UNLV basketball’s Laird considered up-and-comer in coaching ranks

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Tuesday, June 6, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Preston Laird had a few seasons remaining in his college basketball career when he started plotting his next move in the game.

Josh Pastner, his head coach at Memphis, was only 31 years old when he got the job, being elevated after John Calipari left for Kentucky. Laird, now in his second season as UNLV’s director of basketball operations, was determined to follow a similar path.

Laird, then a Memphis junior, made the drive to Atlanta for the prestigious Peach Jam AAU tournament, an event during the open-college recruiting period that is scouted by a who’s who of coaches. He wore a Memphis coach’s polo and was aggressive in meeting those in basketball circles — everyone from coaches and assistants, to players and AAU officials — to expand his network. The project, of course, required approval from Pastner and Memphis’ compliance department.

It was quite the undertaking for a 20-year-old.

Then again, Laird isn't your typical twentysomething up-and-comer in the coaching ranks. In April, he was selected as one of the Under Armour 30-under-30 honorees by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

“I saw (Pastner’s) journey and it inspired me a little bit,” Laird, 26, said. “The plan is to be a head coach at the Division I level at some point. That is the dream. You have to be good. You have to be lucky. You have to know the right people.”

Laird appears to know the right people, including former UNLV assistant coach Ryan Miller, who indirectly helped him land in Las Vegas. Laird learned from Calipari, who offered him a walk-on spot out of high school, during his freshman year at Memphis, and later from Pastner, who is now at Georgia Tech and considered one of the game’s best recruiters.

Laird worked camps for former Memphis Grizzlies player Mike Miller’s AAU team after college, leading to a relationship with Ryan Miller, Mike’s brother. Ryan was coaching at New Mexico and recommended Laird for a spot at rival New Mexico State, where UNLV coach Marvin Menzies was building the Western Athletic Conference’s best program.

When Menzies left for UNLV, he brought Laird with him.

“Everybody’s path and journey in this thing is so different. There is not one way to skin a cat,” Laird said. “I have put my career in coach Menzies’ hands. I appreciate everything he has done for me at this point. He cares for his players and staff in the same way he cares for his family.”

Laird’s role as director of basketball operations is strictly administrative and mostly behind the scenes, meaning he’s not coaching. Rather, he’s in charge of academics, booking travel, coordinating community appearances and housing, among other duties.

For someone who dreams of being a head coach, and sooner than later, this could be considered a job that won’t help with advancement. Laird, though, doesn’t share that opinion. Being at UNLV, especially with Menzies watching over him, puts him in a solid footing for his career.

“I tell people my job is to handle everything outside of basketball,” he said. “It is tough because basketball is why I got into it, but it gives me a good perspective on what it takes to run a program. That’s invaluable.”

In Laird’s first year at Memphis it won the conference championship and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. At one point during his career, they nearly had a 30-game winning streak. When he got to New Mexico State, it was in the middle of three straight WAC championship seasons.

At UNLV, it’s a different story. The Rebels were historically bad last season in Menzies’ inaugural season and building a winner won’t be easy.

That’s what excites Laird and why he considers UNLV a spot to continue learning the profession.

“It was big for me in the sense that everywhere I had been the program was already established, it was already rolling,” he said. “When I came to UNLV, Menzies told me, ‘Preston this will be different. We will have to build this thing. It is going to take time. We are going to have to grind it out and get in the trenches.’

“I told him, ‘Coach, that is what I am most excited about — to put your stamp on something.’ That is why we are involved in sports. We want to be part of something that is bigger than ourselves.”

The 30-under-30 award was just the beginning of Laird’s memorable spring. He recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, former Memphis cheerleader Bethany Humphrey. Humphrey, a teacher at Somerset Academy in Henderson, appears to also be excelling in her career, too. She has 80,000 Instagram followers and writes an education blog on topics such as classroom management.

“We are teaching a different subject area,” Laird said. “She is so motivated and driven that she inspires me. She works really hard at being a teacher, which allows me to work hard being a coach.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21