Graney: UNLV men’s basketball believes NCAA Tournament berth in reach

His message is pretty clear: They weren’t far off from the ultimate goal. They could see it and almost touch it. That those returning need to impart this to new faces.

That the hurdle can be scaled with the right amount of focus.

“I think what last year was able to do for us is that we were close enough to where we could look at it and say, ‘Guys, this is what kept us from being an NCAA Tournament team,’” UNLV men’s basketball coach Kevin Kruger said. “It wasn’t a situation where we were far away and just throwing slogans on a shirt and all that stuff or that it was unrealistic. We can sit down and take a breath and say, ‘This is what cost us.’”

Kruger is entering his fourth season as the Rebels coach. His team was picked to finish fifth in the 11-team Mountain West as the league’s annual media days kicked off Thursday at Resorts World.

Solid league

That projection puts UNLV in the upper half of a conference that earned six NCAA Tournament berths last season. The Mountain West earned multiple bids for the sixth straight year and got four or more for the third consecutive campaign.

It’s a good basketball conference now. It remains to be seen what it will be in the future.

Conference realignment hit the Mountain West in the past month. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State all decided to bolt for the Pac-12 in 2026. In their stead, the Mountain West will add Hawaii and UTEP as full-time members in two years.

What that means for the league’s level of basketball play is unclear.

San Diego State went to the Final Four two years ago. Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State have been to multiple NCAA Tournaments in recent years.

Some really good programs are departing.

“If we’re going to be honest, the Mountain West doesn’t get the national attention and recognition we feel (it deserves),” Kruger said. “Losing teams that regularly go to the NCAA Tournament is something we’ll have to navigate through and do our best to prop everyone up and lift everybody up.

“The Mountain West has done nothing but help each other by sending multiple teams to (the NCAAs) in an incredibly competitive conference slate. The Mountain West has been a really strong conference and hopefully we can carry that on with whoever is playing in it in whatever year from now on.”

Thomas in charge

Kruger’s team won 21 games last season. That includes seven of its final 10 contests, which got UNLV into the quarterfinals of the NIT. The Rebels’ season ended there with a loss to Seton Hall.

UNLV will be led by sophomore point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who was named to the 10-player All-Mountain West preseason team Thursday.

Kruger said his roster is more balanced this season, which was the coach’s goal when he again went swimming in the transfer portal. He wanted to alleviate some of Thomas’ ball-handling duties so his best player could have a little more freedom on the court when the season begins Nov. 4 against Alabama State.

“As cliché as it is, if we can focus on Nov. 4 and that game and do what we need to do get better from it and then focus on (our game) Nov. 9 (against Memphis) and do what we need to do and get better and so on, this is a group that in March can be in a conversation for a lot of great things,” Kruger said. “We just have to focus on what’s in front of us.”

They are picked fifth with much grander aspirations.

UNLV hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2013.

Forget the shirts with slogans is right. It’s time.

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.