ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When Craig Neal arrived in Albuquerque for the 2007-08 basketball season as the top assistant in charge of running the UNM Lobos offense, he began to form a bond with one of his peers.
At rival BYU at that time was assistant coach Dave Rice, another offensive-oriented assistant who also had head coaching aspirations in the Mountain West.
“Dave and I have become friends since then,” said Neal. “He was a guy I was really happy for when he got a head coaching opportunity in our league.”
That opportunity was at UNLV, where Rice, a former Rebels player, had his tenure four and half seasons as head coach come to an end earlier this month, pushed out after what program boosters felt was under performance of several talented rosters.