After another lost season, where does UNLV basketball go from here?

UNLV’s season-ending 70-58 loss to Utah State on Thursday seemed to carry more weight than a typical farewell game.

The Scarlet and Gray battled despite an injury-shortened rotation, but as Utah State pulled away, the bigger picture came into focus. And for UNLV it’s a picture of uncertainty.

Twelve straight years without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Eleven straight years of being eliminated before reaching the Mountain West tournament semifinals.

A head coach on the hottest of hot seats.

A highly paid superstar dangling in the wind just 10 days before the opening of the transfer portal.

In short, another lost season for UNLV basketball.

So, where does the program go from here? A quick offseason primer:

Coaching concerns

What happens with Kevin Kruger? That will be the main story over the next few days as UNLV athletic director Erick Harper mulls his options.

Kruger’s tenure has been a disappointment so far. UNLV has failed to make the NCAA Tournament in his four years at the helm, and they haven’t contended in the Mountain West either, losing in the quarterfinals of the league tournament every season. UNLV obviously aspires to be better than that.

There is a complicating factor, however. Kruger signed an extension after his first season that runs through 2026-27 at $800,000 per year. If he is fired before June, UNLV will owe him $2.35 million. That’s a lot of money; in fact, it’s more than double what the school’s highest paid coach made (T.J. Otzelberger, $1.2 million).

Is that enough to give Harper pause? Or will his decision be strictly performance-based?

Kruger clearly had a tournament-caliber roster in 2023-24 but underperformed. The talent level dipped this year, but 18 wins and a rather routine quarterfinal exit was not what anyone had in mind.

Working in Kruger’s favor was the way his team played down the stretch as injuries continued to pare the rotation. The Scarlet and Gray continued to compete and notched some impressive victories without D.J. Thomas; even in the loss to Utah State, UNLV was the more physical team and left it all on the court.

Senior Jalen Hill gave something of an endorsement during the postgame press conference, pointing to Kruger as a coach for whom prospective recruits would want to play.

“For everybody that’s from Vegas or wants to come here, I would say it’s a great team, a great program to come to,” Hill said. “The coach is going to fight for you every single day.”

Kruger did not directly address his job status, but did say that coaching a shorthanded squad down the stretch was a learning opportunity for him.

“I told the seniors I could not be more appreciative of them,” Kruger said. “Yeah, there’s a little bit of a what-if, but as a coach, there’s a lot of things I’ll be able to take for the rest of my career.”

Harper has a history of moving quickly after the conclusion of the season. We should know in the next 24 to 48 hours whether UNLV is in the market for a new coach.

D.J. heads to free agency

Whoever is coaching the team next year, being able to build around Thomas would provide a big head start. But is it likely?

Thomas saw a slight drop in his play this season (15.6 points, 4.7 assists, 41.3 FG%) and missed the final seven games due to a shoulder injury, but none of that is going to dampen his market this offseason. He will have a lot of suitors once free agency begins (aka the transfer portal) and UNLV faces an uphill battle to keep him.

Thomas earned more than $200,000 as a freshman, and his salary more than doubled this year, according to a source, but he will likely field a bunch of offers that will be more lucrative than what UNLV’s NIL collective can throw at him.

Hill said Thomas stayed very engaged with the team while sidelined, and he appeared active on the bench during Thursday’s game, celebrating big plays and getting involved in timeout huddles.

The portal opens March 24, and all eyes will be on Thomas once it does.

Fitness lags

For the second straight year, UNLV had multiple starters come into the season out of shape, and for the second straight year it proved to be a major hindrance on the court.

The last time UNLV entered a season at an acceptable fitness level was 2022-23, when the team had the benefit of 10 extra practices during the summer and a foreign exhibition tour leading into preseason. Given that ramp-up, the Scarlet and Gray raced out to a 10-0 start and were receiving Top 25 votes, which highlights the importance of being in good shape.

UNLV is going to have to prioritize its offseason workout program. It may take a major overhaul, but it has to be done. There are too many good teams in the Mountain West (and the nonconference schedule) to expect to roll out the balls in training camp and beat quality opponents who take conditioning seriously.

Roster revamp

UNLV only graduates two seniors in forward Jalen Hill and guard Julian Rishwain. Guard Jailen Bedford is also a senior, but he gained at least one more year of eligibility during the season due to the NCAA’s waiver for junior-college products.

If Kruger is retained, his first priority will be to turn around and retain the guys he wants.

He said he will meet with players individually in the coming days to begin the process of sorting out the 2025-26 roster.

“It’s a whole different world than it used to be,” Kruger said. “Of course we’ll give them some time to decompress and then we’ll have those conversations.”

Those conversations will undoubtedly begin with Thomas, who is always the top priority, and right behind him is Jaden Henley. The junior wing came on strong at the end of the season after taking on more ball-handling duties and could be poised for a big senior campaign if UNLV can keep him on board.

As for the frontcourt, junior center Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry could have anywhere from one to three years of eligibility remaining, as could senior forward Rob Whaley (both depending on how the NCAA interprets the juco ruling). Cherry was productive if limited (10.1 points, 5.3 rebounds); Whaley’s situation is more complicated.

The burly 6-foot-7 bruiser was poised to be one of UNLV’s cornerstones this season, but a back injury forced him to miss the final 31 games. Whaley can get a medical redshirt for this season and possibly two more juco add-on years, but will UNLV want to keep him given his health concerns? It’s a risk-reward proposition.

Kruger said he does want to establish continuity, and that rebuilding the roster from scratch over the course of an offseason is not the way to win.

“We’ve also got a great opportunity to retain a lot of guys,” Kruger said. “Retention right now in college basketball has shown teams that have good retention rates and guys that come back that were impactful and want to be back, when you add a transfer or two, are usually the teams that have a lot of success.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.