LAS VEGAS — Chemistry can be a complicated thing.
Especially in this Wild West era of college athletics where roster turnover is fueled by NIL funding, transfer gates and coaches coming and going.
Josh Pastner says he was a pretty good chemistry student in high school. But as he enters his second year as UNLV’s head men’s basketball coach, he is making better progress in developing chemistry within his roster.
The problem is, he’s not sure what his dew looks like. AJ Storr, who would make a major impact on the Runnin’ Rebels, is still ineligible because Tennessee is trying to get the court to clear him to play. Storr, in the past five years, has played quinquent before St. John’s, Wisconsin, Kansas and Mississippi.
Storr was named to Wednesday’s All-Mountain West Preseason team along with sophomore forward Tyrin Jones at the Midday Conference in Basketball Palms. But he wasn’t on the court Wednesday night when UNLV hosted Utah at the Thomas & Mack Center in the first of a three-game exhibition. Neither was Jones, who was still recovering from arm-season shoulder surgery and had recently been cleared for contact.
UNLV was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain Preseason Poll behind New Mexico (179 points), Grand Canyon (178) and Nevada (148). The Rebels collected 125 points.
But when he was received, he challenged the chemist himself. Pastner took over for Kevin Kriiger last year and got a late start as a replacement. They got better as the season went on and finished 18-17 overall, 11-9 in the conference. And while it’s disappointing for sure, there’s a lesson in Pastner. And to be more successful, it means getting everyone on the same page together and working together.
“One way is to be ahead of everything,” Pastner said when asked how he would define building chemistry. “Be honest and transparent. This is what you have at work every day.”
He had the whole spring and summer to run. There are only two returning players in Jones and Isaac Williamson, so it’s almost like they’re starting for Pastner.
“We’re early,” Jones said of how the team is trying to develop chemistry from within. “We do together in a group. We will stay and talk practice and get to know each other.”
The pastor said: “Tyrin and Isaac are two great keys. They are here. They are coming.”
If Storr gets in, it will be a huge boost. And if freshman Jackson Kiss can deliver, he will certainly increase his chances of success. Kiss, a 6-8 native from New Zealand who played at Utah Prep, was named the MW preseason Freshman of the Year.
“I think he’s a fan favorite,” Pastner said of Kiss, who was coached by former Rebel and fellow Kiwi Mark Dickel in Utah. “The more he does, the better he will get.”
And while trying to deal with escalating sports costs and dealing with legislative oversight with NIL — and Nevada senators are voting yes on the bill — coaches like Pastner need to deal with the present.
Back in July, he said in an interview with a local television station that maybe someone would buy the Runnin’ Rebels brand for billions to invest in an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas and set it up to the tune of $10 million to $12 million or somewhere in the neighborhood. The comment took some heat, but if you think about it, it’s not a far-fetched idea.
Basically, it already exists where a person can start an affluent program. Think of Mike Repole, who founded Vitaminwater and Bodyarmor and is worth $2.5 billion and helps his alma mater in St. John’s with his NIL needs.
But when it’s time to start, Pastner turns his attention to what’s happening on the court. Wednesday night saw the Rebels fall to Utah, 79-69 in the first of three show tuneups and not a lot of people were there to watch it. The reported crowd was 3,175 and he was probably a third of that number.
Last year, UNLV averaged just 5,374 at home last season. And in an 18,000-seat building like Thomas & Mack, that makes sure no one is there to be seen and looked at.
And when you consider that home court teams like New Mexico, Grand Canyon and Hawaii enjoy and even Nevada leaving UNLV in attendance at home (The Wolf Pack averaged 8,133 at the 11,536-seat Lawlor Events Center), serving at home now challenges the Rebels.
“We don’t have a party,” Pastner said. “We need to win. We need to be excited. We have to think outside the box with our presentation in the game. We want the family of five to have such an experience at our games that they want to come back.”
They may return to the Sebastian Mack show. The senior guard from Chicago finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. The sophomore guard, Cam Milo, had 16 points, but neither was effective with the shots. Mack needed 22 shots to make 25 of 25 while Milo was only 6 of 14 from the floor.
“Sebastian had 12 points in the first half on 13 shots and was ineffective,” Pastner said. “Much better in the middle – 5 of 7.”
The Rebels have struggled on the offensive line in recent years and Wednesday was more of the same. UNLV was 15 of 29 from the field for just 51.7 percent. And in the first half there was also a lack of defense. Uta was 9 of 21 from long range in the 20 minutes before UNLV pinned and held the Utes to just 1-of-11 shooting in the half.
“There’s a lot to clean up,” said Pastner, who has 17 days to get things right before his team faces BYU on Oct. 24 and then Missouri on Oct. 29.