locals to play at UNLV. It increased with Rice. It died with Menses. To think that Otz could step in here for a couple of weeks and make up lost ground is silly. He’s working on it. But even with Otz, right now, UNLV is not a place that’s “ok” for locals. It’s going to take some time, people are going to want to see what he can do. You may love, like or hate Otz right now but just putting a new face in the head seat - that doesn’t make UNLV stable and attractive. One is an unknown and the other isn’t true. Not right now, not yet.
We now have our 3rd head coach in the past 4+ years. It’s not a great starting point.
My advice might not be with two cents, but it’d be wait and see what happens. I don’t think we are going to see anything amazing in this recruiting cycle. We are going to need to see something more in line with a style, an identity, in competing ... if that falls into place, then I think you’ll see UNLV become more viable for locals. That’s not stopping him from trying to get it all set up, he’s working the valley well. But it was woefully neglected for years. Takes time to repair.
