FOFC-FBCB: Journeys of Izulde Jestor

[Izulde]

I'd like to start off by apologizing to those of you who put in for the Excalibur Conference and never heard from me again about that. It was a cool idea in theory, but I wanted a full conference of human coaches and then I just lost interest after a while, as I'm sure all of you did while waiting for me.

Now, that said... I've finally taken the plunge into FBCB MP with the FOFC league. It looks to be quite low commitment on time, which is great because I'm in my thesis semester, and since there's not that many human coaches, if the situation comes about where I'll need to quit my first school and hop on somewhere else, they're cool with that.

And so here we go.

Izulde Jestor Quits Kings GM Job; Hired As Columbia Men's Head Coach

Rumors abound that former NBA star Mateen Yeaton will join Izulde Jestor's coaching staff

April 24th, 2033

The Ivy League was taken by storm today when Columbia University announced the hiring of Sacramento Kings general manager Izulde Jestor as the head coach of their men's basketball program. Jestor, who won 3 rings with the Denver Nuggets as the GM there, steps down after a tenure with the Kings that saw him get close time and time again, but never quite able to win that fourth title.

The hiring was met with open skepticism, doubters all across the media and Internet questioning whether a man who has never coached a basketball game and who built his success in the professional leagues on shrewd trades, including the famous deal that brought Hall of Famer Mateen Yeaton to the Nuggets in the 2012 offseason, can make his mark as a college coach. As one blogger quipped, "It's not like he can trade his underachieving freshmen for a first round recruiting pick or three."

But on the other hand, it's a very low bar that Jestor has to surpass to be a success. The Columbia Lions are coming off a 7-21 (3-11) season and a dead last finish in the Ivy League. Worse yet, the team's last winning season was 22 years ago, in 2011, and the Lions have only made the postseason once in the last 33 years, when they lost in the first round of the NIT.

In fact, it's so bad that the Lions have only had 6 winning seasons in the last 33 years, and all but the 2003 season were in the five year run from 2007-2011. Columbia did finish .500 in 2025, but that was a fluke season, surrounded by wastelands of bad teams.

Even in 2003 and the 2007-2011 stretch, the team only won 10 or more Ivy League games twice (2003, 2008 - 11 wins) and have never won a conference title, a trend of futility that goes back even more decades than the 2000 season.

Columbia's Overall Record in the 21st Century: 362-564 (39.1%) - T-280th worst in the country and last in the Ivy League except for Dartmouth, who ranks T-290th worst at 38.7%. The Lions rank T-302nd in wins out of 327 schools in the country and have just 2 wins more than Dartmouth.

The individual accolades cupboard has been bare, too. In the 33 years of this century, Columbia has never had an Ivy League Player of the Year, only 3 Ivy League Freshman of the Year awards, and just 2 Ivy League Coach of the Year awards, both to Winfred Boutte, who won it in 2003 and 2008. The Lions have had 11 All-Ivy League 1st Team selections in the past 33 years and only 6 2nd Team selections. The last time a Columbia player received season award recognition was in 2026, when PF John Washington was named to the Ivy League 1st Team. The Lions have not gotten any national award recognition this century, but then, few of the Ivy League schools have.

So it's safe to say that if Jestor can simply get the Lions playing .500 ball on a consistent basis, he'll be lauded as a hero and the best coach Columbia's had since Boutte, who remains the most successful Lions coach in recent history.

Nor should it be particularly difficult for Jestor to find players who rank among the best in 21st century school history. The Lions' leading scorer in the past 33 years, and arguably most accomplished player, is SG Michael Jeske, who holds the 2000s school record in career points scored with 1691 and ranks 6th in steals with 146. Jeske won the 2009 Ivy League Freshman of the Year award and was named to the 2011 Ivy League 1st Team.

Multi-Award Winners
Winfred Boutte - Ivy League Coach of the Year (2003, 2008)
SF Alvin Raya - 2001 Ivy Freshman of the Year and 1st Team, 1004 Ivy League 1st Team
PG Efrain Bayles - 2003 and 2004 Ivy League 1st Team
SG Michael Jeske - 2009 Ivy Freshman of the Year, 2011 Ivy League 1st Team
C Junior Cram - 2009 and 2010 Ivy League 1st Team
SG Jack Rosado - 2023 Ivy Freshman of the Year, 2025 Ivy League 2nd Team

Having a sure-fire Hall of Fame general manager won't hurt recruiting efforts, although the bar is slightly higher here, with the Lions having posted a 115, 116, and 117th ranked class in the last 33 years and a handful of 3 star recruits, the most prominent of whom was Jeske.

And then there's the rumors swirling that Yeaton, himself already in the NBA Hall of Fame and currently sitting at home after a failed stint as head coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts, would welcome a chance to be reunited with Jestor, either as the recruiting coordinator or the first assistant.

The future's coming soon, but for now, let's say goodbye to the graduating seniors.

Graduating Seniors
PF Nathaniel Cannon
-Didn't start till his senior year. A one note rebounding specialist.
SG Russel Ard
-Sloppy ball-handling and passing kept him from starting. Had a magnificent 3 point stroke and shot 37.8% from long-range for his career.
C Derrick Cook
-3 year starter who averaged 12.2, 12.3 and 14 points. Never much of a rebounder, but a key scorer inside whose presence will be greatly missed. Went from being a lightly regarded 1* recruit to one of the team's top players.
SG Titus Williams
-Little-used scrub.

[Young Drachma]

Welcome aboard.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Welcome aboard.

Thanks.

[Izulde]

The Ivy League hasn't had much tournament success in the 21st century. Just two teams have made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, the 2013 Princeton Tigers and the 2018 Brown Bears, the latter under the direction of legendary head coach Klingler Ware.

The most successful postseason run, in fact, came from the 2019 Princeton Tigers, who made it the Final Four of the NIT and finished in third place.

Princeton and Penn dominated the Ivy League in the 2000s, winning every single league title until Brown in 2010. It was that '10 Bears title that signaled the end for the Tigers and Quakers. Princeton won just 2 titles in the '10s, while Penn would not win another conference championship until 2020.

In their place stepped Brown, who under Ware's leadership have captured 6 of the last 7 Ivy League titles and 11 overall championships since Ware was hired in 2014. Yet, despite that streak of dominance, only the 2018 team has advanced in the Big Dance, even with 8 classes in the Top 100, including a 37th ranked 2029 recruiting class that tied the 2000 Princeton class as the best in Ivy league history.

Izulde Jestor has a long way to go if he hopes to approach Ware's level, let alone of dreaming anything greater. How far a stretch? A glance at the team prestiges before the 2032-2033 season illustrates the point nicely.

Brown 	61
Dartmouth 43
Harvard 41
Penn 40
Princeton 37
Cornell 33
Yale 33
Columbia 25

A difficult journey, indeed and one that will start with the returning players from this season's abysmal campaign and outgoing coach David Given's last recruiting class. While we don't have information on the signees just yet, we can profile the returning players.

Returning Lions
SF Robbert Hammons (5th year senior)
Above average perimeter defender and not much else. Two year starter might end up sitting his senior year.
PG Andrew Block (5th year senior)
-Improved his floor generalship this season and could become a four year starter if there's no better options.
PG Emmanuel Nelson (Senior)
-Lions' leading scorer at 14.8 points per game in his first year as a starter. Was All-Ivy Freshman Team in 2030. A surefire starter at SG next year and a lock to become the 11th player in school history to break 1,000 points, as he has 908 right now. Could finish as high as 4th or 5th, surpassing teammate Derrick Cook, who graduates 6th in school history with 1,074 points.
PF Dudley Hill (RS Junior)
-Terrible ball skills and shooting have kept him an end-bench player. Look for more of the same next year.
C Carmelo Dehaven (RS Junior)
-Okay inside shot. Best value is free throw shooter and drawing fouls. Terrible at everything else, though. May see more time next year due to lack of options.
SF Forest Brogan (RS Junior)
-Not great at anything, but not terrible either. Will likely get a long look as the starting SF or the team's 6th man.
PG Larry Singleton (RS Junior)
-Lockdown defender who has been inexplicably ignored, despite looking not that much worse than Block. Should see many more minutes next year.
SF David Owens (RS Soph)
-Some stealing instincts, but by and large a body.
PF Mitch Sanders (RS Freshman)
-Redshirted. Looks unimpressive.
C Lincoln Koch (Soph)
If he can develop his inside shot and work on his handling a little more, he has a very good chance at starting after getting scant minutes his freshman year.
SG Larry Dyer (RS Freshman)
Redshirted, but can't play defense against anyone. Terrible passer, but has potential to be an explosive scorer.

Projected Lineup Going Into Summer
PG Andrew Block
SG Emmanuel Nelson*
SF Forest Brogan
PF Lincoln Koch
C Carmelo Dehaven

* - Lock, no matter what happens in camp or what the new freshmen look like.

All in all, it's looking an ugly situation for Jestor and the inability to trade makes the quick reversals the former GM was so famous for in the NBA an impossibility in the college landscape.

[Klinglerware]

I'll be following this one...

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

I'll be following this one...

Naturally, as this'll chronicle your continued Ivy dominance until I get things turned around.

Thanks, though.

[Izulde]

I've fired the entire coaching staff, which was composed of guys who either had no talent, were overpaid, or both. Plus, there's just something refreshing about bringing in my own guys.

The budget stands at $157,120 allotted for coaching salaries. That'll be good enough to recruit some quality coaches and hopefully start getting this program built up to the level it's capable of. Mateen Yeaton turned down my offer. Said he wants to stay at home and be a family man to his kids. That's fair and I suppose I shouldn't be hanging on to the past in any case.

I got my first look at the freshmen recently and I have to say, it's not a bad haul overall by the former coach.

PF Sylvester Kerns - Killingly HS - Danielson, CT
2* - #339 ranked player
Our post game is so weak that Kerns could conceivably start right away, depending on how training camp shakes out. Our facilities are rated a big fat 0, so redshirting won't do much good. Very good upside as a post defender and free throw shooter, though he isn't quite there yet. But at least he's a better defender and rebounder already than Carmelo Dehaven. We might go with a small post starting lineup, featuring Kerns at PF, Lincoln Koch at C.

SG Erich Walker - South River Senior HS - Edgewater, MD
2* - #451 ranked player
Already an absolute sniper from downtown and a great free throw shooter. Could be one of the country's elite from long-range by his senior year. Really needs work on his passing and handling and he's got the room to improve, so my guess is he'll get tagged with a redshirt. I think it's fair to say that he's Emmanuel Nelson's heir apparent. The one Achilles heel is his defense, but we'll work on that.

C Johnnie Briones - Jasper-Troupsburg HS - Jasper, NY
2* - #439 ranked player
Raw, raw, raw and only average upside across the board, with the exception of post defense, where he could be good. I won't redshirt him; instead, he'll spend his four years parked on the end of the bench. Thus far, the lone recruit worth his academic salt for an Ivy League school.

SG William Woods - Jonesville HS - Jonesville, MI
1* - #734 ranked player
Good upside as a 3 point shooter and perimeter defender. Also has intriguing potential passing ability and in fact rates as the team's best passer right now. The problem? His handling is bad. I'll probably tag him with a redshirt and see if he can't develop into a combo guard.

Projected Recruiting Needs
#1. Rebounders
#2. Inside and jump shooters
#3. Passers
#4. Post defenders

We only have 2 scholarships this year because PG Andrew Block is a walk-on. We're losing a PG, SG and SF. Our most critical areas are PG, SF, PF and C. The only area I feel comfortable with is SG, thanks to Walker. If I had to make a choice, I'd say we'll probably go for PG and a rebounding big man in recruiting. Although we don't have great options at SF, between Forest Brogan and David Owens, the latter of whom looks a lot better than I first thought, we'd be okay with them next year if we had to.

[Izulde]

It didn't take me long at all to fill out my coaching staff.

Charles Jones - Recruiting Coordinator
Charlie, as he prefers to be called, is a Colorado native who graduated from UNC-Greensboro. He's 38 and has built his rep as a coaching assistant on the defensive side of the ball. Thus far, he's worked at 7 different schools, with only Holy Cross lasting more than a season, where he stayed four years. I think he's got some latent talent as a recruiter, so I'm bringing him on in that capacity. He's never worked as the recruiter, so it'll be good experience for him and I think we can use the Massachusetts connections he made while at Holy Cross to our advantage. We were able to snap him up after Mercer fired its entire staff.

David Mahon - Scouting Director
Unlike Charlie, David's never seen a top assistant gig. Instead, he's split jobs between recruiting coordinator and scouting director. Spent two years at Mississippi Valley State as a scouting director for his first gig, then wandered for a while until three years at Nevada. But what's worrying is, this 44 year old Berwyn, IL native and Alcorn State alum has been fired the last three years in a row, and by himself. First Nevada fired him after three seasons, then Providence and Kentucky both fired him after a year. That kind of checkered history doesn't bode well for a recruiter, even though he's more talented at it than Charlie. So I told him he'll head up the scouting department and get a chance to resurrect his career.

