Cant god damn believe they got rid of the Dr Pepper again.

Dayton - 71
Rebs - 63

UNLV fifth-year guard EJ Harkless thinks he might have the path to the NCAA Tournament figured out. A new arrival in Las Vegas this season, he spent the previous two seasons at Oklahoma.

During his first year as a Sooner, Harkless played for Lon Kruger, the former UNLV coach and father of current Rebel coach Kevin Kruger, during the coach’s final season. Oklahoma made the NCAA Tournament, and Harkless is looking to maintain that streak.

“I’m 100 percent with Coach Krugers and the tournament,” he said. “If it worked one time, it’s going to work again.”

Harkless, senior Luis Rodriguez — another UNLV newcomer — and Kevin Kruger all spoke at Mountain West men’s basketball media day Wednesday. The Rebels were picked to finish sixth in the conference’s preseason poll and didn’t have any players picked for the preseason all-conference team or the individual awards, but Kruger is happy with the state of his program.

“I do feel good about where we’re at,” Kruger said. “At this point in October, I think the guys are working hard. I think they’ve gotten better.”

The Rebels have lots of new faces, but have several questions surrounding the team — particularly on offense. UNLV’s 2021-22 leading scorer Bryce Hamilton departed, along with offensive contributors like Donovan Williams and Royce Hamm Jr. The Rebels also have several new faces on the team’s coaching staff, as each of Kruger’s top three assistants from last season were poached by Power Five schools.

Kruger and his new staff have already had a chance to preview this year’s team. The Rebels took a three-game preseason tour to Canada. The trip included a surprise loss to the University of British Columbia, but Kruger believes the team has made major improvements during training camp.

“Taking that information that we got (in Canada), blending it into the fall workouts and now the official practices … This is a group that’s gotten a lot better, consistently, since they’ve been together,” Kruger said.

Harkless, for example, wasn’t available in Canada as he was recovering from knee surgery. Kruger also mentioned late additions Shane Nowell, a guard,, and Karl Jones, a forward, hadn’t been fully incorporated and were still finding their roles in the system during the preseason tour.

The tour also gave the Rebels a chance to spend time together and continue building their chemistry. Besides the new staff, UNLV added seven scholarship players this season. It’s not quite the massive turnover from Kruger’s first year with the Rebels, but has still created a steep learning curve for this team both on and off the court.

Rodriguez said the team tries to spend as much time together as possible. The Rebels bond over extra shots after practice. They hang out at each other’s apartments and go to the movies. The former Ole Miss wing said even getting lunch with a teammate can go a long way toward building camaraderie.

“I think our bonding is going pretty well,” he said. “I think we mesh together.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.

More Rebels: Follow at reviewjournal.com/Rebels.

Not to bring the schedule up again, but UNLV is 2-0 and yet the game against Dayton is pretty much a must win. Probably our one chance at a good OOC win. I don’t really think we have a chance at an at-large even with a win but for sure have no chance without one. The losses by Boise St and Fresno so far really hurt.

Seems like his visit went well. Made a UNLV video (we've seen this before from recruits that didn't commit), but some sites are starting to lean UNLV. A commit from Dean Thomas would be HUGE. Anybody also know if he might move into the 2023 class?


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Looking at the schedule, which we know is really weak, it looks like S. Illinois is a pretty decent team, and will give us a game. They knocked off Oklahoma State on the road, so they should be pretty respectable. I don't know how Ok. St. is this year, but they're usually pretty decent.

Aside from that game, we won't have much until mid December in terms of competition. What do you hope we see in the next month from the team?

I'm looking forward to the Rebs getting Cottrell healthy and back with the team, and the offense getting more efficient.

If we keep this up we'll get a rep for smokin hot defense. That will mean extra breaks from the refs.

We goin!

Anyone get the skinny on how his visit went over the weekend? They made a pretty cool video of him that he posted. He also retweeted this for todays game. Looks to be positive.

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Is there going to be any TV for the Hawaii and Reno games??

Did I just see two dudes in the Rebel Girls? SMH

This article does not think too highly of this team and program.

I think we are a bit better than what this says.

Online books have us a 4.5 dog.

Thought he was on the team this year. Is he playingat all?

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@wolfgang jayn

this year the cannon becomes red.

Does anyone know the line for the game Saturday?

We are favored by 24.5. IW previous game was an 8 point loss to North Dakota. ( North Dakota has a loss to Creighton by 35)

I don't think we are capable of beating any team by 24.

Rebels 73 IW 62

Line: Fresno -9.5 Saturday , 730 pm PST, CBSSN

Line up your predictions, post updates, info, insights, stats, embed tweets, videos, pics, whatever you want … make your picks and post as the game progresses. Anything you want related to the UNLV/Fresno game.

I can't make it. 117 Free to the first person to ask. Section 117. Just dm me your phone # to transfer.

Often there are posts that talk about our football culture or lack thereof. I completely get that our past coaches have been unsuccessful in building a winning culture, but it brings up a question. What coach, Nationally, has brought a 30+ year back from the dead and instilled a winning culture? There are coaches that have brought losing programs back from their misery, but only for a short time. They haven't instilled a culture that could outlive their tenure.

Has there ever been a coach that actually changed the culture of a losing football program?

Kelvin Sampson.

He was on one of the long shot lists, can’t remember which one, but was untouchable for the most part given his past issues. Which, personally, I think is completely horseshit for a school like UNLV, acting like we are above certain types. It’s short sighted, it’s ultra safe.

But issues aside, the guy can flat out coach. He assembles talent and gets them to go hard. I like his teams.

I got an extra ticket courtesy of awesome poster @rebelkt!!!

The self imposed penalties are a joke! Four games for knowingly paying players and denying it for five years while you win a National championship. If I was an ASU fan, I would be pissed. It says NCAA can add more penalties later but will not add anything during the season, sure Ok St. would have liked that treatment.