UNLV basketball: 2017-18 season preview for the Rebels

The Running Rebels had a disastrous season where they barely got double-digit victories. With a highly touted class coming in, will UNLV turn things around sooner than expected?

UNLV has been hanging around the middle-tier in the Mountain West Conference the last few years. After an 8-10 conference record and missing out again on the NCAA Tournament, the school and Dave Rice parted ways. It led to a mass exodus of players going pro or transferring, destroying the roster.

For former New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies, it was essentially starting from ground zero with his new team. With such a late start in recruiting, all the coaching staff could do was bring in a bunch of stop-gap players and elevate role players into the key guys. The result was as expected, with UNLV finishing next to last in the Mountain West at 4-14, 11-21 overall.

Making matters even worse, five of the seven top contributors either graduated or transferred after the year. Sophomore Jalen Poyser decided to leave for Saint Bonaventure, former top 100 Troy Baxter left for Florida Gulf Coast, and Zion Morgan left the basketball team to finish school at Nevada-Las Vegas before leaving for Southern Utah after the semester.

That might ultimately have been a good thing, as Menzies collectively built a top 15 recruiting class. It’s comprised of talented freshmen likely to stay for four years, quality Junior College transfers, and even a high school McDonald’s All-American surprisingly decided to come aboard.

The Rebels were by far the worst defensive team in the conference, so, hopefully, these new players coming in will be much better at guarding players. Otherwise, they’ll be staring at the bottom once again.