Founding One year after the establishment of Nevada Southern University, the fledgling school began playing basketball at a municipal gym in downtown Las Vegas. The team later moved on campus to the Nevada Southern Gym, which is now the
Marjorie Barrick Museum. Most games were against
junior colleges or teams fielded by military bases in the Western United States. The school adopted the Rebels mascot to symbolize its independence from the
University of Nevada, Reno, 350 miles northwest of Las Vegas, with a scraggly wolf in grey symbolizing the school's contrast from the bow-tied
wolf from UNR. In 1969, UNLV joined the
West Coast Athletic Conference, coached by
Rolland Todd before he left to helm the expansion
Portland Trail Blazers. Todd led the Rebels three straight NCAA playoff appearances. In 1966, the team moved its games to The Rotunda, a silver-domed 6,300-seat arena in the
Las Vegas Convention Center. UNLV changed its mascot from the scraggly wolf, which had strong
Confederate undertones, to a "mountain man" style mascot resembling
Yosemite Sam in 1983 after briefly debating whether to make the mascot the "Minuteman."
Jerry Tarkanian era On March 23, 1973, UNLV hired former
Long Beach State head coach
Jerry Tarkanian to lead the program. Tarkanian's success was immediate and ultimately led him to enshrinement in the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1977, just seven years after joining Division I, The Rebels made the Final Four with a squad nicknamed the "Hardway Eight". At the
Omni Coliseum in
Atlanta, UNLV lost 84–83 to
North Carolina in the first of four Final Four appearances for the Rebels. In 1983, UNLV moved to an on-campus arena, the 18,500 seat
Thomas & Mack Center. The massive arena, clad with red seats and lined with luxury suites, became famous for its extravagance relative to the rest of college basketball at the time. Games were regularly televised in Nevada and
Southern California, with
Los Angeles radio icons
Chick Hearn and
Ross Porter handling play-by-play duties. National TV broadcasts became a regular occurrence. UNLV consistently led the nation in points scored, turnovers forced, and most importantly – wins. The Runnin' Rebels were well known for going on long runs that turned close games into blowouts. They were also known for up-tempo offense and stifling defense. In 1986, UNLV returned to the Final Four, having gone 37–1 before losing 97–93 to
Indiana. In
1990, UNLV won the
NCAA Championship by beating
Duke by a record-setting margin of 103–73, becoming the first team and only team to score over 100 points in the championship game. Before becoming a basketball powerhouse in the late 1970s, UNLV was often referred to as "Tumbleweed Tech" Tarkanian regularly ran afoul of the
NCAA, dating to his time at Long Beach State. He was repeatedly investigated for allegedly offering payments or other benefits to players, allegations he both denied and said were selectively enforced. He told the
Los Angeles Times that the NCAA would "get so upset at UCLA, they'll put Northridge on two years probation," implying that the regulating body favored established programs over smaller schools. The NCAA was equally critical of Tarkanian, criticizing him for recruiting student-athletes from urban areas. NCAA executive director
Walter Byers said "Tark's black players play a fast city-lot basketball without much style. Grab ball and run like hell, not lots of passing to set up the shots." In 1990, the NCAA banned UNLV from defending its national title, a decision it later reversed. The 1991 team was 34-0 heading into its Final Four matchup in
Indianapolis with Duke, which it had defeated in the title game a year earlier. Duke prevailed 79–77, and UNLV was banned from television and the postseason in 1991–92. Ultimately, in 1992, Tarkanian was forced to resign by UNLV president Robert Maxson. In 1998 Tarkanian received a $2.5 million out of court settlement when he sued the NCAA for violations stemming from its investigation of UNLV. The last Rebel squad coached by Tarkanian won their tenth consecutive
Big West Conference regular season title. On November 26, 2005, for his achievements as coach of the Runnin' Rebels (he was 509–105 in 19 years as head coach), the basketball court at the Thomas & Mack Center was renamed Jerry Tarkanian Court, despite the recruiting sanctions and controversies.— a deal that ultimately led to Maxson's departure from UNLV. Massimino was replaced by well–respected Tarkanian assistant
Tim Grgurich, but he lasted just 7 games in 1994 before resigning. Howie Landa and Cleveland Edwards finished the 1994–95 season, which ended with a 12–16 record—the school's first losing season in 34 years, and first since moving up to Division I. The team hired
UMass assistant
Bill Bayno for the 1995–96 season. With a still-depleted roster, Bayno's first year ended with a 10–16 record, the worst in school history. However, Bayno engineered a very quick return to respectability. He was an excellent recruiter, bringing in future NBA talent including
Shawn Marion,
Tyrone Nesby, and
Keon Clark. The Rebels returned to the
NCAA tournament in 1997, their first appearance in six years. Bayno was let go in 2000, after the NCAA found that UNLV had violated rules while recruiting
Lamar Odom, who ultimately chose
Rhode Island over UNLV. It was in the wake of Bayno that UNLV began looking for a well-respected coach to act as an anchor for the program. The school intensely pursued former
University of Kentucky and
Boston Celtics coach
Rick Pitino, who ultimately spurned the university before choosing to work at
Louisville. Former
Saint Louis University coach
Charlie Spoonhour replaced Bayno for the 2001–02 season, compiling a 54–31 record before resigning in the middle of the 2004 season.