Tony Falcone - Coaching Assistant
Tony was a huge, huge get. At 41, he's one of the brightest youngerish defensive minds in the business. He'll school our guys on defense while I train them on offense, which he admits he knows nothing about. Originally from Wyoming, he trekked out to Indiana State for his college education before snagging the assistant gig at North Carolina A&T. He spent 6 years there and in that time, A&T made two NITs and one NCAA appearance. Sure, the team lost in the first round, but the fact that he has tournament pedigree speaks volumes for him. We were lucky to pluck him from A&T, as he was happy down in North Carolina, but a huge payraise and the chance to compete in a higher prestige conference finally swayed him.

I'd call this a pretty good staff for my first season. Maybe these guys stick around a while, maybe they move on or get canned. We'll just have to see. But like I said, overall, I'm happy. In fact, I'd rate our staff overall equal to or better than anyone in the Ivy League, except for Brown and Dartmouth.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Maybe these guys stick around a while

Assistants hanging around? You must be new

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Radii

Assistants hanging around? You must be new

Yeah I know. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to see somebody steal one of my guys in the next round. :P I tried to overpay Falcone and Mahone to prevent that happening. If I lose Jones it'll be eh whatever.

[Izulde]

Lions Go 1-2 In November; Snag High School All-American

Basketball may soon supplant football as the most popular Columbia sport after the hoops Lions landed a High School All-American

There's an air of excitement around the Columbia University men's basketball team that began with the hiring of Izulde Jestor as head coach and has grown ever since then, as the Lions have had more success than first imagined.

First there was the preseason Coaches' Cup, an exhibition tournament where Columbia stunned Florida 76-65 and Central Michigan 75-63 in pool play despite being the lowest seed in the field. That pair of upsets earned the Lions the runner-up spot in their group and the right to advance to the elimination round, where they fell as expected to 93-33 to Notre Dame.

Then there was the season-opener, a 61-40 rout of Quinnipac before an enthused home crowd. Senior SG Emmanuel Nelson earned Player of the Game honors with 23 points and sophomore C Lincoln Koch put up a solid 8 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. The signs looked promising indeed.

But then Villanova trounced the Lions 73-52, Emmanuel Nelson's 18 points not enough and an 80-58 loss to undefeated St. Bonaventure followed, with Emmanuel Nelson's 22 points and RS sophomore SF David Owens's 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals gone to waste.

Worse yet, freshmen PF Sylvester Kerns and SG Erich Walker were placed on academic suspension at the end of the month and will be unavailable until January. Such tidings have been all too epidemic for the Lions in recent years, as the basketball program has flagrantly ignored the university's academic standards in favor of trying to lure on-court talent.

That all changed with the recent concordat signed by the university presidents of Columbia and Brown, whereby the two schools are implementing the following recruiting academic standards:

1. A recruit must have at least a 3.0 GPA if the SAT score is less than 1000
2. A recruit must have an SAT score of 1000 or better if the GPA is lower than 3.0
3. One recruit is allowed to be exempt from the minimums each year, but only if another recruit is signed with a 3.0+ GPA and a 1000+ SAT.

Columbia took advantage of their exemption early, signing High School All-American PG Tommie Brehm, from Williamsport Area High School in Williamsport, PA. Brehm, who has a 2.55 GPA and 980 SAT score, is also a Pennsylvania All-State player averaging 17.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.8 steals for the Millionaires. The Lions beat out Indiana, Missouri, DePaul and Dayton for his services.

"It's a dream come true", Brehm said when he signed his letter of intent, "The chance to get an education from one of the best schools in the country is something I couldn't pass up. I'm looking forward to helping bring the Lions to a new level of success and hope to make the Big Dance while I'm there."

Blessed with preternatural stealing ability, blazing quickness, and an already well-defined jump shot, Brehm figures to step in at one of the guard spots as a true freshman, with Nelson graduating after this season. Scouts say his passing is extremely raw, but that he has the potential to become one of the most gifted passers in the country with proper coaching and development.

Florida got revenge for the Coaches Cup pool loss by signing Connecticut All-State PF Warner Murphy from the Lions. Murphy, 6'7, 221 lbs, would've fulfilled the academic requirements to accommodate the 6'1, 195 lb Brehm's scholarship.

The blow proves a rather significant one, as it leaves Jestor with limited options to find a quality player who can fulfill the necessary qualifications for the other recruit, but the head coach said he has options to fall back on and he'd rather have Brehm and a lesser recruit than Murphy and someone else.

Still, all in all, things appear to be on the upswing at the Levien Gymnasium.

[Izulde]

We go 1-1 through the first 10 days of December. PG Andrew Block becomes the first player not named Emmanuel Nelson to lead us in scoring for a game as his 17 points and 5 assists help carry us to a thrilling 69-64 victory over UC-Santa Barbara. SF David Owens continues to justify his spot in the starting lineup, picking up 13 points and 5 steals against the Gauchos. SG Emmanuel Nelson still scored 10 points, though, and we got 13 bench points from Larry Singleton and 11 bench rebounds from Robert Hammons, a senior who's quite disappointed about being relegated to the reserves after two years as a starter.

But once again, no one but SG Emmanuel Nelson provided offense in our next game. Nelson's 17 points went to waste in a 62-49 loss to the currently 5-1 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. PG Andrew Block went trigger happy at 2/14 and reserve big man Carmelo Dehaven shot an abysmal 1/7. ...And to think my assistants want us to start Dehaven.

2-3 is a pretty damn good early start, considering we won 7 games last year, 13 the year before and 4 the year before that. In fact, as I've mentioned before, the last time Columbia was .500 was back in 2025, and it's 2033 now. To find a Lions squad with a winning record, you have to go all the way back to 2011. Yes, it's been 22 years since this school's had a winning season. And Columbia's never made the Big Dance. In fact, as previously mentioned, their only post season appearance was in 2003, when they lost in the preliminary round of the NIT.

Unfortunately, the Ivy League is off to a great non-conference start as a whole, as you can see.

 2033 Ivy League Standings

                                 W   L   Pct
----------------------------------------------
 Princeton                       5   0 1.000
 Brown                           5   1  .833
 Cornell                         5   2  .714
 Dartmouth                       5   2  .714
 Yale                            5   3  .625
 Pennsylvania                    3   1  .750
 Harvard                         4   3  .571
 Columbia                        2   3  .400

Klingler Ware's Brown squad's only loss thus just came at the hands of Santa Clara, a 73-55 road defeat.

How the hell is Princeton 5-0 right now, you ask? They rank #3 in the country with just 11.2 turnovers a game and have the #24 scoring offense at 80.2 points a contest. Of course, they also haven't beaten anybody really difficult in my opinion, their 35 RPI notwithstanding.

But if this hot start is any indication, these Tigers might be the best version since the 2025 squad that won 21 games and Princeton's last Ivy League title, even though they subsequently lost in the first round.

Oh and SF Forest Brogan sprained his knee, so he's going to be gimpy for about a week. Yet another problem on top of the two suspensions, but it could always be worse.

[Izulde]

88-81 Loss A Moral Victory

Although the Columbia Lions fell 88-81 to the Virginia Tech Hokies on the 13th, Lions head coach Izulde Jestor called it a moral victory, as C Lincoln Koch had a career game of 17 points and 11 rebounds and PF Dudley Hill picked up 11 points and 10 rebounds. SG Emmanuel Nelson scored 11 points, but was held to just 16 minutes due to foul trouble.

"The Hokies are 5-1 right now and they have what looks to be their best team in years", Jestor noted after the game. "Any time you can take an ACC school to that tough a fight, it's a good thing, especially since Sylvester Kerns is getting his academics sorted out."

Virginia Tech is arguably the ACC's worst team. They have just one winning record to their credit, a 15-14 season in 2008, when they went a school-best 7-11 in conference play. The Hokies have never made a postseason tournament of any kind, and their hot non-conference start might well be derailed come conference play.

[Izulde]

Izulde Jestor Abruptly Resigns Columbia Post

We've just received word that Columbia Lions head coach Izulde Jestor has resigned, effective immediately. No official reason as to why has emerged, although some speculate a strong difference of opinion with the administration. Jestor's basketball success and his coup in landing a High School All-American for the Lions' incoming class suggest that there should be no shortage of schools calling for his services. In fact, rumor has it that perennial powerhouse Arkansas is among the early suitors, along with Wyoming, Old Dominion, and San Jose State, the latter of whom has started the season 10-0.

[Izulde]

UNLV Reportedly Set To Hire Jestor

Not since the heyday of Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon have the Runnin' Rebels been serious national title contenders. Please note the irony of Arkansas being #1.

Although the rumor mill has been heavy that one-time Columbia head coach Izulde Jestor was headed to either Arkansas, Wyoming, Old Dominion, or San Jose State, recent reports have the hot young coach going to Sin City and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.

Anonymous sources say UNLV higher-ups, impressed with Jestor's body of work in leading the Lions to a 4-5 season start, including an upset of powerhouse St. John's and in signing High School All-American PG Tommie Brehm to the Ivy League institution, have made him their #1 target and enthusiastically wooed him.

College basketball insiders also say that Arkansas, while initially interested after Richard Dixon unexpectedly returned to North Carolina, were uncertain if Jestor was ready to take the reins of a Razorback team that has made it to the Elite 8 in 6 of the last 7 seasons, with four NCAA title game appearances, including the last three straight championships, losing all four tries at a ring. The Razorbacks are currently ranked #6 in the country.

San Jose State, another rumored contender, is extremely happy with alum Korey Roos's body of work in his two seasons with the Spartans, including an impressive 24-4 record this year, and a perfect 15-0 home mark.

The University of Wyoming brass expected an NCAA bid this season, but the Cowboys have stumbled their way to a 13-16 season, 3-10 in the Mountain West and it's believed Jestor has no interest in joining a school whose administration has such unrealistic expectations.

Old Dominion hoped to compete for the CAA title, but under first year head coach Don Dye, the Monarchs went 10-19, a pedestrian 9-9 in conference play. Worse yet, Dye, who is the worst recruiter in all of college basketball, has only signed a single 1-star recruit. Thus, the future looks bleak in Norfolk, despite ODU's eagerness to replace the disappointing Dye with a proven recruiting master.

All of which leaves the Runnin' Rebels, who won the Mountain West regular season title this year with a 21-6 (11-2) showing. Head coach Harold Nunez is well-regarded by UNLV officials, having guided the Runnin' Rebels to an NIT and NCAA appearance his first two years in Vegas, and with a 23rd-best RPI, is a lock to take his team to the Big Dance for the second year in a row.

But neither of his previous Runnin' Rebels outfits have gotten out of the first round and with UNLV's two best players, C Rocco Lammers and PG Davis Booker, to graduate after this season, Nunez looks a good bet to parley his Vegas success into a job at a one of the truly elite conferences, the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, C-USA, Pac-10, or the SEC.

[Izulde]

It's Official: Jestor Hired As Runnin' Rebels Coach

New UNLV head coach Izulde Jestor is expected to have no shortage of options for a quality personal assistant

After Harold Nunez took the job at Tulsa, the UNLV administration had just one phone call to place, to former Columbia head coach Izulde Jestor. Jestor immediately accepted the job offer and is now headed to Sin City to try and restore the Runnin' Rebels to elite national status.

Jestor inherits a squad that went 23-8 (12-2) and won the Mountain West Conference regular season title, earning an NCAA tournament bid before falling in the second round. Since the 2000 season, the Runnin' Rebels have only made the NCAA Sweet 16 twice, in 2008 and 2015, losing both times. They've had greater success in the NIT, making it to the championship game in 2000 and 2014, and finishing in third place in 2017.

UNLV has a 697-432 (61.7%) record since 2000, with 21 seasons of 20+ wins, including consecutive 23 win seasons the last two years under Nunez. The Runnin' Rebels have made 16 NCAA appearances and 11 NIT appearances, meaning they've failed to make the postseason just six times in the last 33 years. They also have four Mountain West regular season titles (2015, 2023, 2026, 2033) and five Mountain West conference tournament titles (2008, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2026). Other tournament championships include the 2018 Las Vegas Invitational and the 2024 San Juan Classic. The school record for victories in a season since 2000 is 30, achieved by the 2015 squad that made it to the Sweet 16 before losing.

With just two seniors and only one returning starter who might lose his starting job in redshirt sophomore SF Edward Heisler, the Runnin' Rebels look to be a very young team destined for a rebuilding season. The athletic director, alumni, and fans still expect the team to compete for the Mountain West title, however.

But that may be a problem, as several of the key Runnin' Rebels players are known for their disregard of the books, which could lead to academic suspensions throughout the year.

