UNLV to retire ex-player Robert Smith’s jersey Saturday

Kevin Kruger has faced challenges in his first season as UNLV’s basketball coach.

With 10 new transfers, Kruger needed to implement a new system, encourage chemistry between his players and establish a culture. The Rebels are starting to show progress in the first two areas, but for the final one, he said it’s been about teaching players about the program’s legacy.

“We talk a lot about how there’s no such thing as a former Rebel,” Kruger said. “You might’ve been a former player, a former student, former coach, whatever, but there’s no such thing as a former Rebel.”

On Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center, Kruger and his players will have front-row seats to see some of the history he’s been teaching. The Rebels (15-11, 7-6 Mountain West) will retire former point guard Robert Smith’s No. 10 jersey at halftime of their game against Colorado State (21-3, 11-3).

Part of the famed “Hardway Eight,” Smith helped guide UNLV to the 1977 Final Four, the first appearance in program history. He averaged 10.4 points and 4.8 assists in his three-year career under legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian, then played seven seasons in the NBA.

Smith returned to UNLV in 2009 as the analyst for the team’s radio broadcast, a role he held for 10 years. In October 2019, he suffered a debilitating stroke. One of Kruger’s first decisions as coach was to hold a fundraiser to help Smith and his family pay for medical bills.

Smith is expected to attend Saturday’s ceremony.

Senior swingman Bryce Hamilton, one of the few players who has been at UNLV for more than a season, remembers having good conversations with Smith when he was a broadcaster.

“He was a big-time player here,” Hamilton said. “There’s a lot of alumni who came to this school and watched us play, talked to us and stuff. It’s something that we take pride in. Everybody knows UNLV is really big here.”

Kruger has invited UNLV coaches and former players to talk about the program they represent. Women’s basketball coach Lindy La Roque, men’s tennis coach Owen Hambrook and football coach Marcus Arroyo have spoken to the team. So has Wink Adams, Kruger’s teammate at UNLV.

Fifth-year forward Royce Hamm Jr. said the talks have given him a better understanding of the culture Kruger wants to reinstate.

“Everyone just tells me about UNLV history and about the fans and about the excitement the (Thomas & Mack Center) brings when it’s sold out and we’re winning,” Hamm said. “You can tell it means a lot to the UNLV and Las Vegas community, and I really just want to get that back.”

In the Rebels’ first meeting with Colorado State this season, Hamilton scored a career-high 42 points in an 88-74 road victory.

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.