Graney: Can Josh Pastner restore UNLV men’s basketball to prominence?

Lindy La Rocque has known Josh Pastner most of her life. Since she was a little girl dribbling a basketball around AAU gyms in Las Vegas and while her father worked camps in Arizona.

She has known the high-energy, never-stop-going Pastner and what makes him tick.

Knows all about the passion.

“What you see is what you get,” said La Rocque, UNLV’s women’s basketball coach. “It’s authentic and real. He’ll probably be a pest to people, but that’s what this program needs. He has a personality you can invest in. He’s going to engage with everyone — a donor, a fan, a kid, a recruit.

“His team is going to have a personality. The program is going to have a personality. All of that should get people excited.”

Standing and cheering

Pastner won the news conference because of course he did. He said all the right things because of course he did. Pastner had folks standing and cheering and engaged with his every word when he was introduced at the Strip View Pavilion at Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday. Nobody doubted that would occur. He has that sort of effect on others.

Now comes the hard part.

Actually proving he can build a program.

It’s not the same. Hasn’t been for years. Not the same job. Not the same reputation. UNLV basketball is no longer the national brand it once was. That comes from not making the NCAA Tournament since 2013. From not really being in the consciousness of the average college fan. It’s still all about the past and not much about the present.

Question is, can Pastner get it back?

Can he make the program relevant?

Can he re-energize an apathetic fan base?

It will take a lot of work. Others have tried and failed for years.

You can talk forever about wanting the community to be involved, about bringing former players back into the fold, about making this everyone’s team. None of it matters if the product on the floor doesn’t produce. If you can’t find good enough players and mold them into a winning team.

Pastner has been away from coaching for a few years and believes it has made him better. Allowed him to study other programs, how they do things. Allowed him to watch an incredible amount of basketball and quiz others on the transfer portal and name, image and likeness opportunities.

To realize what he did well in previous coaching stops at Memphis and Georgia Tech and what he can do better at UNLV.

“I know what this job and program means and sitting in that chair,” Pastner said. “I get it. I understand what it’s going to take to get it all back and it’s not going to be easy. But we want to win now.

“I’m going to make sure my motor and our intensity and our standard is going to be raised here. I’m never going to lower the bar. I’m going to make everyone meet me at my bar and where I’m at. We want to get this thing done as fast as we can.”

Keeping up

Intensity won’t be an issue. The man has more energy than a 2-year-old. He’s 47 and said he feels 27. Said he’s in the best shape of his life. Said the players are going to have to keep up with him. I believe it.

But things aren’t the same. You are no longer chasing some young teenager for three to four years only to have him decide to go elsewhere out of high school. You’re dealing with agents now for players already in college. Players going to the highest bidder. You can have a completely different team each year. It’s a totally different world.

UNLV also isn’t the same. Not the same program. Not the same job. Josh Pastner said all the right things Wednesday. Had folks standing and cheering. You knew he would.

Now comes the hard part. Changing how the present is defined.

The glory days haven’t been within sight for some time.

“Restoring it starts with me,” Pastner said. “I’ve got to set the tone with how we do things on an everyday basis. Not just talk about it. It has to be emphasized and reinforced and there has to be action. How can we build the program back to where everybody wants it to be?”

We’re about to find out.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.