Overall, it appears that Jestor has stepped into a situation that will take two or three seasons to get turned around into the type of team he prefers. UNLV lacks size and rebounding talent in the post and have no legitimate point guards other than Juco transfer Rufino Sanchez, an academic non-qualifier out of high school.

Compare this to Tulsa, Nunez's digs, which won a national title in 2020 and has several Elite and Final Four appearances, the most recent in 2027 and 2024 respectively. In fact, the Golden Hurricane have only failed to appear in the postseason twice since 2000, a disastrous two-year stretch in 2003 and 2004. With a #7 preseason ranking, the pressure will be high on Nunez to deliver Tulsa its second national title with a squad led by senior All-American SF David Child.

But first up for Jestor's Runnin' Rebel restoration project is to assemble a coaching staff.

[Izulde]

Jestor Fills Staff; Runnin' Rebels Headed To Top of the World Invitational

Although UNLV head coach Izulde Jestor missed out on two of his initial targets for his assistants, he landed his top choice for first assistant, journeyman Eric Fruge. Fruge, 47, is known as an excellent offensive mind with some defensive ability as well. Along with Jestor's tactical and teaching knowledge on offense, the Runnin' Rebels should have one of the most fun offenses in the country.

Andrew Bonnell, another journeyman and 41, takes over as the recruiting coordinator and represents a slight upgrade over the previous coach, while 49 year old Thomas Porter, who unlike the other two coaches is a long-term man, having 6 years at Monmouth before 3 years in Southern Utah, and 6 years back East with Siena, now returns West as the director of scouting.

"I planned to stay out East for the rest of my career", Bonnell revealed, "But when Jestor called to with an offer doubling my salary, it was back to the Rocky Mountain region I went. It should be an exciting experience and opportunity as we gun for the NCAA tournament."

Bonnell was an interesting hire, given that most of his contacts are in the South, as a South Florida alum and assistant gigs all in that region, save for a year in St. Louis, although he is a native of Englewood, CO. Fruge has traveled all across the country in his years of wandering and is no doubt hoping for stability in Sin City.

In other news, the Runnin' Rebels have been offered and will be accepting an invitation to participate in the Top of the World Invitational, where they'll be the 4 seed. UNLV has played the preseason tournament in 2011, 2021, losing in the first round by 1 and 2 points respectively. They'll be hoping for better results this third time, more like the 2018 Las Vegas Invitational and the 2024 San Juan Classic, both of which they won.

[Izulde]

Jestor's Recruiting Magic Fails; Rebels 1-2 To Start Season

The Thomas & Mack Center has not seen UNLV go 1-2 in its first three games because the Top of the World Invitational is not played there

For all the magic UNLV Rebels head coach Izulde Jestor managed in recruiting for Columbia, none of that has been present in the desert. Aggressively recruiting Nevada's Mr. Basketball, High School All-American SG Lino Chrisman turned into a failure, as he committed to USC. With just one scholarship, it's imperative that Jestor find the right player and it's believed he's already latched on to a new target.

2-3 was an impressive start for Columbia, but going 1-2 at UNLV, even on the road, has some Rebels fans grumbling. The season started fantastically with a 94-65 demolishing of the Ohio Bobcats in the first round of the Top of the World Invitational, keyed by juco transfer Ruffino Sanchez's 24 points and 11 assists, fifth year senior Ricky Irwin's 20 points and 10 rebounds, and redshirt freshman Val Gavin's 11 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.

But then the #5 ranked Kansas Jayhawks clawed the Rebels 97-77 in the next round, redshirt sophomore Charlie Schubert's 22 points the lone highlight. The loss was crippling, leading to the fatigue that was largely cited as the reason why Creighton topped the Rebels 79-71 in the consolation bracket. The Jayhawks went on to win the tournament, whipping Georgia Tech 87-58 in the final.

Early indications are that it'll be a long first season for Jestor. At best, the Rebels look NIT-bound, but there's still a lot of games to be played.

[Izulde]

Rebels Start 3-0 At Home; Go To 4-2 On the Year*

Home cooking and cheerleaders have the Runnin' Rebels racing out to a 3-0 home start

Savannah State, North Florida, and North Dakota State are not anybody's idea of a good program, although the Tigers of Savannah State are close to a .500 record on the season. But for a UNLV fanbase disgruntled by a 1-2 road start, they'll take the three straight home wins.

The chain commenced with the 75-58 triumph over the Tigers, led by Ricky Irwin's 23 points. Irwin struck again in the 76-44 laugher over North Florida with a game high 21 points, joined in the attack by Charlie Schubert's 20 points and Val Gavin's monster rebounding performance of 23 boards to go with his 10 points. It was Irwin yet again as the leader with 22 points in the breezy 78-35 smackdown of the Bison, the Runnin' Rebels holding North Dakota State players all under 10 points. 8 was the NDSU high, shared by the all true-freshman backcourt of Horst Kirmer and Corey Kelly.

* - I miswrote in the previous article that we were 1-2 at home, because I didn't understand the schedule at first. I've made slight edits to correct the error.

[Izulde]

Runnin' Fast: Rebels Extend Win Streak To 6 Games

Fifth year senior walk-on Ricky Irwin has been a revelation in his first season as a starter

And just like that, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels have raced from 1-2 to 7-2, surviving a scare at home to stay unbeaten at the Thomas and Mack Center before securing two East road wins.

Western Michigan came to Las Vegas hoping to pull off the upset and nearly did so before Broncos redshirt junior Lou Parker fouled UNLV true freshman guard Daniel Duda with 22 seconds left and the score 80-79 WMU. Duda converted both free throws and the Rebels made the stop on the other end to preserve the victory and the streak. Redshirt sophomore Charlie Schubert was the game's high scorer with 22 points for the Rebels.

Then it was on to Lafayette to face the Leopards, where the other half of UNLV's 1-2 punch, redshirt senior walk on Rickey Irwin, put up 26 points to carry the Rebels to a 74-68 win.

Charlie Schubert and Rickey Irwin were both on form in the Rebels' latest win, an 85-71 stroll over the Maine Black Bears. Schubert led with 21 points, Irwin right behind him with 20. UNLV reserve forward James Barksdale keyed the bench with 10 points.

Thus far, Schubert is averaging 16.9 points and shooting an impressive 57.1%, while Irwin's 19.2 points and 5.6 rebounds are tops in scoring and second on the team in boards per game, despite playing the off-guard spot. Irwin is also shooting 45% from the floor, 40% from long-range.

"We fully expected Charlie to be one of our top players", Rebels head coach Izulde Jestor said. "But Rickey's emergence has been a real revelation. It's a great story, a kid who walked on here, redshirted his first season, played some as a redshirt freshman, then saw his minutes cut in half as a sophomore. But he didn't let that get him down and became a key reserve for the team last year, and now he's leading the entire Mountain West in scoring."

[Izulde]

A Triple Dose of Bad News

Oakland University ended UNLV's 9 game win streak

For three more games, the Rebels kept running to wins, but then a trip to Oakland, CA ended the streak as leading scorer Ricky Irwin had his worst game of the season.

UNLV stayed unbeaten at home with wins over winless Northern Colorado (82-41), Yale (81-52), and also winless South Dakota State (75-53) riding their usual tandem of Irwin and Charlie Schubert. Irwin scored 30 in the Yale game and Schubert double-doubled for 17 points and 11 rebounds against South Dakota State. Balanced offense carried the Rebels against Northern Colorado, signified by reserve sophomore PG Emmett Mayes's 11 bench points.

But then the Oakland Golden Grizzlies made inhospitable hosts, holding Irwin to a season-low 5 points on 2 for 10 shooting in a 70-61 upset.

Despite the loss, UNLV is tied with TCU for the Mountain West lead with a 10-3 overall record. New Mexico stand a half-game behind at 9-3. Mountain West play starts next game for the Rebels, on January 6th, when they put their perfect record at the Thomas and Mack Center on the line against 8-6 Colorado State.

The Oakland loss wasn't the only bad news awaiting Rebels head coach Izulde Jestor as the calendar year ended. True freshman power forward Darrell Jenkins was declared academically ineligible for the rest of the season after fall semester grades came out. Jenkins, a reserve, was averaging 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds on 56.5% shooting in 7.5 minutes a game.

"It's a disappointing situation", Jestor said. "Obviously, we're very disappointed in Darrell's failure to get it done in the classroom and he's disappointed in himself as well. We'll work with him to make sure he brings his grades back to an acceptable level and restores his eligibility for next season."

And then come the last bit of bad news. Prep point guard Danilo Edwards, a 5'9 High School All-American and Washington State Mr. Basketball, committed to Boise State, spurning UNLV's offer and handing Jestor his second strikeout of the recruiting season.

To make matters worse, California's Mr. Basketball, SG Junior Mansfield, widely believed to be the Rebels' next target if Edwards fell through, committed to Mountain West foe Air Force.

Jestor refused to comment on the losses, saying only that the team was exploring other options for their lone scholarship.

[Izulde]

What We've Learned About Jestor's Runnin' Rebels
Jackson Ayorinde - Las Vegas Sun

Two games into the Mountain West season is far too early to draw conclusions, of course. But the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, in head coach Izulde Jestor's first season, should be okay. They blew out Colorado State 94-59 on Ricky Irwin's 33 points and finally lost at home, a tough 70-66 decision to Air Force, stealers of Junior Mansfield, to go 1-1 in the first two conference games.

The Rams and Falcons both keyed in on Charlie Schubert, daring Irwin to beat them. He did against CSU, but was just 4/16 against Air Force, the bulk of his 21 points coming on free throws in the loss. Schubert, meanwhile, struggled in both games, and his 5 for 15 performance against Air Force was a big reason for the defeat against one of the conference's mid-tier teams.

That result paints a scary picture for next season. Without Irwin to lead the team, there's a disturbing lack of scorers outside of Schubert and that's trouble for the offense.

Which leads us to the second disturbing sign for the future. Jestor, who won the UNLV job largely on the basis of his convincing High School All-American Tommie Brehm to play for Columbia, has struck out with every single recruit he's gone after for the sole open scholarship. Granted, it's only two players and his third option fell through before he could pursue, but it's still giving the lie to his reputation.

I spoke to Danilo Edwards, who chose Boise State over UNLV, after he made his decision and he shed some light on why Jestor is having such problems attracting players to the desert.

"When I heard about how he quit at Columbia five games into the season last year, that really worried me, you know? It's like, if the coach flaked out once, what's going to stop him from doing it again? The coach is a big reason why you go to a school and if you can't trust he's going to be there, that's a huge red flag", Edwards told me.

So until Jestor proves to prospective players that he's as fully committed to UNLV as he says he is, he's going to have trouble on the recruiting trail. The Runnin' Rebels faithful can only hope one season is all he needs. Otherwise, the postseason appearances will end and we'll be further than ever from the glory days of the early 1990s.

Speaking of Brehm, he's fitting in pretty well in the Big Apple. He's captured a starting spot as a true freshman and leads the Lions in minutes per game at 29. He's first in team steals with 1.8 and third in team scoring at 9.9 points a game and was Player of the Game with a season 17 high points in a 75-59 win over Stony Brook on December 8th. Columbia's 8-6 on the season, on pace for their first winning season in 23 years.

In other news, former Rebels head coach Harold Nunez has the #21 ranked Tulsa Golden Hurricane with a 13-3 record, 1-0 in Conference USA play following a defensive 53-35 win over Southern Mississippi. The fans and the athletic department view Tulsa as a national title contender, so if Nunez continues his usual pattern of early postseason exits at Binghamton, San Francisco, and UNLV, the 69 year old could opt for retirement sooner than he expected.

At this point, Jestor has to hope for a solid recruit commitment and for the team to challenge for the Mountain West crown this season, as per expectations. Winning the regular season title seems a long shot with New Mexico jumping out to a 4-0 start by beating Utah, BYU, San Diego State, and Colorado State, but if the Rebels can beat the Lobos in tomorrow night's game in Albuquerque, that could jump-start another long winning streak to put UNLV back in the Mountain West title conversation.

The good news: The Horned Frogs, who tied with UNLV for the best non-conference record at 10-3, have started conference play 0-2, and are currently dead last in the league.

[Izulde]

University of New Mexico Lobos 13-3 (4-0)


University of Nevada-Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels 11-4 (1-1)*
* - UNLV plays TCU in a Mountain West game before New Mexico

The University of New Mexico Lobos will put their 4-0 Mountain West conference record on the line against the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV on January 15th. The Rebels will either be 2-1 or 1-2 conference play following their game against TCU and a win for UNLV vs. the Horned Frogs could give this matchup important MWC title implications.

New Mexico is the best shooting team in the Mountain West at 46.5% from the floor, 38.5% from long-range. The conference is a high-scoring one, hence why despite having the 33rd best points scored per game in the country at 76.6, the Lobos only ranked third in the Mountain West. Defense is a weak point for the Lobos, 7th in the conference and 252nd in the nation.

