Reading the tea leaves

[VegasRebMan]

I know there are a lot smarter people on this site than I (and a lot more connected). But these are my observations. Cliff Findlay appears the driving force with UNLV basketball. Cliff gets Dave Rice fired mid-year. Cliff gets his boy Todd Simon as Interim Coach. The three person search Committee (AD, President, and Robert Smith) all appear swayed by Cliff. UNLV has a top 10 recruit visiting this weekend.

Doesn't this all add up to indicating that UNLV already has a coach in place? My guess is that Todd Simon will stay on as an Assistant and he is running the Thon Maker recruitment. My guess is that a coach will be named after said Coaches team is eliminated from the NCAA Tournament (why else no announcement?). Are there any teams still playing that have been recruiting Thon Maker? My biggest concern is that Lavin may be the guy. He is not currently coaching but seems tied to Thon Maker to some extent.

Any thoughts? Who does Cliff want? How much is Cliff willing to fork over for a new coach?

 

[Willden4UNLV]

That could be true, but it seems extremely difficult to know.

 

[manic water]

The three person search Committee (AD, President, and Robert Smith) all appear swayed by Cliff.

And you know this how?

 

[VegasRebMan]

And you know this how?

Obviously, don't know for a fact. Just seems Cliff and his money are driving the show.

 

[Rebel1986]

I keep reading about Cliff, but he really doesn't have the type of money we would be talking about, if we went after a big time coach. It is more likely that it is either a group of boosters, or there is another booster with much deeper pockets that is steering the committee.

 

[j. spilotro]

Obviously, don't know for a fact. Just seems Cliff and his money are driving the show.

Cliff is probably the most known, the loudest and most intimidating of the booster group, but my understanding in terms of financial contributions, he's very low on the totem pole. Yeah, he has season tix and the donations for each ticket, he purchases a lot of advertising... But in terms of general donation? Very low.

 

[MonsterJam]

Ed O'Bannon of Findlay for next coach?