UNLV assistant Carlin Hartman leaving for Florida

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Friday, April 1, 2022 | 2 a.m.

So much for a quiet offseason for UNLV basketball.

The program suffered an unexpected loss on Thursday when assistant coach Carlin Hartman accepted a similar position at Florida under new Gators coach Todd Golden.

Hartman took to Twitter to confirm the move:

Hartman was an integral part of Kevin Kruger’s first staff in 2021-22. They both served as assistants at Oklahoma under Lon Kruger, and when Kevin Kruger was named UNLV head coach in March of 2021 it only took him eight days to bring in Hartman as his top assistant.

Hartman took an involved approach to on-court coaching in practice and during games, and he lived up to his reputation as a persuasive recruiter by helping the Scarlet and Gray land a commitment from 4-star forward KyeRon Lindsay in the Class of 2022.

Lindsay’s fate is now in question, leaving UNLV fans in an unfortunately familiar position. Last offseason, top recruit Arthur Kaluma rescinded his commitment to the program when head coach T.J. Otzelberger bounced to Iowa State. Kaluma ended up at Creighton, where he started 30 games as a freshman and posted 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Lindsay did not respond to a request for comment. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 23.3 points and 11.6 rebounds this season as a senior at Guyer High School (Denton, Texas).

Hartman’s departure comes at an inopportune time for UNLV. In addition to the situation with Lindsay, the team is expected to pursue a handful of top targets in the transfer portal. Without Hartman to spearhead those efforts, UNLV may be at a recruiting disadvantage at the worst possible time.

Hartman and Golden previously coached together as assistants at Columbia from 2012 to 2014. In a late twist, on Thursday Hartman was reported to be a contender for the open head coaching position at San Diego.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.