SG Emmanuel Williams (RS Sr) and SF Daniel Houghton (RS Jr) lead the New Mexico attack with 14.5 points and 13.8 points a game respectively, good for 7th and 9th in Mountain West scoring. C Sidney Semple (Jr) is perhaps the Lobos' best player, however, averaging 9.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and a block per game. He's #1 in the Mountain West and #4 in the country in rebounds per game and tied for 8th in the conference rejections. PG Micah Mathewson (Jr) is 9th in the nation in assists per game with 7.2, and tops in the MWC. He's also 3rd in the conference in A/TO ratio at 3.38.

UNLV has been living up to its Runnin' Rebels moniker, #1 in the conference and 21st overall in points per game at 78. They also rank 9th in the nation in offensive rebounds (14.9 a game) and fewest turnovers surrendered (10.9). In a more obscure category, the Rebels are 6th in the country in FT differential (9.9%) and are first in the Mountain West in every differential category except steals (3rd), blocks (8th), and fouls (last and an abysmal 288th nationwide).

SG Ricky Irwin (RS Sr) is UNLV's most important point producer and the Mountain West's top scorer at 19.8 points a game, good for 24th in the country. PF Charlie Schubert (RS So) gives the Rebels two of the top five scorers in the conference, ranking 5th at 15.6 points a game. C Val Gavin (RS Fr) patrols the blocks down low for UNLV, his 11.1 rebounds #3 in the MWC. PG Rufino Sanchez (Jr) is 5th in the Mountain West in assists per game at 4.8 and 2nd in A/TO ratio at 3.43.

Look for New Mexico to try and grind the game down to a halt and take away UNLV's high-flying, fast-paced offense. If the Lobos can limit the Runnin' Rebels possessions and milk the shot clock when in possession themselves before shooting, New Mexico's accuracy should enable them to remain unbeaten in the Mountain West.

"We're having a great season", said Lobos head coach Brant Nicholas. "We struggled last year, but we're hitting on all cylinders now and have our sights set on winning the conference and getting to the NCAA Tournament."

Nicholas has to be extremely pleased with his team's performance so far this season. He was feeling the heat in Albuquerque after a 14-17 campaign last year and an 18-15 first round NIT loss his first season with the Lobos, taking over a team that'd made it to the second round of the NCAAs the year before.

[Izulde]

3 Point Loss To TCU Mars Victory Over New Mexico

The Horned Frogs stopped the Runnin' Rebels in Fort Worth

"We were probably looking ahead and we just couldn't hit anything tonight."

That was the only thing UNLV Runnin' Rebels head coach Izulde Jestor would say after his team suffered a heartbreaking 83-80 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs. On a night when the Rebels shot just 35.7% from the floor, it was only fitting the game ended on 6th man Emmett Mayes's rim-clanging 3 point attempt.

The loss took a lot of the pleasure out of UNLV's 90-77 road win against the Lobos, keyed by Ricky Irwin's 20 points, Charlie Schubert's 13 points and 10 rebounds and junior reserve James Barksdale's 13 points in 15 minutes. UNLV also beat Mountain West doormat Utah 72-65 to go 2-1 through January 20th.

So with 11 days and 3 more games to go in January, the Mountain West standings look like this:

2034 Mountain West Conference Standings

 TEAM                CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 New Mexico           4   2  .667  13   5  .722   44        70      
 Brigham Young        4   2  .667  12   8  .600   10        57      
 Air Force            3   2  .600  10   7  .588  128        69      
 UNLV                 3   2  .600  13   5  .722   98        73      
 San Diego State      3   2  .600  10   9  .526  119        87      
 Texas Christian      2   3  .400  12   6  .667   82        56      
 Wyoming              2   3  .400   9   8  .529  126        57      
 Colorado State       2   4  .333  10  10  .500   41        45      
 Utah                 1   4  .200   6  12  .333  317        54      

There's still plenty of opportunity for UNLV to capture the regular season crown, but they'll need to show the sort of form that carried them to a 9 game winning streak in non-conference play.

[Izulde]

This is me beating my head against a brick wall.

I can live with being 4-4 in conference after an 85-76 home loss to Wyoming despite Ricky Irwin's 22 points, a 70-65 road loss to BYU and a 67-42 Colorado State road win on Charlie Schubert's 19 points and 7 rebounds and Emmett Mayes's 14 bench points. Even when that puts us 6th of 9 teams in the Mountain West.

What I can't handle is ANOTHER damned recruit saying, "Sorry, Coach. That Columbia thing still scares me." So where does Mr. Colorado All-State SF Gregory Victoria go? Cal-State Northridge. Sure they made the NCAA tournament last year, but it was a one and done. A few years ago they got to the second round, but the Matadors aren't going to make it two in a row this year. Not when they're 8-12 (3-5). Unless they pull off some sort of conference tournament miracle.

A miracle we ourselves might need soon, as we're not on the Bubble Watch and 14-7 (4-4) with an RPI of #118 is NIT material, if that. I just hope we have an excellent February and do well in our remaining 9 games, 8 of which are in the Mountain West.

We should at least beat currently 0-23 Winston-Salem State.

[Izulde]

I once again updated the 1-2 UNLV post, because I forgot we played in the Top of the World Invitational and those games are from that tournament.

[Izulde]

Horned Frogs Sweep With Another Heartbeaker
Two straight home losses first non-tournament losing streak for UNLV this season

TCU senior C Clay Gilreath has been a Rebel-slayer this season

You wouldn't expect a 6'7, 239 pound center to be dominant. And for the most part, TCU Horned Frogs starter Clay Gilreath hasn't been. But at 6'9, 211 pounds, UNLV Rebels redshirt freshman starter Val Gavin is too raw, too slender and too inexperienced to contend with the senior. That mismatch has cost UNLV two critical Mountain West games this season.

In the 83-80 loss in Fort Worth, Gilreath won Player of the Game with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. And in an even more sickening 89-87 second bout at the Thomas & Mack Center, Gilreath again took top honors with a career high 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks.

"We just had no answer for him", said a morose Izulde Jestor after the game. "We didn't last time and we didn't tonight. I'm just glad he's a senior and we won't see him next year."

Despite being outplayed, Gavin netted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds to go with Ricky Irwin's 21 points and 10 rebounds and 6th man Emmett Mayes's 10 bench points.

The defeat was even more demoralizing, coming as it did on the heels of UNLV's 96-88 home loss to mediocre San Diego State despite Ricky Irwin's 26 points and senior bench big Robert Beauregard's 10 points and 7 rebounds.

"It's frustrating", Gavin told reporters after the TCU game. "We should have a winning season, but we're 4-6 in the conference right now and not where we should be. I didn't play defense tonight and that's why we lost. It's all on me."

Following those two losses, the Runnin' Rebels 70-29 scrimmage over still-winless Winston-Salem State seemed both anti-climatic and unable to give a suddenly struggling basketball team any relief. Senior star Ricky Irwin nearly beat the Rams by himself with a game-high 25 points.

The Mountain West Standings as of February 10th:

 TEAM                CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 New Mexico           7   4  .636  17   7  .708   51        70      
 Texas Christian      7   4  .636  17   7  .708   47        56      
 Brigham Young        7   4  .636  15  10  .600   15        57      
 Air Force            6   4  .600  14   9  .609  121        69      
 San Diego State      6   5  .545  13  12  .520  103        87      
 Wyoming              5   5  .500  12  11  .522  119        57      
 UNLV                 4   6  .400  15   9  .625  164        73      
 Utah                 3   8  .273   8  16  .333  299        54      
 Colorado State       3   8  .273  11  14  .440   78        45    

[Izulde]

Runnin' Rebels To Face Hated TCU For Third Time This Season

Can UNLV finally break the Horned Frogs hex?

Mention TCU to UNLV head coach Izulde Jestor and watch as his skin reddens and the veins bulge in his head.

"I hate those guys. I hate them even worse than the school up north, Minnesota, or Yale right now. That's how much I want to knock them out."

Knock them out of the Mountain West conference tournament that is.

The Runnin' Rebels lost both games to TCU this season by close scores. 83-80 in Fort Worth and 89-87 in Las Vegas. And now, after UNLV went 3-3 in their last six conference games to narrowly avoid having to fight through the play-in game by finishing 7th in the conference, again draws the 2 seed Horned Frogs in the conference tournament opener.

"Obviously we want to beat these guys, because if we lose, that's it. My college days are done and maybe my playing days too", said senior Ricky Irwin, who won the Mountain West scoring title by averaging 19.7 points a game.

"So we have to find a way to finally get it done."

On the Recruiting Trail

For the umpteenth time this season, a recruit said no to Jestor. SG Arthur Davis, a 3* prospect from Los Banos, CA, informed UNLV that he'll be going to Pacific instead, further extending what some Rebels fans have taken to calling the Columbia Curse, after Danilo Edwards's public statement that he rejected the Runnin' Rebels based on Jestor's too-brief tenure with Columbia University last season.

Jestor vehemently refused to comment on the continued lack of success and one can only hope he manages to reel in someone, anyone, with the single scholarship the Rebels have had available all year long.

Final Regular Season Mountain West Standings

 TEAM                CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Texas Christian     10   5  .667  20   8  .714   37        56      
 Air Force           10   6  .625  18  11  .621   95        69      
 Wyoming              9   7  .563  16  13  .552   90        57      
 Brigham Young        8   7  .533  16  13  .552   28        57      
 San Diego State      8   7  .533  15  14  .517   93        87      
 New Mexico           8   8  .500  18  11  .621   69        70      
 UNLV                 7   9  .438  18  12  .600  145        73      
 Utah                 6   9  .400  11  17  .393  289        54      
 Colorado State       4  12  .250  12  18  .400  123        45      

Don't ask me how TCU got screwed with a 2 seed when they won the regular season title, because it was Air Force who got the #1 seed in the tournament

[Izulde]

Rebels In NIT After MWC Tournament Heartbreaker

UNLV fans celebrate after finally conquering the TCU menace.

The third time was the charm.

After two agonizing, so close you can taste it losses to the TCU Horned Frogs, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels finally beat the beast. And they slayed Texas Christian in the most impressive manner possible, slaughtering the Horned Frogs 88-66.

Ricky Irwin was his usual great self with 21 points, but on a night when Charlie Schubert was cold all game long and just 1 for 7, it was junior college transfer Rufino Sanchez who stepped up with the game of his life, scoring 23 points with 5 assists to ensure there would be no TCU threepeat.

Then it was on to face the New Mexico Lobos, where an all-too familiar story played out in the semi-finals. Ricky Irwin scored an amazing 32 points, but the Rebels fell just short of giving him the support he needed and UNLV lost by a single point, 83-82.

That loss left the Runnin' Rebels at 19-13 (7-9) and playing a long waiting game. The NCAA tournament was clearly out of reach, but the NIT was still a possibility.

And that possibility became reality after head coach Izulde Jestor got the call that UNLV was invited to the NIT as the 5 seed in the East Region, where they'll play 4 seed Bradley in the opener.

"We knew we would make either the CBI or CIT for certain, because it's the first year of those tournaments, but to me, there's only two postseason tournaments and that's the NCAAs and the NIT. So for us to make it into the NIT, especially with all the ups and downs we've had this year, it's a great feeling", Jestor said.

Irwin, the Mountain West scoring champion, was also pleased.

"I'm happy that my college career doesn't end here and that we'll be going on to the NIT. We should have been able to beat New Mexico, but we just need to put that behind us and concentrate on bringing home the NIT championship", he said.

Bradley, UNLV's NIT opponent, was 18-13 (12-6) in the Missouri Valley this season. Ball distribution is the Braves' hallmark on offense, as their 18.4 assists a game rank 10th in the nation. Defense will be a huge concern for the Braves, as they have one of the worst in the country, giving up 74.1 points a game, ranked all the way down at 323rd. That's a positive sign for the run and gun Rebels.

SF Eric Pena, a sophomore from Seward, Alaska, is Bradley's greatest offensive threat and the Braves' leading scorer at 15.6 points a game. He'll be matched up against UNLV's best defensive player, sophomore SF Edward Heisler and the outcome of that battle will go a long way to determining who wins the game.

[Izulde]

What A Difference A Season Makes

UNLV opened Mountain West play with a home win against Utah

UNLV's 2033-34 season ended in an ugly first round NIT loss to the Bradley Braves, an 86-74 defeat in which the Runnin' Rebels looked out of sync and nothing like a team that had won 19 games.

The season awards were bittersweet, UNLV's considerable representation ringing hollow after the anticlimactic conclusion to the year. But the Rebels' faithful could take some solace in the Mountain West announcements.

