Just a day after UNLV lost its new coach, the Runnin' Rebels have hired a new one.
According to an announcement Saturday, Marvin Menzies, the coach at New Mexico State, has agreed to coach the UNLV basketball team. A contract will be submitted to the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents for review and approval.
UNLV had hired Chris Beard of Arkansas-Little Rock just two weeks ago. On Thursday, it was announced he was exploring the Texas Tech opening where he had previously been an assistant coach. Then on Friday, UNLV officially announced he was leaving.
Meanwhile, Menzies, 54, comes back to Las Vegas after nine years as the head coach at New Mexico State. Under his direction the Aggies have appeared in the postseason each of the last five seasons and six of the last seven years.
Menzies led NMSU to its fifth straight 20-win season in 2015-16, and seventh in eight years, as it was 23-11 overall and 13-1 in conference play. The Aggies have won 35 straight home conference games, which is the second-longest such streak in the nation.
This past season, NMSU won its second straight outright regular-season Western Athletic Conference Championship, which led to a berth in the NIT after falling in the conference tournament’s title game on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
From 2012-15, Menzies led his team to four straight WAC Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament berths.
Menzies owns a career record of 198-111 (.641) over nine seasons as a Division I head coach and he has gone 103-37 (.736) in conference play. In 2015, Menzies was named the WAC Coach of the Year.
He was hired to lead the program in Las Cruces in 2007 after spending two seasons (2005-07) as an assistant coach under Rick Pitino at Louisville. Prior to joining the Cardinals’ staff, Menzies spent one year (2004-05) at UNLV under Lon Kruger.
Before his time at UNLV, Menzies was at USC for a season (2003-04) under Henry Bibby, and he spent four years (1999-03) at San Diego State under Steve Fisher.
Menzies earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from UCLA in 1987 and a master’s degree in education from Sacramento State in 2003. He and his wife, Tammy, have a daughter, Andreanna, and a son, Andre.