Lon Kruger era The anchor turned out to be
Lon Kruger, who came to Las Vegas after an unsuccessful stint as the coach of the
Atlanta Hawks, with successful college stints at
Kansas State,
Florida and
Illinois. Kruger's stint at UNLV began with a mediocre 17–15 record in the 2004–05 season that including seven losses in conference play and a poor start to the 2005–06 season that ultimately finished a respectable 17–13 and a loss in the conference tournament semifinals. Despite being picked to come in sixth in the Mountain West, UNLV started the 2006–07 season 3–0 led by future NBA player
Joel Anthony and Lon Kruger's son,
Kevin Kruger. Despite losing their next game, UNLV responded by winning a significant road game at
Nevada 58–49, ranked No. 20 in the nation at the time, marking the first time since 1991 that UNLV beat a ranked team on the road. After defeating
Texas Tech in late December and upsetting a nationally ranked Air Force squad, UNLV received their first national ranking in 14 years. Winning the
Mountain West Conference tournament over BYU sealed their bid to the
NCAA tournament and UNLV received a No. 7 seed. After narrowly beating
Georgia Tech, the Rebels shocked 2nd seeded
Wisconsin, sending them to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in over 15 seasons. However, their magical season came to an end as the Runnin' Rebels ultimately lost to
Oregon in the
Sweet 16, 76–72. The team finished 14th in the polls with a 30–6 record. The next season, 2007–08, despite being picked to finish in fifth Mountain West Conference, UNLV surprised critics by starting the year 12–3. They finished in second place in the conference, with 12–4 record behind BYU. UNLV defeated BYU again to win the 2008
Mountain West tournament. Star guard Wink Adams scored 23 points and was given the MVP title. They received a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament and beat
Kent State in the First Round. UNLV lost in the Second Round to
Kansas. They finished that season 27–8. The Rebels started the 2008–09 season 5–0, their best start since 1999. A 73–55 loss to the
California Golden Bears and 67–65 loss to
Cincinnati the next day marked the first time in over 3 years that the Rebels had lost consecutive games. On December 31, 2008, they beat No. 18
Louisville 56–55, on the road, which was the highest ranked opponent the Rebels have beaten on the road since they beat No. 12
New Mexico in 1991. They also started off the first half of their season 13–2, their best 15 game start since they went 15–0 1991. They fell out in the second half of the season, going 8–7 and finished the regular season with a 21–9 record and 5th in their conference, though they did manage to sweep the season series with BYU and upset Utah at home. They were denied a third consecutive Mountain West Conference tournament Championship when they lost to the rival
San Diego State Aztecs 71–57, on March 12, 2009. The Rebels went on to become a No. 5 seed in the 2009
NIT, but suffered a loss against
Kentucky in the first round. Despite losing three starters from the previous era's squad, the Rebels started off strong once again for their 2009–10 campaign with their second consecutive 5–0 start, the first time since 1989–90 and 1990–91 that they have done so. Their victory over No. 16
Louisville was their first home victory against a ranked opponent since 2007 and the highest ranked opponent the Rebels have beaten since defeating the
Wisconsin Badgers (ranked 6th in the final AP Poll) in
2007. On November 30, 2009, the Rebels were ranked 24th in the AP Polls and 21st in the USA Today/ESPN Polls, making it the first time the team was ranked since 2007. However, UNLV soon dropped out of the AP Top 25 with losses to
Kansas State and
USC. In early February, however, UNLV upset a No. 14 and
Jimmer Fredette–lead
BYU team. As a result, UNLV returned to the national rankings, but after losing their next three, they soon dropped out, though they recovered at the end of the season, and finished 11–5 in MWC play. On March 6, 2010, they ended their 2009–10 campaign with 74–56 win over
Wyoming at home. They finished the season 23–7, their best win–loss season since 2007. Despite losing in the finals of the Mountain West tournament the following weekend, UNLV did manage to defeat BYU for the fifth time in six matchups. On March 14, 2010, the Runnin' Rebels returned to the