2033-34 UNLV Mountain West Awards
SG Ricky Irwin (SR) - Mountain West All-Conference 1st Team
PF Charlie Schubert (RS SO) -Mountain West All-Conference 2nd Team
SF Edward Heisler (RS SO) - Mountain West All-Conference 1st Team
C Val Gavin (RS FR) - Mountain West All-Freshman Team, Mountain West Freshman of the Year

Final 2033-34 Recruiting
Head coach Izulde Jestor's recruiting woes finally ended with getting 2* SG James Nall, from San Dieguito High Academy in Encinitas, CA. Still, it was a crushing disappointment to have the #641st ranked player as the lone addition

The Initial 2034-2035 Outlook
Gone was Ricky Irwin, the surprise star of the year before. James Nall refused to redshirt, even though he was clearly one of the team's most raw players. The general consensus was that the Runnin' Rebels would rely on Charlie Schubert to be the main sparkplug on offense and that UNLV would take a step back despite returning four starters.

Starting Lineup
PG Rufino Sanchez (SR)*
SG Emmett Mayes (JR)
SF Edward Heisler (RS JR)*
PF Charlie Schubert (RS JR)*
C Val Gavin (RS SO)*

* - Returning starter

The 2034-35 Non-Conference Season
UNLV tore through the bulk of its non-conference schedule, running out a 9-1 record before opening conference play. More surprising than the Runnin' Rebels blazing pace, however, was the emergence of SF Edward Heisler as arguably the team's main offensive weapon. He led UNLV in scoring in a number of early games, including 19 points in the Rebels' massive 89-85 upset of then Top 25-ranked St. John's in New York, the biggest victory in Izulde Jestor's career.

But Heisler has not done it alone. PG Rufino Sanchez emerged as a true floor general who could also score, C Val Gavin looked closer and closer to a double-double machine and SG Emmett Mayes showed flashes of reprising Ricky Irwin's scoring genius.

Yet, the real test would come with conference play. Things looked a bit shaky when UNLV just barely beat Utah 69-63 at the Thomas and Mack Center to start things off. PF Charlie Schubert led the way with 19 points, but it was C Val Gavin who won Player of the Game with a terrific 14 point, 16 rebound effort. After the Rebels were beaten soundly, 109-95 by the San Diego State Aztecs, albeit on the road, some talk began that UNLV was once again headed for a sub-par Mountain West season.

Fortunately, the Rebels bounced back to crush Colorado State 92-60, due mainly to Rufino Sanchez's 21 points and go to 2-1. They then followed that with an 82-65 win over South Dakota State, Sanchez high scorer again with 18 points, allowing UNLV to move to 13-2 on the year.

That last pair of victories finally propelled UNLV into the Top 25 for the first time in Izulde Jestor's coaching career.

2035 Mountain West Conference Standings

 TEAM                CW  CL    Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #5 Wyoming           4   0  1.000  16   1  .941  110        56      
 New Mexico           3   1   .750  13   5  .722  108        70      
 San Diego State      3   1   .750  14   3  .824   78        80      
 #23 UNLV             2   1   .667  13   2  .867   65        68      
 Brigham Young        2   1   .667   8   8  .500   49        58      
 Utah                 1   2   .333  13   3  .813  139        52      
 Air Force            1   3   .250   8   9  .471   98        69      
 Texas Christian      0   4   .000   7  10  .412  195        61      
 Colorado State       0   3   .000   5  10  .333   44        43      

The Mountain West once again looks like a solid conference and UNLV will have to prove that they're once again worthy of being called one of the nation's better teams.

On the Recruiting Trail
It's been rough going for Izulde Jestor again on the recruiting trail. C Tony Vineyard, a Reno, NV native, committed to St. Mary's, SF William Dryer from Eugene, OR went to Oregon, and C Odell Hodge, Utah's Mr. Basketball, chose BYU over UNLV despite Jestor's pointing out that Las Vegas is a strong Mormon town.

But even with all these defeats, at least one of the team's three scholarships will be filled with a quality player. Arizona All-State SG Charles Irvin, a 6'1, 172 lb prospect out of Estrella High School in Avondale, AZ, signed with the Rebels two months ago. A high 3*/low 4* prospect, Irvin is ranked the 128th best prospect in the country and the West's #3 SG. More importantly, Jestor recruited him away from Arizona State, angering the Sun Devils, who appeared to have him all but locked up.

Jestor's triumph in landing Irvin could be the sign that the Columbia Curse is finally over. Although the chances of finding two more key players with the remaining scholarships seems slim, at least there's hope Jestor can recruit as well as he did during his aborted season with the Lions.

To illustrate just how huge a get Irvin is, the next best ranking to his #128 ranking on the UNLV roster is senior 6th man James Barkdale, ranked #155 out of high school. The top starter is Edward Heisler, who was ranked #193 in his class.

Current Stats

#23 UNLV  Averages

 Player              Pos  GP  GS   Min   Pts  Orb   Reb  Ast  Stl  Blk   To  Fls   +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Charlie Schubert     PF  15  15  30.9  14.4  1.9   6.1  1.7  0.8  0.9  1.3  2.3  22.5
 Rufino Sanchez       PG  15  15  32.3  14.2  1.3   4.1  5.7  1.0  0.0  2.0  2.9  16.9
 Edward Heisler       SF  15  15  28.3  13.4  2.7   7.6  2.1  1.3  0.8  1.6  2.0  16.1
 Emmett Mayes         SG  15  15  26.0  12.7  0.8   2.8  3.3  0.8  0.3  1.9  3.0  13.6
 James Barksdale      SF  15   0  16.3  10.2  1.2   3.3  1.5  0.7  0.0  1.1  2.3  12.1
 Val Gavin             C  15  15  30.7   8.2  4.5  10.8  2.3  0.4  0.2  1.2  2.1  17.7
 Daniel Duda          SG  15   0  12.0   5.1  0.3   1.1  1.1  0.7  0.0  0.6  1.7   4.7
 Darrell Jenkins      PF  15   0  14.6   4.9  1.4   2.9  0.5  0.1  0.4  0.3  1.8   3.1
 Chris Champlin       PF  14   0   3.7   1.4  0.1   0.7  0.0  0.1  0.1  0.2  0.4  -0.4
 Matthew Cowgill      SG   9   0   2.2   0.9  0.1   0.1  0.0  0.2  0.0  0.1  0.1  -1.2
 Marcus Simmons        C   3   0   2.0   0.7  0.0   0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.3  -0.7
 James Govan          PG  13   0   4.2   0.5  0.0   0.0  0.3  0.2  0.1  0.2  0.4   1.7
 Michael Carrillo     SF   2   0   1.0   0.0  0.0   0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0   0.5
 Marlon Ludwig         C   0   0   0.0   0.0  0.0   0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0   0.0
 James Nall           SG   0   0   0.0   0.0  0.0   0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0   0.0

[SirFozzie]

Nice to see something I started way back when still going strong

Foz

Ex FOFC FBCB commish

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Izulde

C Odell Hodge, Utah's Mr. Basketball, chose BYU over UNLV despite Jestor's pointing out that Las Vegas is a strong Mormon town.

I love it when things like this happen:

Odell Hodge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Haven't looked at him in the FOFC-FBCB file, but Hodge was a hell of a player for Old Dominion back in the day. If history is anything to go by, you might've missed out on a good one there I'm afraid.

[Izulde]

SirFozzie: Yep. Although the switch to 2010 has been interesting.. and in some ways hair-pulling.

Groundhog: Yeah, he did look pretty good. I had a feeling I was going to lose him, but I had to keep trying!

[Izulde]

A Too Familiar Song Being Played

The Wyoming Cowboys are the class of the Mountain West this season

A hot out of conference start followed by Mountain West mediocrity and recruiting struggles was the main thread of UNLV's 2033-34 season. And 2034-35? The same old yarn, it appears.

The Runnin' Rebels got back to .500 in conference play, beating last year's rivals TCU 100-70 at the Thomas and Mack Center. SG Emmett Mayes broke out with a 32 point night and PG Ruffino Sanchez had a career high in assists with 18 to go with his 15 points. C Val Gavin netted 15 points and 12 rebounds to complete the brilliant three-headed takedown of the Horned Frogs.

But this was no glorious triumph over a thorny foe. TCU is one of the Mountain West's worst teams this season at 8-12 (1-6) and they and Colorado State are the only two conference members with an overall record below .500.

Far more telling, and distressing for Runnin' Rebels fans, are the 97-76 loss in Colorado Springs to Air Force and UNLV's first home loss of the season, a 93-66 thrashing by #10 Wyoming, who at 6-1 is tied for the Mountain West lead with BYU.

"It's frustrating when you hit bumps like this", head coach Izulde Jestor said after the Cowboys game, in which the Rebels were thoroughly outplayed. "But we'll work our way through it and just keep fighting to make our case to the selection committee at the end of the season."

Recruiting Update
The Columbia Curse may not be dead yet, as PG Dennis Northrop chose University of San Diego and PF Leonel Leclerc, a High School All-American, committed to Providence.

The Leclerc loss is a particularly crippling blow. UNLV lacks size, rebounding, and blocking in the post and after whiffing on Odell Hodge (BYU) and Tony Vineyard (St. Mary's), it appears the Rebels will once again be shut out in efforts to land a big man.

[Izulde]

Frogs Curse Rebels To Sub-.500 Mountain West Season

With a chance at .500 for the conference season and a 20 win year on the line, the UNLV Rebels frittered it all away

"I hate TCU even more than Reno right now," UNLV Runnin' Rebels head coach Izulde Jestor said after the regular season-ending 73-62 road loss to the Horned Frogs.

That loss, in which both teams shot terribly (34.3% for UNLV, 32.4% for TCU), guaranteed the Rebels' second straight 7-9 Mountain West finish, leaving UNLV 19-10 and agonizingly short of a 20th victory.

SF Edward Heisler was the only Rebel with a quality game, picking up 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Now the Rebels, who are ranked 129th in the RPI rankings, will now have to rely on a excellent conference tournament run to get into the NCAA tournament and appear far more likely to be headed to the NIT.

Despite the disappointing conclusion to the regular season, there were some positives so far this year. UNLV ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in Jestor's Sin City career, getting as high as #23 before starting Mountain West play.

The Rebels also look to have a respectable recruiting class with 3* Arizona All-State pickup SG Charles Irvin and their most recent addition, 2* PG Cristian Prado from El Dorado High School in Placerville, CA. Prado ranks low on most lists, the #27 PG in the West, but with Rufino Sanchez and walk-on James Govan, the Rebels' only natural PGs, graduating, he becomes a critical pickup.

2035 Mountain West Conference Standings

 TEAM                CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
---------------------------------------------------------------
 Brigham Young       13   3  .813  19  10  .655   21        58      
 #15 Wyoming         12   4  .750  25   5  .833   30        56      
 New Mexico          11   5  .688  21   9  .700   50        70      
 Utah                 9   7  .563  21   8  .724   84        52      
 UNLV                 7   9  .438  19  10  .655  128        68      
 San Diego State      7   9  .438  19  11  .633   93        80      
 Air Force            7   9  .438  14  15  .483   67        69      
 Texas Christian      3  13  .188  10  19  .345  184        61      
 Colorado State       3  13  .188   9  20  .310  126        43 

The 5 seed Runnin' Rebels face the 4 seed Utes in the second round of the Mountain West tournament. The two teams split the season series, each winning on their home court.

Now comes the tiebreaker and with it the right to face, in all probability, regular season champion BYU in the semifinals.

[Izulde]

20 Wins, But NIT-Bound Again

The Utes couldn't stop PG Rufino Sanchez from behind the arc

After just missing the mark last season, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels returned to the 20 win plateau by beating the Utah Utes 82-68 in the second round of the Mountain West conference tournament. The Rebels rode a three-headed perimeter attack, senior PG Rufino Sanchez at the forefront with 17 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals on an astonishing 5/7 from downtown.

Unfortunately, UNLV's run ended with a 107-90 loss to regular season champion BYU in the semi-finals. Senior SF James Barksdale had the game of his career, hitting 7 of 8 shots for 19 points off the bench, but the Cougars proved too deep and to talented for the Runnin' Rebels. BYU went on to win the tournament and earn the automatic bid.

And so, for the second season in a row, Izulde Jestor's Runnin' Rebels are headed to the NIT. They've earned the #3 seed in the South Region, where they'll play Big 10 team Northwestern. The seeding is significantly higher than last year's #5 seed, when UNLV played a lackluster game against #4 seed Bradley and were blown out.

Northwestern was 17-14 (6-12) this and returns to the postseason after missing out last year, snapping 10 straight years of either NCAA or NIT appearances, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2033, NIT 3rd place in 2030, and an Elite 8 showing in 2027. The Wildcats also won the NIT in 2022, but did not have much success outside of the 2020s and early 2030s.

The matchup is a classic case of stellar offense vs. titanic defense. UNLV is #10 in the country in scoring at 79.6 points a game and Northwestern is #12 in points allowed at 59.6.

