T.J. Otzelberger, new UNLV men’s basketball coach, exits a Papillon helicopter for a news conference at the Thomas & Mack Center Thursday, March 28, 2019.
Thursday, April 4, 2019 | 12:35 p.m.
The Rebel Room
TJO-cast
Ray Brewer, Mike Grimala and Case Keefer discuss UNLV's hire of T.J. Otzelberger. What are the expectations? What players can he realistically keep? Will he jump to another job at the first sign of success? All those topics and more are covered.
The Runnin’ Rebels will head back to Hawaii in 2020, this time to take part in the prestigious Maui Invitational.
The field for the 2020 tournament was announced today, and UNLV was one of eight confirmed participants, along with North Carolina, Texas, Indiana, Stanford, Alabama, Providence and Davidson.
Though no dates were announced, the Maui Invitational is traditionally played during Thanksgiving week.
UNLV traveled to the islands last season to play in the Diamond Head Classic, where the Rebels defeated Hawaii before losing to Indiana State and Bucknell.
The last time UNLV participated in the Maui Invitational was the 2015-16 season. That team, which was led by former head coach Dave Rice, lost its first game to UCLA before rebounding with wins over Chaminade and Indiana.
UNLV’s non-conference schedule has not been announced for the upcoming 2019-20 season, but there are three confirmed games as the back end of home-and-home agreements. The Rebels will host Illinois and travel to Cincinnati and BYU.
At his introductory press conference, new head coach T.J. Otzelberger expressed his intention to upgrade UNLV’s schedule going forward. Though the Maui trip was in the works long before he was hired, the opportunity to play potentially elite competition should fit into his long-term plan.
“We will schedule high-quality opponents to raise the profile of this program,” Otzelberger said.
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