They weren’t allowed to play on television or post season?
This was the forgotten team. I never saw them play.
This was the forgotten team. I never saw them play.
Someone tell me about the 1992 UNLV basketball team..
- Thread starter RebelScrub
- Start date
Never saw them play either sadly. Dedan Thomas(5-10 soph pg), Dexter Boney(6-4 jr sg), JR Rider(6-5 jr sf), Evric Gray(6-6 jr fwd), and the vastly improved Elmore Spencer(7-0 sr c). Add a more experienced H Waldman(6-2 soph pg) and Melvin Love(6-10 sr f/c) off the bench and you probably had the best team that never played in the NCAA tournament right there. Didn't they play the rematch with LSU here? God I wish I had tape of that game!!
I wouldn’t say much improved Elmore Spencer. He got his opportunity. He shared time with a better, more experienced Ackles the year before.
It was a very solid team, the JR under Tark was much more under control and didn’t dominate games as he did under Rollie. But he was still absolutely spectacular.
Dexter was a smooth wing. Could finish on the break, solid and athletic defensively, could shoot it fairly well. He really was an underrated wing for the Rebels.
Dedan was tiny but quick, really strong defender. Didn’t turn the ball over. Didn’t try to go to that lane a lot and wasn’t a strong shooter. But he was a general on the floor (sounds like Wade a lot but they were still different, Dedan was much more speedy).
They did beat a highly anticipated game vs LSU with Shaq at the Mack. Now Shaq got his, and even though Elmore didn’t have the same numbers, he made Shaq work his ass off and Elmore’s numbers were good, maybe a career high in rebounds. He effectively “neutralized” Shaq which was a very tall order.
I believe the Rebels started our 3-2, lost to a ranked Missouri and at Rutgers if I remember correctly, struggled defensively with man to man; Tark scrapped the man to man and went with a traditional matchup zone (not amoeba). He came up with a system that his players fit into best, that’s good coaching. And then they rattled off 23 in a row, undefeated in BWC play, but ineligible for conference tournament and NCAA. They were ranked highly, top 10 I believe, in at least one of the polls, back then it was top 20 only and the only polls that mattered were the UPI (writers) and AP (coaches). I think they climbed as high as #6 or #7 by the end of the season, starting off the season unranked (losing 2 of 5 to start the season, you’re going to have to play catch up. They may have been ineligible for one of the polls? Can’t recall exactly.
You can check for accuracy, I cannot be positive. This was 30 years ago and the memory is fading a bit.
When Tark went to the zone, we had to be reminded that he was a master if the zone at Long Beach, and even UNLV in 1973-74.
They were ranked in one poll, I think it was UPI. The other poll couldn't because of the probation.
Sad memory. Dick Vitale, saying that when Tark left, the team would fall.
He said that UNLV was not a program like Kentucky or North Carolina, but simply Tark's teams.
Without him, they would be just average.
They were ranked in one poll, I think it was UPI. The other poll couldn't because of the probation.
Sad memory. Dick Vitale, saying that when Tark left, the team would fall.
He said that UNLV was not a program like Kentucky or North Carolina, but simply Tark's teams.
Without him, they would be just average.
I watched them play live on Armed Forces Network against Georgetown in Camp Hovey South Korea. JR Rider remembers that game fondly...
Non-conference games couldn’t air on TV, but some of the Big West games did on tape delay through the Big West deal with Sportschannel America. The last game against Utah State was one of them. Jerry’s long time friend Bill Mulligan did color that game.
They weren’t great at times offensively, particularly early, a lot of new pieces trying to gel, but Elmore was typically reliable in the post and on different nights others stepped up to compliment.
Jerry had doubts heading into the season about their ability to play man to man pressure, particularly Elmore and Melvin Love’s foot speed. After the Missouri loss where they struggled defensively he moved to the 1-2-2 zone which gave him so much success at the junior college level and LBSU. By the end of the season they were holding teams routinely in the mid to upper 30% range from the field which for that era was great.
They really only should’ve lost to Missouri. Turnovers (had around 30) and missed free throws killed them against Rutgers. Still had a chance to tie it late in OT but Reggie Manuel missed a wide open break away lay-up.
Several players, i recall Elmore abstained, got together and sued late in the season to try to get in the tournament. Jerry even offered to step aside and let Gerg coach if it helped. Maxson was livid as the end of the season couldn’t come fast enough for him. There was a brief injunction which allowed the team to practice following the Utah St game but the suit was quickly dismissed in district court and it was over.
Was a wild season, even more off the court than on the court.
Maxson should rot in hell forever. It didn’t take the 30+ years since to understand that Runnin’ Rebel basketball was all Jerry Tarkanian, it had zero to do with UNLV. Remove the man, lose the program identity and success.
Decided to google Melvin Love.
Look at this hit piece from the LA Times on Melvin Love’s recruitment. It reads like a book. All because Love got a Tudor and some calls were made..
www.latimes.com
Look at this hit piece from the LA Times on Melvin Love’s recruitment. It reads like a book. All because Love got a Tudor and some calls were made..
Did UNLV Break Rules in Recruiting of Love? : College basketball: Rebels allegedly accepted the help of a Utah businessman and part-time coach to secure reserve center, in violation of NCAA rules.
