Analysis: UNLV makes a forward-thinking hire with T.J. Otzelberger

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, March 29, 2019 | 2 a.m.

T.J. Otzelberger persevered through a shaky takeoff to scout out potential subdivisions and schools Thursday afternoon as he circled Las Vegas as a passenger in a helicopter.

This wasn’t how the 41-year-old envisioned his preliminary house-hunting mission going, let alone how he anticipated his tenure as the UNLV basketball coach beginning. It also wasn’t an experience he would trade.

Otzelberger described the ride that concluded with a landing in front of the Thomas & Mack Cetner to usher him into his introductory press conference to great fanfare as “unique” and “a blast.” It fit exactly with the type of larger opportunity UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois promised in the interview process over the last week.

“The first conversation I had with Desiree, I could sense her energy, passion and enthusiasm,” Otzelberger recounted. “(It was), ‘Let’s do something bold and courageous.’ I didn’t know it would lead me into a helicopter.”

Bold and courageous.

That might be the best description of UNLV’s decision to sign Otzelberger away from South Dakota State with a five-year, $6.5 million contract and immediately make him the highest-paid coach in the Mountain West Conference. Reed-Francois wanted to try something new for her first major hire, a logical desire given the rut the Rebels have endured for the last several years.

It’s time for a program often too fixated on the past to propel into the future.

To achieve that, it needed a forward-thinking coach. Otzelberger is a forward-thinking coach. The only question now is if he’s the right forward-thinking coach.

His resumé offers both clear plusses and cautionary marks. It was a celebratory day packed with supporters in the Mack’s Strip View Pavilion, so let’s start with the positives.

Most important, there’s no overstating the offensive success Otzelberger achieved while leading the Jackrabbits to two conference titles and two NCAA Tournament berths in three years at the helm. While his Rebels’ predecessor Marvin Menzies arrived with somewhat of a throwback reputation for developing and playing through big men, Otzelberger is on the other end of the spectrum with a more modern approach.

This year’s South Dakota State team was second in the nation in effective field goal percentage and 43 percent of its field goal attempts were 3-pointers over the last three seasons, according to kenpom.com. The latter is territory UNLV has never broached despite holding the all-too-obsessed-over 32-year streak with at least one made 3-pointer in every game.

“We’ve been elite among college basketball from an offensive standpoint,” Otzelberger said. “I’m confident with these young men right here we can emulate some of these same characteristics. We’re going to play up tempo. There’s going to be a discipline to it, but it’s going to be with a lot of confidence, a lot of freedom, a lot of ability for these guys to utilize their creative talents.”

Skeptics — of which there are many among the UNLV fan base — are saying Otzelberger needed to show more proof of his offensive bona fides after inheriting one of the nation’s most prolific scorers, Mike Daum, at South Dakota State.

Unfortunately, that’s not how this works. It’s another case of perception trumping reality as it pertains to UNLV.

The reality is UNLV is a mid-major program — perhaps an attractive mid-major with a higher-than-average ceiling, but a mid-major no less — and if Otzelberger had succeeded to greater heights post-Daum, he would have likely coached himself into a power-conference job.

It’s a moot point anyway because UNLV required a coach now. If Reed-Francois determined Otzelberger was the ideal choice, she had to secure him.

Her entire legacy in her current position will come down to this hire, so make no mistake — Otzelberger was her ideal choice.

“Quite simply, T.J. is the leader at the right time for UNLV, and I’m so confident that the opportunity for greatness is right around the corner,” Reed-Francois said.

For a UNLV basketball event, there was relatively little talk about history. Sure, Otzelberger made a few obligatory comments about emulating Stacey Augmon as a child growing up in Wisconsin, looking forward to the upcoming 30-year anniversary of the 1990 national championship and welcoming former players.

But the overall tone was thankfully much more geared toward where the Rebels are going than where they have been. Otzelberger even declared that “one day” they will compete for another national championship.

It was a proclamation that practically demands cynicism.

Otzelberger described his coaching philosophy as a meld of traits he picked up from serving as an assistant under Greg McDermott and Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State. Both those coaches consistently fielded teams that flew offensively but struggled to stop opponents from also doing so, and the same was true of Otzelberger’s South Dakota State teams.

In his 10 years with the Cyclones, Otzelberger saw one Sweet 16. That doesn’t bode well for the prospects of taking a UNLV program currently in far lower standing even further.

Those are the types of pledges fans want to hear, however, and a welcome change from the ultra-patient mindset Menzies begged. The expectations have risen, a fact that was evident long before UNLV staged its spectacle of delivering Otzelberger in a helicopter.

At least his stint with the Rebels should mirror his arrival — something totally new.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.