Las Vegas could eventually become home to an NBA expansion franchise, but Josh Pastner believes there is a much cheaper basketball investment already available in the city.
The UNLV coach wants someone to put $10 million to $12 million into the Runnin’ Rebels and effectively become the program’s unofficial “owner.”
Pastner is not suggesting UNLV can legally sell its basketball program. His pitch is aimed at finding a massive financial backer who can give the Rebels the resources necessary to compete in college basketball’s increasingly expensive talent market.
“I have told people, why buy the NBA team? Buy the college basketball team,” Pastner told KTNV. “You can be the owner of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels men’s basketball team, and it’s a lot less expensive.”
It is a bold sales pitch, but it also captures the reality facing programs outside the wealthiest conferences.
Josh Pastner believes $12 million could transform UNLV
Pastner is trying to rebuild a program that once occupied the center of the college basketball universe.
UNLV won the 1990 national championship and returned to the Final Four in 1991 under Jerry Tarkanian. Since then, however, sustained national success has been difficult to recapture. The Rebels have reached only eight NCAA Tournaments since that Final Four appearance and advanced beyond the opening weekend just once.
Pastner led UNLV to an 18-17 record and an NIT appearance during his first season. That represented a respectable start, but he knows identifying undervalued players and developing overlooked talent will only take the program so far.
The Rebels cannot consistently win recruiting battles when another school can make an offer that is several times larger.
“If you have a $12 million check, you can compete against Kentucky, Duke, Arizona, UCLA for any player you want,” Pastner said. “Right now, if another school offers someone $1 million and our budget only allows us $100,000, it doesn’t matter how much the kid likes me.”
That may be the most important part of Pastner’s message.
College basketball recruiting has always involved money, facilities and influential boosters. The difference now is that the size of a program’s available budget can directly determine what kind of roster it can assemble.
Pastner can sell playing time, Las Vegas and UNLV’s history. None of those advantages automatically erase a $900,000 financial gap.
UNLV has the city, history and opportunity
There are few places better positioned to support an ambitious basketball program than Las Vegas.
The city hosts the NBA Summer League, multiple conference tournaments and countless major sporting events. It will also stage the 2028 Final Four and remains one of the most frequently discussed destinations for eventual NBA expansion.
Pastner sees that growth as an opportunity rather than a threat.
“This has become the epicenter of basketball,” he said.
UNLV would not need to compete directly with a future NBA franchise for attention. A nationally relevant college program could complement the city’s expanding sports identity, especially if the Rebels once again became a regular NCAA Tournament contender.
“The better UNLV does, the better it is for the entire city,” Pastner said. “Any major city needs to have a great university.”
Calling a donor the program’s “owner” will create plenty of attention and criticism. It also raises obvious questions about how involved any individual contributor should be in basketball decisions.
Still, Pastner’s larger point is difficult to dismiss. UNLV needs significantly more financial support if it wants to recruit against the biggest spenders in the sport.
The Rebels are not actually for sale. For somewhere between $10 million and $12 million, however, Pastner is offering one wealthy basketball fan the chance to feel like they are.
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