Wednesday, July 29, 2026 | 2 a.m.
UNLV manager Josh Pastner went connected grounds with a surefire program to crook the Runnin’ Rebels hoops programme around: We request an owner.
“You tin beryllium the proprietor of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels men’s hoops team,” helium said. “You don’t person to walk implicit a cardinal dollars to ain our team. I’m asking for $10-12 million.”
The coach’s comments past week to KTNV-TV, the section ABC affiliate, fundamentally asking for donors to measurement up and money the program’s name, representation and likeness (NIL) budget, went viral connected societal media and brought immoderate unwanted attention.
It made the beforehand leafage of ESPN’s website. CBS besides ran a communicative connected its site. The assemblage went from endorsing the comments connected societal media to issuing a clarification.
“The Runnin’ Rebels are not for sale, and my notation to an ‘owner’ was meant to item the level of resources, sponsorships and wide enactment needed to vie successful today’s evolving assemblage athletics scenery — not to suggest anyone could ain the program,” the connection issued Monday day read.
A fewer hours later, the team’s societal channels had a nexus to donate to the diversion program.
We knew what we were getting erstwhile Pastner became the Rebels’ manager past spring: a ton of energy, the benignant of zeal for beingness that’s hard to replicate. That vigor has translated into a relentless effort to instrumentality the Rebels to their erstwhile glory — oregon astatine slightest extremity the team’s 13-year NCAA Tournament drought.
The lone mode to execute that is by gathering a winning roster. And successful this time and age, with NIL wealth drafting apical players to apical schools, the lone mode to physique a winning roster is to wage for it.
That, by Pastner’s ain estimate, is simply a $12 cardinal project.
Don’t responsibility Pastner for speaking the truth.
Yes, you could reason that the viral quality of his comments made arrogant UNLV look desperate.
But that statement doesn’t clasp water. Pastner was doing precisely what he’s expected to do: fundraising for his program.
Pastner speaking up is amended than him staying soundless and being satisfied with an NIL fund that’s astir 20% — champion conjecture — of what’s needed to beryllium among the apical assemblage programs.
Some coaches aren’t consenting ambassadors erstwhile it comes to selling their programs and gathering with boosters. Pastner knows his relation arsenic caput manager extends good beyond crippled days, and helium doesn’t backmost down from the fundraising portion of it.
That, frankly, is however it should be. We should beryllium celebrating his approach.
Here’s hoping this incidental doesn’t dampen Pastner’s tone oregon pb to him not being himself.
The over-the-top, full-of-energy Josh Pastner, who goes supra and beyond to archer everyone however large the Rebels are, is the cleanable idiosyncratic to resurrect a arrogant program.
Don’t judge that UNLV needs millions to compete? Look astatine BYU, which signed eventual No. 1 NBA draught prime AJ Dybantsa to a reported $7 cardinal NIL bundle — a reported $5 cardinal from the school’s corporate and $2 cardinal from partners similar Nike and Red Bull.
But BYU’s roster fell isolated implicit the people of the play owed to injuries. The squad mislaid successful the archetypal circular of the tournament.
Then determination are bluebloods similar Kentucky and Kansas — programs that person made splashes successful signing apical players, astir of whom haven’t delivered connected their fans’ dreams of NCAA Tournament hardware.
On the flip side, there’s St. John’s.
Billionaire Mike Repole, who co-founded the sports portion BodyArmor, is pouring wealth into the corporate supporting Rick Pitino’s program.
That concern helped nutrient a top-10 ranking and a Sweet 16 tourney tally successful 2026 for the Red Storm, and it helped Pitino instrumentality the programme from decades of disappointment to the verge of the Final Four. It helps that Pitino is simply a Hall of Fame manager who gets the astir retired of his roster.
Pastner surely made the astir of his roster successful his maiden UNLV season.
Freshman guardant Tyrin Jones averaged 11.9 points and 5 rebounds per crippled successful emerging arsenic a star. He got amended arsenic the play progressed, showing that Pastner and his unit tin make talent.
Jones surely demanded a precocious percent of UNLV’s NIL fund to stay, reaffirming Pastner’s statement for a fundraising push.
He sees the imaginable successful Las Vegas and doesn’t caput asking for donors.
Returning UNLV hoops to its erstwhile glory volition instrumentality immoderate creativity — thing Pastner has proven he’s not acrophobic to bring.
That unwanted attraction is amended than nary attraction astatine all.
English (US)·