Starting Lineup - UNLV
PG Rufino Sanchez (Sr) - 13.4 PPG - 5.6 APG
SG Emmett Mayes (Jr) - 12.9 PPG
SF Edward Heisler (Jr*) - 13.1 PPG - 7 RPG - 1.1 SPG
PF Charlie Schubert (Jr*) - 12.1 PPG - 5.3 RPG
C Val Gavin (So*) - 7.5 PPG - 9.9 RPG

Starting Lineup - Northwestern
SG Cristopher Parker (Jr*) - 9.4 PPG - 1.7 SPG
SF Stephen Simpson (Sr*) - 14.0 PPG - 1.4 SPG
SF Laurence Luther (Jr) - 9.2 PPG
PF Walter Brown (Jr*) - 7.6 PPG 7.7 RPG
C Robert Parker (Sr*) - 8 PPG 7.2 RPG 1.8 BPG

Fun Fact: Both Luther and Brown were Virginia's Mr. Basketball and Top 25 players in their classes. Brown was also a High School All-American but neither one has earned Big 10 recognition in their collegiate careers.

In fact, the last Wildcat to get a Big 10 award was Robert Monk, a 2029 Big 10 All-Freshman Team member. The last Northwestern player to be named to an All-Big 10 team was Jimmy Motta, who won Big 10 Player of the Year and All-Big 10 1st Team Honors for the 2027 NIT Champions. Motta also ranks 4th all-time in Big 10 career points and holds the school scoring record with 2,357 career points, the only Wildcat to break the 2,000 mark.

Thoughts
Luther/Brown/Parker may be the best defensive 3/4/5 in the country. They're that talented. Simpson is a very good defender as well. The only potential weak spot is Parker, which matches up well with UNLV's leading scorer.

On paper, this battle favors Northwestern, who have a much more well-rounded lineup and the horses to shut down the Runnin' Rebels balanced attack. On the other hand, the Wildcats don't have anyone who can pass the ball, outside of RS freshman PG Scotty Tunstall, and he only gets 10 minutes a game.

UNLV can win this game if they force turnovers and try to overwhelm the Wildcats by sheer volume of shots taken. Northwestern likes to play a slow game, so a shootout would take them out of their rhythm.

[Izulde]

Progress and Deja Vu

Bradley basketball band members are happy after the Braves' second round NIT win over UNLV

Add the Bradley Braves to UNLV Runnin' Rebels head coach Izulde Jestor's most hated teams.

For the second year in a row, the Braves knocked out the Rebels in the NIT, this time as a two seed in the second round. The final score was 98-87, as UNLV couldn't match Bradley junior SG Richard Rex's 30 points or senior PG Jamison Bloomfield's 14 points and 10 assists. The Rebels came close with PF Charlie Schubert's 26 points and senior reserve James Barksdale's 10 bench points, but it wasn't enough. Not when Bradley outrebounded UNLV 50-32 and outshot the Rebels 50% to 41.7%.

UNLV senior PG Rufino Sanchez closed out his college career with 17 points and 7 assists.

"It's tough to go out like this", Sanchez said after the game. "I was only here two years so I didn't get to go the NCAAs like James did. It hurts, but at least I got to be here."

Sanchez also got to be part of Jestor's first postseason win, a gritty 51-42 victory over Northwestern in the first round headlined by C Val Gavin's 10 points, 11 rebounds, steal, and blocked shot and by the Rebels' 42.3% to the Wildcats' 31% shooting.

"Hopefully we'll be in the NCAA tournament next season," Jestor said. "If not, then we'll be back here in the NIT, making a deeper run than this year. In any case, we've made improvement this year. We got back to the 20 win mark, came back to the NIT as a higher seed, and won a game. I'm proud of these guys and I'm looking forward to next season."

The Braves will face the 1 seed Wisconsin Badgers in the NIT South Regional Final.

[Izulde]

UNLV Gets Last Commit; Ranks #114 In Recruiting Rankings

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels filled out their last recruiting spot with 2* prospect SG Dominique Dugardin. A Montreal, Quebec native, Dugardin averaged 25.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2 steals and 1.4 blocks a game for his high school. He doesn't project to have much ceiling beyond his current game, but Dugardin should be a useful reserve in the future.

The Rebels finished with the 114th ranked class, almost 200 places higher than their 309th ranked class last season. The lone player from that group, SG James Nall, did not see the court this season after refusing to redshirt.

UNLV 2034-2035 Season Awards
SF Edward Heisler (Jr) - All-Mountain West 1st Team
12.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1 SPG

SG Emmett Mayes (Jr) - All-Mountain West 2nd Team
12.8 PPG

PG Rufino Sanchez (Sr) - All-Mountain West 2nd Team
13.3 PPG, 5.5 APG

[Izulde]

Assistants Bonnell, Porter Fired

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels announced today that recruiting coordinator Andrew Bonnell and lead scout Thomas Porter have been fired. Disappointing recruiting results the last two seasons led to Bonnell's ouster, while Porter's ability to recognize talent was openly questioned after the newest recruits came in for a first look.

"We wish both Andrew and Thomas the best of luck in their future endeavors", said head coach Izulde Jestor.

The lone holdover on the staff is top assistant Eric Fruge, who has been praised for his ability to get the most out of players, particularly with a roster that has steadily declined in talent since Jestor's arrival.

[Izulde]

Bonnell, Porter Retained By Court Order; Rebels Land Prized Recruits

UNLV recruiting coordinator Andrew Bonnell is all smiles at the Signing Day conference

A wild offseason continued as Andrew Bonnell and Thomas Porter sued UNLV to keep their jobs as recruiting coordinator and lead scout, respectively, on the men's basketball team. Their lawyers argued in court that the timing was unfair to their prospects of finding a new job in the college ranks and, in a shocking decision, the court agreed.

That led to a stormy situation between Izulde Jestor and the two assistants, but they worked out their issues over the summer and as a result, the staff banded together to land what will almost certainly be the best recruiting class of Jestor's UNLV tenure.

The biggest get is Top 100 recruit PG David Upton from Riverbank High School in Riverbank, CA. Ranked #88 overall and the 17th best point guard in the country, the 5'11 senior has an astounding 4.39 A/TO ratio and, in the words of Jestor, "could be the starting PG for the Runnin' Rebels right now". Upton's a 4 star recruit, the first one Jestor has ever landed. He choose UNLV over Pac-10 schools Stanford and California, fellow Mountain West school San Diego State, and Hawaii.

Less heralded, but equally important to UNLV's future fortunes, is 7'1, 235 pound C Ken Elias from Valentine Rural High School in Valentine, NE. He brings desperately needed size and rebounding to the Rebels, especially with the impending graduation of PF Charlie Schubert. In addition to his rebounding, he has excellent handling for a big man. Elias is also Nebraska's Mr. Basketball and an All-State player for the season, another feather in Jestor's cap. He's ranked as the Midwest's 18th-best center and the 3* prospect should be a valuable part of the Rebels for some time to come. UNLV and Minnesota were the final two candidates on Elias's list and the promise of immediate playing time, including a likely starting spot, swayed him to the Rebels.

[Izulde]

UNLV Runnin' Rebels 2036-37 Men's Basketball Preview

Unfortunately, this defense didn't work for one of the Runnin' Rebels starters

It was a disappointing training camp and lead-up to the season. First, highly heralded freshman SG Charles Irvin, despite having considerable upside, failed to make great strides and showed a complete disregard for the academic side of college. Then, two-time All-Mountain West senior SF Edward Heisler was suspended for the fall semester after flunking a spring course in Spanish.

As a result, it could be an ugly year for the Runnin' Rebels, who open with a particularly brutal schedule of #16 Maryland, #8 Oregon, and #3 Indiana, an unholy Top 25 trio that puts the early season hot streaks of Izulde Jestor's first two UNLV squads in serious danger. In fact, the out of conference schedule this year looks so tough, and the Mountain West looks so formidable, with #18 BYU the top team, that repeating the 20 win season of last year seems but a pipe dream. Even returning to the NIT for the third straight year is going to be difficult.

A look at the projected starting lineup for the first half of the season:

Opening Night Lineup
PG Emmmett Mayes (Sr)*
SG James Nall (So)
SF Dominique Dugardin (Fr)
PF Charlie Schubert (RS Sr)*
C Val Gavin (RS Jr)*

* - returning starter

Mayes, an All-Mountain West 2nd Team selection last year, Schubert, who incidentally was a High School All-American in 2031, and Gavin will be counted on to provide the leadership and the offense for much of the season. Nall, who didn't play a single minute after refusing to redshirt last year, becomes the starter by default, while Dugardin's starting as a freshman isn't a sign of great ability as much as it is his being the team's best 3 point shooter right now and the best all-around defender after Heisler's suspension.

It's an incredibly small, three-guard lineup, with the 6'9 Schubert and Gavin the tallest players. As a result, the Runnin' Rebels will again run a fast-paced offense designed to tire out the bigger teams.

On the bench is 6th man C Darrell Jenkins, a junior big with excellent passing and handling for the postion, who believe it or not, could see minutes at PG, so weak is the team right now at the spot. Freshman PG Cristian Pardo slots in as the 7th man, with the aforementioned SG Charles Irvin as the 8th man.

The Rebels are extremely shallow on big men this year and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ken Elias next season to finally give them some height and size. It's a very young bench and team overall that will rely heavily on its two starting seniors to produce, something Schubert has yet to do at an elite level despite an entire college career of fans waiting for him to break out.

Speaking of breakout, Val Gavin was easily the biggest star of the camp and UNLV will be looking for him to continue the steady improvement he's made his first two seasons. In fact, the Rebels will be gearing their offense toward the inside overall.

The Mountain West Quick-Glance
#18 BYU is clearly the class of the conference with their supremely talented backcourt of PG Colin Greig (Sr) and SG Andrew Hendershot (RS Jr). But New Mexico, who has a stellar perimeter game and won the NIT last year, can't be counted out.

Then there's San Diego State, a second round NIT team like UNLV last year, who returns 4 starters and has a deep, balanced lineup. TCU, UNLV's archrivals the last two years, only won 11 games last year, leading to a coach firing and the hiring of Dean Sanders, formerly of Loyola Marymount (20 win season and NIT appearance in 2033, the team's first postseason appearance since the NIT in 2021, also the last 20 win season in school history), and a pedestrian career at Furman. The Horned Frogs are too talented to have a losing record, but it remains to be seen how they shake out.

Wyoming and Air Force look comparable to UNLV, although the Cowboys won 27 games and made the NCAA tournament last year, while Colorado State and Utah are the clear dogs of the conference.

Projected Standings
BYU
San Diego State
New Mexico
Wyoming
Air Force
UNLV
TCU
Colorado State
Utah

Prognosis for Tournament
NIT, if the Runnin' Rebels are lucky.

[Izulde]

2 Out Of 3 Just Fine For Runnin' Rebels

The win over the #8 ranked Oregon Ducks was arguably the biggest of Izulde Jestor's career

Three straight Top 25 teams to start the year in Las Vegas looked to spell trouble for this year's Runnin' Rebels squad. But UNLV proved far more resourceful than anyone predicted and head coach Izulde Jestor looked a genius as the Rebels pulled off two straight upsets before losing a relatively close one to the #3 team in the country.

The season opener featured a 94-83 upset of #16 ranked Maryland. True freshman G Dominique Dugardin won Player of the Game with a sensational collegiate debut: 16 points on 6/14 shooting with 9 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal. Dugardin tied for the second-best Rebel in scoring with PF Charlie Schubert (8/19 with 8 rebounds). Sophomore SG James Nall had an excellent college debut as well, shooting 6/8 for 15 points and 7 rebounds in just 19 minutes, and senior PG Emmett Mayes had a respectable all around game of 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists on 4/8 shooting, 3/4 from long-range, despite 5 turnovers. But the best outing may have come from 6th man PG/C Darrell Jenkins with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists on 7/15 shooting, 3/3 from 3 point range, in just 21 minutes.

UNLV also limited the Terrapins to 39% shooting and held the Maryland bench to just 4 total points. The Runnin' Rebels dominated on the offensive glass, with 16 rebounds on 40 missed shots, a 40% offensive rebound rate.

The Runnin' Rebels didn't stop there, knocking off #8 Oregon 88-81 on a blistering 11/16 for 24 points and 7 rebounds from Player of the Game PF Charlie Schubert, a do-everything game from C Val Gavin (9 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists), and another fine performance from G Dominique Dugardin, who hit 5/11 shots for 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. PG/C Darrell Jenkins played well, too, with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on 6/8 shooting off the bench. True freshman PG Cristian Pardo just missed the first double-digit game of his career with 9 points on 3/6 shooting as a reserve.

#3 Indiana stopped UNLV's magic streak, downing the Runnin' Rebels 73-65 in front of a sold-out Thomas and Mack Center crowd. G Dominique Dugardin had his worst night ever, either in high school or college, shooting a shocking 2 of 13. PF Charlie Schubert double-doubled with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks and PG/C Darrell Jenkins kept UNLV alive with 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, but in the end, the Rebels couldn't stop Hoosier PG Anatole Dupire, who finished with a game high 20 points on 7/14 shooting, 6 of 8 from downtown. Nor could UNLV stop misfiring on 3 point attempts, hitting just 5 of 24 treys.