At the same time its basketball recruiting practices were being scrutinized by the NCAA, the University of Nevada Las Vegas was using an outside representative in apparent violation of NCAA rules in the recruitment of Melvin Love, a backup center for the Rebels last season, a Times investigation…
www.latimes.com
A Tudor? Is that relating to the English royal dynasty which held the throne from the accession of Henry VII in 1485 until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.
A couple of Mel stories.
I knew him in college but I cant remember the last time I saw him, maybe 25 years ago. He was a good guy, not real bright and didnt give a shit about much. I was out with him and a bunch of other guys on JR's recruiting trip. Started at the Elephant Bar then to Rebel Pub anf Grub. Mel walked around with a bottle of Cold Duck in his jacket that night, although drinks were free all night long and most every other night.
I had a class with Mel, I think it was a philosophy class?? I never bought the text book because early in the Semester I asked Mel if I could use his, he said no problem and gave it to me. Right after that semester ended I was walking through the South Gym and he said, "hey Rebswin where's my book, I want to sell it back to get my money" I told him Id get it to him. I then asked him how he did on the final, he said "I don't know, but I know I passed". I said how do you know you passed, grades arent out yet. He said "because I had the god damn answers". I left, went to the book store and sold the book back and keptthe money, he never asked me again about the book.
I knew him in college but I cant remember the last time I saw him, maybe 25 years ago. He was a good guy, not real bright and didnt give a shit about much. I was out with him and a bunch of other guys on JR's recruiting trip. Started at the Elephant Bar then to Rebel Pub anf Grub. Mel walked around with a bottle of Cold Duck in his jacket that night, although drinks were free all night long and most every other night.
I had a class with Mel, I think it was a philosophy class?? I never bought the text book because early in the Semester I asked Mel if I could use his, he said no problem and gave it to me. Right after that semester ended I was walking through the South Gym and he said, "hey Rebswin where's my book, I want to sell it back to get my money" I told him Id get it to him. I then asked him how he did on the final, he said "I don't know, but I know I passed". I said how do you know you passed, grades arent out yet. He said "because I had the god damn answers". I left, went to the book store and sold the book back and keptthe money, he never asked me again about the book.
‘92 team was certainly not spectacular like the 2 previous teams were, but they were well balanced and did everything well (after switching to zone as stated before). Had the solid, pass/defense PG (Dedan), Go to scorer (JR) and size down low with the underrated Gray and good Elmore Spencer. Also had a fairly deep bench as well. Would have loved to see how far they could have gone in the NCAA’s.
Still unbelievable to me how badly the administration ruined the university. Too dumb to realize how much a good sports program can elevate the university as a whole. I mean it’s not like we are Ivy league or Stanford. That what if’s make me sick every time I think about it. O’Bannons, Edney (i think), later Marbury…crazy
Still unbelievable to me how badly the administration ruined the university. Too dumb to realize how much a good sports program can elevate the university as a whole. I mean it’s not like we are Ivy league or Stanford. That what if’s make me sick every time I think about it. O’Bannons, Edney (i think), later Marbury…crazy
I dont think I heard Edneys name, but in addition to the O' Bannons, Jalen Rose, Shon Tarver, Jason Kidd were names that a lot of people felt would have been Rebels, maybe Avondre Jones too?
Can’t have that bad old Tarkanian ruining the university like he did. We must implode the basketball program and stand on our strong academics and continue to forge it until we are the Harvard of the West.
Academia “won”, even though they failed by themselves, and athletics was crushed along with so many fans.
The final result was we had a few giddy professors and administrators living in their tiny bubble of self importance and ignorance nourished by delusions of grandeur and poor athletics.
Avondre was much later, played for Tark at Fresno. Edney wasn’t one. Tarver and O’Bannon were certainties. As for the rest, I’ve heard everything from 2-3 of the Fab 5 not including King, Shawn Kemp the assumption of some other kids later on like Charles O … the speculation was wild.
But high players like that .. not far fetched. The NCAA knew what they were doing. Success under Tark wasn’t going to stop. Things were set up wonderfully.
But we gave it up so we could put our academics on display.
Yes. Was Tarver, not Edney. I knew Edney didn’t seem right which is why i put the ?. ’90 and ‘91 teams turned the corner for Tark in recruiting . He was no longer havIns to rely on kids nobody else was willing to take (though I do believe Tark still would have taken a few as he had a soft spot for those types of kids), he was able to go toe to toe with the “big guys”. Yes the the rumors on who was coming were wild. Even we would have only gotten half of them, we were in legit dynasty building territory. What could have been…
Avondre Jones and Charles O'Bannon were in the same graduating class at Artesia, He played two seasons at SC '93-'94 and '94-'95, transfered and sat out the next year and played '97-'98 at Fresno for Tark. Other than knowing he and Charles graduated together and that he went ot SC out of high school and ended up at FSU, I had to look up the rest, at one time I probably could have told you that without looking but not any longer...
Yeah, same thing for me. It’s fading faster than I’d like … it’s not the same school, same program, same city. Feels billions of miles away.
CKK is the first time since his dad that I really have seen an improvement in the program! I understand Rice looked good for the first couple of seasons, but Coach Kruger left him in pretty good shape not like his son who was left with almost nobody. What he did with his transfers has been noticed, and should go a long way towards improving the program next season!
