UNLV Head Coach Search: Latest News, Rumors on Vacant Position

Following the sudden departure of Chris Beard, UNLV is in the market for a new head men's basketball coach, and the search has already begun.Continue for updates.George Karl, UNLV Reportedly in DiscussionsFriday, April 15According to Dan Wolken ofUSA Today, veteran NBA head coach George Karl is interested in the UNLV job, and he has already spoken with school officials.Beard departed UNLV for Texas Tech on Friday, per ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman, less than a week after officially being named the Runnin' Rebels head coach.Karl was fired as head coach of the Sacramento Kings on Thursday after parts of two seasons with the team, going just 44-68, perESPN.com.According toWolken, UNLV contacted Karl when Beard began conversations with Texas Tech. It isn't the first time that the two sides have spoken, as Karl nearly took the UNLV job in 2004 before joining the Denver Nuggets.Karl's time in Sacramento was tumultuous to say the least, as he never meshed properly with star big man DeMarcus Cousins, and Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com isn't convinced UNLV would be the best fit for the 64-year-old:While Karl has never been a head coach at the collegiate level, he has extensive NBA experience in that role with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors, the then-Seattle SuperSonics, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Nuggets and the Kings.He has a career record of 1,175-824 across 27 seasons, and he helped his teams reach the playoffs on 22 different occasions.As a former NBA Head Coach of the Year, Karl has name recognition and an impressive track record, which should help both in terms of landing recruits and garnering the respect of players.While losing Beard so abruptly could be viewed as a major blow to the program, landing Karl would likely be an even bigger coup for a UNLV team that has missed the NCAA tournament in each of the past three seasons.Follow@MikeChiarion Twitter.
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