Still, it's a far stronger start to the season for UNLV than anyone expected. Originally projected to go 0-3 to start the year, the Runnin' Rebs are 2-1 and looking like they can still be in the conversation to repeat their .500 Mountain West performances and return to the NIT.

Or maybe, just maybe, they'll find a way to finally break through to the Big Dance. If their early season form is any indication, that just might be a real possibility.

[Izulde]

Runnin' Rebels On 3 Game Win Streak; Fill Recruiting Class

PG Merlin Hargrove may be short, but he's got game

Preseason reports of UNLV's demise appear to have been exaggerated. The Runnin' Rebels are once again off to a fast early season start, following up their two of three wins over Top 25 teams with three straight wins over decidedly inferior competition.

First came the 82-70 win over Jacksonville State, keyed by PF Charlie Schubert's 20 points and SG/SF Dominique Dugardin's 19 points. C Val Gavin also had his fourth straight game of 12+ rebounds, finishing with 8 points and 13 boards.

Next up, a complete 103-74 rout of Kent State, featuring the following from the starting lineup:

PG Emmett Mayes - 11 points, 5 assists
SG James Nall - 14 points, 6 rebounds
SF Dominique Dugardin - 15 points, 12 rebounds
PF Charlie Schubert - 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks
C Val Gavin - 14 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks

And finally, an 89-71 triumph over a spirited George Mason squad, keyed by Charlie Schubert's career high 31 points, along with 9 rebounds and 4 assists, and Val Gavin's 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Thus, the Runnin' Rebels are now 5-1, with all games at the Thomas and Mack Center. They'll finally hit the road on December 14th and 16th, with games against Norfolk State and Texas Southern, after another home game on December 11th versus Cal State-Northridge.

Recruiting Class Update
It took three seasons, but UNLV head coach Izulde Jestor finally brought another High School All-American to Sin City, just when Charlie Schubert is getting ready to graduate. PG Merlin Hargrove, who was also North Dakota's Mr. Basketball, may be another 5'11 guard to go with 4* David Upton, and may project as more of a SG than a true PG, but there's no denying the Washburn, ND native's talent. The Washburn High senior posted a dazzling 29.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals a game while shooting 58.1% from the field, 49.6% from 3 point range in his final season. Scouts say he also has shut down defense potential on the perimeter and it's only his height and his lack of passing that prevent him from ranking higher than #282 nationally. But he already projects as UNLV's best jump shooter and 3 point shot right now and will definitely be in the mix for a starting spot in the Runnin' Rebels small-ball lineup next year.

In fact, if current projections hold true, all three of the Runnin' Rebels incoming freshmen could start right away alongside Val Gavin and Dominique Dugardin, in what would be the youngest lineup in Jestor's tenure.

But as promising as the future is, there's still a very good season unfolding right now that's worthy of attention.

[Izulde]

Runnin' Rebels Win Streak Ends At 5

These red dart guns have become popular on campus after the nicknaming of a certain UNLV player

College basketball fans in Sin City and across the country were shocked when the Texas Southern Tigers stunned the UNLV Runnin' Rebels 88-76 in Houston to hand the Rebels just their second loss of the season. Free throws proved the difference, as the Tigers were 29 of 38 from the charity stripe, compared to just 6 of 16 attempts for the Rebels.

"It's always disappointing to lose", said a grim UNLV head coach Izulde Jestor, "But Terrence Hilliard has done a great job with Texas Southern. Last year was his first season and they won 20 games and made the NIT."

Still, it was a disappointing defeat, even as Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin, UNLV's surprise freshman swingman, continued his fine season with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, including 5 of 7 from 3 point range, and 6th man Darrell Jenkins contributed 12 points on 5/8 shooting. But Texas Southern did an excellent job of holding Charlie Schubert to his worst game of the season - just 9 points on 4/15 shooting.

Prior to the loss, UNLV crushed Cal State-Northridge 91-55 on Charlie Schubert's 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 blocks, and C Val Gavin's 10 points, 18 rebounds and 3 assists. Emmett Mayes recorded 16 points and 5 rebounds and Darrell Jenkins contributed 11 points, 6 assists and 3 steals to lead the reserve.

The Runnin' Rebels also passed their first road test with ease, eliminating Norfolk State 82-68. Val Gavin put up 17 points and 16 rebounds, Charlie Scubert added 19 points and 8 rebounds, Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin scored 18 on 8 of 12 shooting and grabbed 6 rebounds, and Emmett Mayes notched 18 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, albeit on a sloppy 5 for 14 outing.

UNLV now stands at 7-2 and host Marshall and play at Fresno State before opening Mountain West play against Air Force at the Thomas and Mack Center.

[Izulde]

Win Streak Anew, But A Costly Injury

Air Force's #19 ranking didn't scare UNLV in the Runnin' Rebels Mountain West opener

The hiccup to Texas Southern got smoothed out and the Runnin' Rebels are winning again, despite an injury that hurts them at one of the worst possible times.

UNLV returned home to beat Marshall 91-80 via SF Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin's 20 points and 4 assists on 7/14 shooting, 4/8 from long range. They also got 18 points and 5 rebounds (7/12) from SG James Nall, 16 points and 7 rebounds from PF Charlie Schubert, and 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals from benchman PG/PF/C Darrell Jenkins. The best performance against the Thunderin' Herd, however, may have come from PG Emmett Mayes, who posted an 11 point, 10 assist, 7 rebound, 3 steal double-double.

The senior PG Emmett Mayes scored 10 points in 18 minutes in the Runnin' Rebels next game, a 79-68 road win over Fresno State, but tore his abdominal muscle and was declared Out for 3 weeks. SF Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin picked up his game as a result, netting his first collegiate double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and PG/C Darrell Jenkins came through in the clutch with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Losing Mayes was partially made up for by the return of Edward Heisler from academic suspension, although he was a dreadful 2 for 9 his first game back, with 5 turnovers only partially mitigated by 3 steals.

Then came the matchup against #19 Air Force in the conference opener. Edward Heisler started at SG and although he had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals, he shot just 6 for 18 and had 6 turnovers, continuing some worrying trends. Fortunately, C Val Gavin was there with a hot shooting night, 8/11 for 20 points and 11 rebounds and SG James Nall was 5/7, 4/4 from 3 point range for 16 points in 11 bench minutes. PG Darrell Jenkins also played well, hitting 5 of 8 shots for 12 points in his starting PG debut and looks to be the starter there until Mayes returns. The Runnin' Rebels held the Falcons to just 39.7% shooting and came away with the 86-78 upset in Las Vegas.

That team defensive mantra came through again on the road against Stephen F. Austin, the Runnin' Rebels holding SFA to just 32.7% shooting, 20% from long-range, in a 76-67 win. SG Edward Heisler had a great second game, knocking down 7 of 15 for 18 points and 8 rebounds with just one turnover. PF Charlie Schubert came back to life with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, SF Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin overcame an 0/4 from long range night to hit all 4 of his other shots for 12 points, and PG Darrell Jenkins was turnover free in netting 13 points and 5 rebounds.

What Edward Heisler's addition means for UNLV
Suddenly the Rebels have a 6'7, 222 lb shooting guard and, in the wake of Mayes's abdominal tear, a 6'8, 240 lb point guard. Those are huge mismatch problems for a lot of teams.

The reason Heisler 's been a 2nd and 1st Team All-Mountain West selection the last two seasons - his defense. That's shown in his first three games back, as he's held his opponents to 0 points, 8 points, and 6 points, a 4.6 point per game average. Opposing players have been just 5/14 against him, a 35.7% shooting rate, which, ironically enough, is the exact same thing as his current shooting average, his lowest in four seasons.

That defensive orientation has carried over to PG as well, where the tall Jenkins, who originally played the post in high school to 5 of 18 shooting (27.8%) in his two starts, making up for a lack of quickness and jumping with bruising strength.

Coming Up Next
A brutal two game road stretch at San Diego State and BYU, both probable losses as the Aztecs are 7-0 at home and the Cougars have gone 2-0 in Mountain West play so far. On the bright side, UNLV had the #8 RPI in the country and received 2 votes in the latest Top 25 poll. Air Force is still the only Top 25 team in the Mountain West at #21.

PG Emmett Mayes will miss the next 5 games due to injury, all of which are Mountain West matchups. As a result, the Runnin' Rebels promising nonconference start could once again wilt in the second half of the season. His loss not only results in Darrell Jenkins as the starter, but true freshman PG Cristian Pardo will see increased playing time.

[Izulde]

#25 Again; Two More Games Till Mayes's Return

BYU cheerleader power proved too much for UNLV in the Runnin' Rebels' first MWC loss of the year

Concerns about losing PG Emmett Mayes were partially alleviated as the Runnin' Rebels improved to 3-1 in Mountain West play, re-entered the Top 25 at #25, and guaranteed a no worse than .500 conference record before Mayes returns.

A tense, see-saw game in San Diego saw UNLV emerge with a 90-86 victory to stay unbeaten in Mountain West play, a critical road win keyed by PF Charlie Schubert's 11/13 for 26 points and SG Edward Heisler's terrific 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals on a much more acceptable 6 of 13 shooting with 3 turnovers.

Then came BYU and the Cougars shredded the Runnin' Rebels with stifling defense to win 78-61. UNLV shot just 38.6% from the floor, including a shocking 17.6% from 3 point range. Only PF Charlie Schubert (17 points, 8/13) and PG Darrell Jenkins (10 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) had games even close to accurate.

Back home in Las Vegas, the hated TCU Horned Frogs were run out, 81-72, Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin's 0 of 7 night compensated for by a balanced attack. PF Charlie Schubert reprised his 8/13 for 16 points and 5 assists, C Val Gavin matched Schubert's 16, going 6 for 9, and SG Edward Heisler made it three 16 point scorers for UNLV, also on 6 for 9. PG Darrell Jenkins netted 14 points, reserve Charles Irvin 10 to lead the second team.

UNLV's #25 ranking is the first for the Runnin' Rebels since about this time last year, and they and Air Force's #20 ranking gives the Mountain West two teams in the Top 25.

On Tap
A home game versus Wyoming, followed by a road game at the Utes, where UNLV will hope for a better Utah visit than the one they just had.

[Izulde]

Despite Losses, UNLV Climbs To #22

Frustration was evident on the UNLV bench after a heartbreaking loss in Salt Lake City

The Runnin' Rebels may be running into their usual up and down fortunes in Mountain West play, but they're rising in the polls and now stand at #22 in the country, much to the surprise of the rest of the conference.

UNLV took care of business at home against Wyoming, routing the Cowboys 94-62 on 23 points from freshman SF Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin's 5 of 11 from 3 point range clinic, 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals from SG Edward Heisler, a quietly effective 15 points from PF Charlie Schubert, and a loud 14 point, 16 rebound, 6 assist double-double from C Val Gavin. The Runnin' Rebels shot 50.7% to the Pokes' 33.3% and looked masterful and even found a minute of playing time for the back ahead of schedule Emmett Mayes.

Two nights later, heartache struck in Salt Lake City. Despite a heroic 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals from SG Edward Heisler (8/11) and a matching 21 points from SG Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin on 50% shooting, the Utes snuck past the Rebels 80-78. Utah did an excellent job of containing UNLV's frontcourt, recording 5 blocks that proved the differencemaker in this otherwise very tight contest. They also had 25 FT attempts to UNLV's 19.

On the last day of January, the New Mexico Lobos, tapped to be a Mountain West contender, blew out UNLV 89-56 in what Runnin' Rebels head coach Izulde Jestor called, "the single worst game we've played this season". Little-used PF Chris Champlain had a career high 10 points on 5/9 shooting, but the junior was the only one who shot even remotely close to respectable, as UNLV shot 33.3% and looked lost in Albuquerque.

UNLV's ascension in the polls is explained by their #2 RPI and by the fact that, as one pollster put it, "They're back at full strength now, with Emmett Mayes returning to run the offense. The Runnin' Rebels have had one of the toughest schedules in the country. Let's not forget they're 5-2 this year against RPI Top 50 teams this year, either. UNLV has a real opportunity to show it's worthy of its ranking now."

Not only to show they're worthy of their ranking, but actually finish .500 or better in conference play. In Jestor's first two seasons, UNLV has tumbled to 7-9. At 4-3, with five conference home games remaining, they're a good shot to finish at least 8-8, if not with a winning record. The Runnin' Rebels are 10-1 at the Thomas and Mack Center this year and 4-4 on the road.



Air Force is ranked a spot below UNLV at #23, surprisingly enough, and BYU continues to be unranked, not even receiving votes in the polls. Let's take a look at each team's season breakdown.







