Rebels fans hit clearance racks for bargains, history

By Ryan Greene, Rob Miech

Saturday, April 18, 2009 | 4:45 p.m.

The black Beas Hamga long-sleeve workout shirt, with the former center’s No. 22 scrawled on the inside tag, fell to the young man’s ankles.

Another man cradled a No. 9 baseball jersey. Maybe, just maybe, Matt Williams wore the thing.

A UNLV student cherished the No. 98 Rebels football jersey he had just bought. As a sophomore in high school, he got called up to the varsity for one game. He was given No. 98.

Former UNLV basketball player Richard Box even rummaged through the mounds of clothing and piles of jerseys Saturday morning at Rebel Park in the athletic department’s first clearance sale of old gear.

Maybe, just maybe, Box would find a practice jersey from when he wore No. 14 for the Rebels from 1979 to 1982. He loaded up on garb for his wife and three children.

“I have my old jersey, but this is so cool,” he said. “There’s all kinds of stuff, a great variety, and it’s all quality. It’s great for everybody.”

For UNLV fans, Saturday was like the day after Thanksgiving, a scarlet-and-gray mad run on all the gear that had been collecting dust in the 30-foot-high storage area at the rear of the Lied Athletic Complex.

Senior associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie opened the gates to Rebel Park about 90 minutes earlier than the advertised 11 a.m. start time to accommodate the gathering masses.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick was around at 3 p.m. as fans continued picking through the piles and sifting through the racks.

“Can you believe that?” Hamrick said. “When we opened the gates, it was kinda funny. Several people ran in to try to grab the best stuff. I’ve never seen anything like that.

“I have no idea how much money we made, but it had to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. All that stuff will be out in the community promoting UNLV. I didn’t think half that amount would show.”

Hamrick said every penny of the sale goes into the UNLV student-athlete scholarship fund.

With the tough economy and budget tightening, it’s a windfall. But USA Today erred in drawing a direct link to the clearance sale and UNLV padding its bottom line.

The sale had been in the works for two years. With every UNLV athletic program now wearing, or playing with, Nike equipment, that made all of its adidas, Russell, New Balance and Easton gear expendable. Koloskie and Hamrick said it might be repeated every two years.

The happiest people at Rebel Park might have been Paul Pucciarelli and Rocky Rutledge, who handle the equipment for every Rebels team.

Then again, David Foote Jr. beamed as he unveiled the No. 9 baseball jersey that he unearthed from a mound of cotton and polyester apparel.

Look at the “Nevada” all spelled out, he said, with “Las Vegas” scripted below it. It bore a Big West Conference logo on a sleeve. It cost $30.

“It sure looks like it’s from the 1980s,” he said. “From what we heard, everything out there was way old.”

Foote’s father, David Sr., sent him the clearance e-mail Monday. Tuesday, junior told senior he would head east from his home in Encino, Calif., to load up on Rebels merchandise.

A license-plate frame and beer-bottle koozie went for a dollar apiece. One of former basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian’s books sold for five bucks. The variety of items and supply seemed endless.

“We got other shirts for five bucks,” said David Jr. “You can’t buy a shirt like that in a store, and I’d rather support an athletic department with my money. You help the teams and get authentic stuff.”

The Associated Press even ran an item on the sale during the week.

“The publicity was outstanding,” Koloskie said. “We heard from people in Florida and New York, all over.”

Former Rebels basketball players John Welch, Stacey Augmon and Anderson Hunt, and a few baseball players, called Koloskie to inquire about purchasing their old jerseys.

Current football players Ben Jaekle and Tate Knutson strolled their usual practice field to survey what was on the tables and hangers.

“We never had an opportunity to do this, but when we switched to Nike … ” Koloskie said. “It’s a good deal for us and it’s stuff you can’t get in a store.”

Fans started lining up outside the Rebel Park gate at 8 a.m. They sat in lawn chairs and some couldn’t wait to sprint to the spoils. The event spilled into a seventh hour when Hamrick bolted.

He had been splitting time between watching the UNLV women’s tennis team clinch a league crown over BYU and marveling at the hordes of people who couldn’t get enough Rebels items.

“That’s thousands of pieces of clothing and stuff that will be out in the community that has UNLV Rebels on it,” Hamrick said. “That’s special. Those are good Rebels fans and good people who think a lot of the program. We’re happy that they’re happy and they got a good deal.

“And it’s stuff that Big Rocky and ‘Poochie’ don’t have to worry about anymore.”