NCAA tournament after missing out in 2009. They finished the season with a 25–9 record, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to
Northern Iowa 69–66, thanks to a 3–pointer with under 3 seconds to go by the Panthers. With all 5 starters back from the 2009–10 season, UNLV entered the 2010–11 season with high expectations. Initially, the Rebels lived up to the hype, starting the year 10–0 and was ranked No. 19 in the polls. However, the team lost their next two games, including one at home and dropped out of the rankings. Although they later went on to upset No. 11
Kansas State in Kansas City, the team never really recovered and lost to
BYU at home for the first time since 2005, Kruger's first year at the helm. Like the 2008–09 squad, the Rebels collapsed down the stretch, though the team rallied somewhat towards the very end of the season, losing to a top 10
San Diego State team in a very tight game and defeating two "bubble" teams on the road. After losing to the Aztecs in the conference tournament, the Runnin' Rebels earned their 18th overall
NCAA tournament bid and fourth in five seasons, being picked as an 8 seed in the Southwest Regional. After falling to the 9th seeded
Illinois Fighting Illini 73–62, their season ended with a record 24–9. On April 1, 2011, Lon Kruger announced that he would be leaving UNLV for the
University of Oklahoma.
Dave Rice era UNLV soon replaced Kruger with
Dave Rice, a little–known assistant at rival BYU. Rice played for the Rebels when they won the 1990 national title, and promised to bring back the
up–tempo offense that was a trademark of the team prior to Kruger's hiring. On November 26, 2011, the Rebels upset No. 1
North Carolina at the
Orleans Arena in the
Las Vegas Invitational, 90–80 to start their season 7–0. It was their third consecutive 7–0 start to a season and was also regarded as Rice's first marquee win as coach. This win placed the UNLV Runnin' Rebels well within the Top 25. Despite losing to Wichita State on the road a little over a week later, UNLV then avenged last years lost to Illinois, which was also ranked in the top 25, in convincing fashion. This victory once again placed UNLV in the rankings. Shortly before Christmas, UNLV faced California, which had been ranked in the Top 25 for much of the beginning of the season, winning 85–68. Thereafter, UNLV dropped 124 points in a lopsided win against an inferior Central Arkansas team. Despite falling to the SDSU Aztecs in their conference opener in a very close game, the Runnin' Rebels responded with soundly defeating New Mexico, the preseason Mountain West favorite, at home in front of a sold-out crowd as well as blowing out an up–and–coming Colorado State club that easily beat that at UNLV the previous year. Despite narrowly winning road games against Air Force and Boise State, UNLV was ranked No. 11 in the country, which set up for an early February Top 15 showdown against San Diego State, which won 9 of the last 10 meetings. In front of a rejuvenated UNLV student section and a capacity crowd, UNLV played a near–perfect game, only to let up in the closing minutes, but key defensive stops in the final seconds allowed UNLV to come atop 65–63. However, the Rebels blew an 18-point lead in the following game against lowly TCU, and despite scoring 97 points, they lost in overtime. This set up numerous road losses down the stretch, but still finished a respectable 9–5 in conference play and 3rd seed in the tournament, where they lost in the semifinals to New Mexico. Granted a six seed in the
2012 NCAA tournament, the Runnin' Rebels were upset in the opening round to Colorado despite trimming a 21–second point deficit to 2 in a 68–64 loss. Despite the loss in the tournament and losing three starters, as well as two key reserves from the 2011–12 team, Dave Rice brought a highly touted recruiting class for the 2012–13 season. A total of four ESPN Top 100 players were signed as well as two transfers from key players on
Big East schools, highlighted by forward