As you can see by the RPI and the performance against the upper echelon RPI teams, UNLV is quite clearly the best team by those measures. But how did preseason #18 BYU drop out of the Top 25?

A 68-55 home loss to Marshall, who despite being 15-4, 6-1 in the MAC and with the 15th best RPI, is unranked and, more damningly, a 55-50 home loss to Western Illinois. The Leathernecks are 9-10 (2-0) in the lowly Summit League. Those are the sorts of losses that simply aren't forgivable, especially when UNLV's only comparable non-conference loss was a road game at 14-5 (7-2) Texas Southern.

Air Force, meanwhile, had a Top 25 home loss to Arkansas, whereas UNLV lost to #10 Indiana in their only home loss. The Falcons also lost at home to mid-pack Big 12 team Colorado, who is 11-7 (2-3).

Of course, all of this can be reversed on its head with the remainder of the conference season, so the second half of Mountain West play is going to be critical for the Top 25 and NCAA fates and dreams of all three teams.

UNLV's mid-conference player stats:



And since we're discussing Top 25 matters, the Top 25 as of this week:

[Izulde]

A Series of Unfortunate Events

SG Edward Heisler's leg fracture put a serious hurt on UNLV's season

Just when it seemed like the UNLV Runnin' Rebels were primed to make noise in the Mountain West race, misfortune after misfortune struck.

Things started off well after the beatdown by the Lobos, the Rebels taking out their frustrations on Colorado State, 79-44. UNLV held the Rams to 27.5% shooting, including 3 of 17 (17.6%) from long range. SF Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin continued his great freshman season with 17 points, SG Edward Heisler added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, and C Val Gavin just missed a double-double with 9 points and 15 rebounds. But the victory proved Phyrric, as Edward Heisler was lost for a month and a half with a leg fracture.

It was yet another chapter in the heartbreak of Heisler's senior season. First the academic suspension, now the serious injury that will keep him out until at least the postseason, should UNLV make it that far.

Despite a makeshift lineup, the Runnin' Rebels went on to beat Savannah State 76-60 on C Val Gavin's 10 points and 12 rebounds, PG Darrell Jenkins's 20 points, Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin's 12 points and 7 rebounds and James Nall's 11 bench points.

Then came a three losing streak - 76-98 to BYU, despite PF Charlie Schubert's 23 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, 56-73 @ Air Force, and yet another agonizing 2 point road loss, 92-94 @ Wyoming, in which UNLV was doomed by 13 of 25 from the free throw line, a game so nauseating, head coach Izulde Jestor burned the individual stats.

The Runnin' Rebels bounced back to trounce San Diego State 81-67 via Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin's 18 points and 9 rebounds, Charlie Schubert's 19 points and 8 rebounds and reserve SF Daniel Duda's 10 points in 9 minutes.

But the very next game, the Lobos held UNLV to 39.7% shooting and a 65-75 loss at the Thomas and Mack Center. Only PF Charlie Schubert and PG Emmett Mayes, who had 18 points each, shot with even a modicum of accuracy.

C Val Gavin atoned for his 1 of 7 evening against New Mexico with 16 points and 10 rebounds in an ugly 68-51 road win over TCU, PG Emmett Mayes chipping in 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists with just 1 turnover.

So at the end of February, the Runnin' Rebels are 7-7 in Mountain West play and a lock to at least reprise their 7-9 finish in conference from Jestor's first two seasons. They also have no shot at finishing third, as 10-4 New Mexico and Air Force are both ahead. But UNLV can still secure their 4th place spot with a win and a Wyoming loss.

Even more exciting, with the Rebels holding the #19 RPI in the country, they're still considered an excellent candidate to receive an at-large bid to the Big Dance.

But first is a road game at Colorado State and a hosting of Utah to finish out the regular season, followed by the Mountain West conference tournament.

"No question we're hurt by losing Edward", Jestor said. "He has two and a half weeks left before he comes back, so he's out for the rest of the regular season and probably the conference tournament, too. Now if he can come back for the postseason, that would be a great thing, because we played better with him in the lineup."

[Izulde]

UNLV Finish .500 In Mountain West For First Time Under Izulde

Colorado State's SG Zachery Vanlandingham (So) dropped 21 to lead the Rams to an upset over UNLV

The Runnin' Rebels finally finished .500 in conference play the third year under head coach Izulde Jestor, but an upset road loss to Colorado State may keep UNLV out of the NCAA tournament.

In a 60-68 defeat, sophomore Rams SG Zachery Vanlandingham lit up the Rebels for 21 points and UNLV shot a dreadful 37.7%, with the lone highlights coming from PG Emmett Mayes with 18 points and 6th man Darrell Jenkins scoring 10 bench points.

UNLV snapped back to destroy Utah 85-53 in Las Vegas, PF Charlie Schubert rebounding from a 2 for 12 horror show against CSU with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. C Val Gavin chipped in 14 points and 8 rebounds and SF Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin shot well, finishing with 20 points on 8 for 12, 4 of 7 from long range.

The Rebels conclude the regular season with a 19-10 (8-8) record and a probable 4th place finish in the Mountain West, with 7-8 in conference Wyoming still to play a home game against Colorado State.

The Mountain West conference tournament is likely to feature UNLV against Wyoming in the first round. The two teams split the season series, the home team winning in each contest, including the recent 92-94 frustrating loss in Laramie for the Runnin' Rebels.

"We're hoping for the Big Dance, obviously," Jestor said after the final regular season win against the Utes, "But we need to make a good showing in the conference tournament and impress the selection committee if we don't win the thing."

That loss against the Rams could be the sort of bad defeat that keeps the 27th RPI Rebels out of the NCAAs and back to the NIT for the third straight year.

[Izulde]

Rebels Make First NCAA Tournament Under Jestor

Although UNLV's RPI was good enough to make a case for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, a season-ending injury to SG Edward Heisler made that extremely unlikely. So head coach Izulde Jestor told his Runnin' Rebels they had to win the Mountain West conference tournament if they wanted to make the Big Dance.

And so they did.

First came the 83-58 crushing of the Wyoming Cowboys, a total team effort of six 10+ point scorers, C Val Gavin's 12 points and 10 tebounds, SG James Nall's team-high 15 points and PG Emmett Mayes's all-around 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals the key to the win.

Then came superpower Top 25 team BYU, the #1 seed, in the semi-finals. UNLV went out and shocked the Cougars 79-67, holding the conference's best team to 35.5% shooting. The Runnin' Rebels were carried by Val Gavin, Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin and Emmett Mayes each scoring 15 points, James Nall's 11 rebounds out of the 2 spot, and supersub Darrell Jenkins's 11 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks as the be-everywhere 6th man.

The Mountain West championship game was a thrilling OT affair against the New Mexico Lobos. UNLV came out on top 83-82, with freshman Charles Irvin having the game of his young collegiate career. In just 28 minutes, he shot 6/13, 4/6 from 3 point range, for 21 points and 2 blocks, winning Player of the Game and serving notice that his #128 ranking may not be so overstated after all.

For their triumph, the Rebels were awarded the #10 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament, where they faced off against one of the nation's best defenses in #7 seed Arizona. Unfortunately, UNLV had to play without Emmett Mayes, who was injured in the conference tournament final against New Mexico, and this time, the Runnin' Rebels could not overcome the loss of their starting backcourt. The Wildcats shut UNLV down 87-65, despite great individual performances from PF Charlie Schubert (17 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks, a steal) and C Val Gavin (12 points, 10 rebounds). SF Dominique "Dart Gun" Dugardin looked lost in the bright lights of the Big Dance, showing nervousness in hitting just 3 of his 14 shots.

It was a disappointing end to a wild and wonderful season in Sin City, but Schubert's final collegiate game was an impressive one, to say the least.

The Aftermath
UNLV loses 3 senior starters in PF Charlie Schubert, SG Edward Heisler and PG Emmett Mayes. But the Runnin' Rebels also boast the highest recruiting class ranking of Izulde Jestor's tenure, clocking in at 45th best overall.

Season Awards
SF Dominique Dugardin - Mountain West Freshman of the Year, Mountain West All-Freshman Team
PF Charlie Schubert - All-Mountain West 2nd Team
PG Cristian Pardo Mountain West All-Freshman Team

 Player                Pos  GP  GS   Min   Pts  Orb   Reb  Ast  Stl  Blk   To  Fls   +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Edward Heisler         SG  10  10  30.9  15.0  2.4   6.8  1.9  2.4  0.5  2.6  2.2   2.8
 Charlie Schubert       PF  33  33  30.9  14.8  2.6   6.5  1.8  0.4  1.3  2.2  2.8   6.2
 Dominique Dugardin     SF  33  33  28.7  12.8  1.9   5.9  2.0  0.7  0.2  2.0  2.5   4.2
 Darrell Jenkins        PG  33  12  28.3  11.1  1.6   4.4  2.3  1.0  0.4  1.0  2.5   4.5
 Emmett Mayes           PG  26  23  25.4  10.4  1.2   3.4  3.7  0.9  0.1  1.5  2.8   5.2
 Val Gavin               C  33  33  28.3   9.0  3.2  10.0  1.6  0.2  0.6  1.5  2.8   6.1
 James Nall             SG  33  21  19.7   7.2  0.6   4.3  1.5  0.5  0.1  1.4  1.8   1.3
 Charles Irvin          SG  32   0   8.6   4.0  0.2   1.1  0.5  0.2  0.1  0.6  0.8   1.5
 Cristián Pardo         PG  33   0  16.5   3.4  0.5   1.8  1.2  0.8  0.2  1.2  1.8   3.1
 Daniel Duda            SF  25   0   4.7   3.0  0.2   0.6  0.4  0.5  0.0  0.5  0.5   1.2
 Chris Champlin         PF  32   0   6.2   1.7  0.4   1.5  0.4  0.2  0.1  0.3  0.8   0.1
 Marcus Simmons          C  19   0   2.7   0.5  0.0   0.2  0.2  0.1  0.0  0.2  0.6  -2.7
 David Vineyard         SF   1   0   3.0   0.0  0.0   0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  -3.0
 Matthew Cowgill        SG   3   0   1.0   0.0  0.0   0.3  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.3  0.7   1.3
 Marlon Ludwig           C   0   0   0.0   0.0  0.0   0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0   0.0

Charlie Schubert finishes ranked 8th in school career points scored with 1,627, 9th in offensive rebounds with 240, 2nd in field goals made with 629, and 7th in field goals attempted at 1299, making him a career 48.4% shooter. A 2031 High School American, ranked #237 overall, Schubert was a two-time Mountain West 2nd-Team member (2034, 2036).

Edward Heisler and Emmett Mayes didn't chart in the school Top 10 records, but Heisler was a 2033 Mountain West All-Freshman selection, a 2034 Mountain West 2nd Team nod, and a 2035 Mountain West 1st Team pick. Mayes was a 2035 Mountain West 2nd Team player.

Jestor Hot Coaching Commodity

Izulde Jestor's success at UNLV has his phone ringing off the hook. Syracuse and Washington were rumored to have fired their coaches, but their coaches have survived for another year. That doesn't mean a small list, however.

Schools Targeting Jestor
Colorado
East Carolina
Kentucky
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
Villanova
UCLA

Texas A&M can safely be eliminated from the list, as Jestor has no love for the Longhorn State. Colorado can likewise be cut because Jestor hates the Big 12. Of the other schools:

ECU
Last time the Pirates made any postseason tournament was the 2025 NIT, when they made the 2nd round. A grand total of 3 NIT appearances composes the Pirates' postseason showings since 2000, and 2025 was also their last winning season. #161 class, 3* and 2*.

Kentucky
Once-proud program hasn't had a winning season since 2026, the last time it made the NCAA tournament. 6, 7, and 13 wins the last three years. #132 recruiting class, a lone 3* player. 2000 and 2008 Sweet 16 appearances the best they've done.

Vanderbilt
Made the Sweet 16 in 2029 and the NIT in 2030, but have been stuck in mediocrity since then. #113 class, two 3*s and one 2*. Overall postseason record has been shockingly comparable to Kentucky's.

Villanova
Made the postseason the last handful of seasons, either NCAA or NIT. Not a contender for Jestor's services as a result of that, as if he moves, he'll look to build a program from the ground up, not maintain quality showings as he has at UNLV.

UCLA
Had a 5 year drought of no postseason, but the Bruins have gone back to the NCAA tournament the past two seasons. Not quite as dominant as they used to be, but UCLA is still UCLA, so they're knocked out as well.

So it boils down to ECU, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt. Jestor's known to love Nashville and he likes Kentucky as a school, so both of those are in play. East Carolina lags quite a bit behind, despite being the best opportunity to fashion himself as a legend there.

Ultimately, does he become the savior of Kentucky basketball? Take Vanderbilt to the mid-90s success and even higher? Or does he stay in Sin City and continue building on his stellar recruiting class?

Note: I'll get an article picture in later. Problems uploading on my PC at the moment.