Anthony Bennett. As a result, UNLV was ranked in the Top 20 to start the season for the first time in 22 years, but suffered an early season loss to Oregon over Thanksgiving weekend. However, UNLV rebounded from the loss, though the Rebels did lose a match to UNC. Road struggles from last year continued to follow them, even though the Rebels did beat the Aztecs on the road, Rice's squad was embarrassed by second–to–last place Fresno State on the road. Although they easily defeated a Top 15 New Mexico team, UNLV lost to a lowly Air Force team on the road 72–56, falling to 5–5 in MWC play. However, UNLV recovered the rest of the way, winning their next five, including a come from behind victory over rival SDSU. Yet, the UNLV Rebels were upset once again to Fresno State at home, but responded to avenge the Air Force loss in the Mountain West tourney and advance the title game where they lost to New Mexico. Awarded a five seed, the Rebels faced California in the NCAA Tournament, which they previously defeated in mid–December. In an ugly game, the team fell behind early and went 11 minutes without a basket in the 2nd half en route to a 64–61 loss. In late June, Anthony Bennett was drafted as the top overall pick in the
2013 NBA draft, marking the first time a Rebel was picked No. 1 overall since 1991. Despite losing Bennett, as well as two other starters, including one who left the program, the Runnin' Rebels were picked to finish in third in 2013–14 in a highly competitive conference. However, the team did not get onto a good start and lost to
UC Santa Barbara, which finished 11–20 in one of the worst conferences in the country the previous season, by 21. After losing back to back home games, the Rebels dropped to 2–3, the first time they had a losing record since 2005. They ended up missing the postseason for the first time since 2006. Despite this, Dave Rice received a contract extension through the 2018–19 season. After going 18–15 in
2014–15, the first time the Rebels failed to win 20 games in a season since 2005–06, the team recruited highly touted prospect
Stephen Zimmerman, who helped the Rebels start the
2015–16 season 3–0, their best start since going 8–0 in
2010–11. However, the Rebels failed to capitalize on that start; a 1–5 stretch that included an 0–3 start in Mountain West play led the school to fire Rice on January 10, 2016. His top assistant Todd Simon was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Chris Beard's 19-day tenure Fresh off a 30-win season at
Arkansas–Little Rock, UNLV hired
Chris Beard as a head coach. Beard was Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2015–16, and led the
Trojans to a victory in the
2016 NCAA tournament over
Purdue. Nineteen days later, Beard left UNLV to accept the head coaching position at Texas Tech.
Marvin Menzies era After Chris Beard's sudden departure, UNLV agreed to hire 2015 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and former
New Mexico State head basketball coach,
Marvin Menzies. In Menzies first season the
2016–17 Runnin' Rebels reached a new low finishing the season 11–21 and in last place of Mountain West Conference. The following year Menzies landed a top 25 Recruiting class. Landing 5 star prospect Brandon McCoy and the Top Junior college player in the nation, Shakur Juiston. The Rebels started the 2017–18 season 6–0 featuring a win over Utah in the MGM invitational championship game. UNLV had started receiving votes for the top 25. UNLV went on to only suffer 2 losses in non-conference play against northern Iowa and Arizona (both in overtime). UNLV started conference play 11–2 and in 1st place. The Rebels went 8–10 in conference play after losing it last five games. UNLV beat NO.23 Nevada on the road before going on a 5 games losing streak. UNLV was 19–12 going into the Mountain West tournament and beat Air Force 97–90 in the 1st round. They took on NO.22 Nevada in the quarterfinal game and lost 79–74. Ending UNLV's season at 20–13. On March 15, 2019, after finishing the season with a 17–13 record, the UNLV athletic department parted ways with Marvin Menzies after 3 years.
T. J. Otzelberger UNLV announced on March 27, 2019 that its new coach would be
T. J. Otzelberger, former
South Dakota State Jackrabbits head coach who posted an overall record of 70–33 in three season as head coach, including two NCAA Tournament appearances and earning
Summit League 2018 Coach of the Year honors. ==NCAA Final Four appearances==