4 Things We Love ҳ| 鶹ýӳ Lindy
When she was hired three years ago, Lindy La Rocque, then 30, was the second youngest head coach in Division I women’s basketball. Clearly her background as an assistant coach at Belmont and Stanford prepared her for a top job.
- Rebels rising — UNLV went 15-9, including 13-5 in Mountain West Conference play, in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, La Rocque’s debut. For an encore, La Rocque led the Rebels to 26 wins and their first conference title since 1994. This past season, UNLV won a program-record 31 games. La Rocque was named conference coach of the year in 2021 and 2023.
- Dancing again — The Lady Rebels have now played in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments after a 20-year absence. UNLV, an 11th seed, fell in the opening round in March to a Michigan team that had made the Elite Eight the previous season. La Rocque’s career trajectory thus far suggests an NCAA Tournament breakthrough isn’t far off.
- Stacking wins —Prior to the loss to the Wolverines, the Lady Rebels put together a nation’s-best 22-game win streak. UNLV was 18-0 in conference play this season and didn’t lose at home. In February, the Lady Rebels entered the AP Top 25 for the first time in 29 years.
- She's a native — Long before winning a pair of Mountain West Tournaments, La Rocque and her sister, Ally La Rocque Connelly (director of women’s basketball at Kansas State) were ball girls at the tournament. She later played for her father, Al, who coached boys and girls basketball teams at Durango High School. Lindy La Rocque was the valedictorian of her high school class.
Loop to Connect UNLV
The unanimous approval of the sale of 1.3 acres near the Thomas & Mack Center will clear the way for a new Vegas Loop station on campus. The 29-mile tunnel will connect UNLV to its stations throughout the resort corridor, Las Vegas Convention Center, and Harry Reid International Airport.
The university system’s Board of Regents OK’d the deal with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company in March. The 1.3-acre parcel is located in the Thomas & Mack parking lot near the Tropicana Garage, according to the Regents briefing report.
The Boring Company plans to complete the Vegas Loop system by 2026. The UNLV stop may also connect students and fans to Allegiant Stadium, where UNLV football plays, once the project is further built out.
UNLV Benefits from Aztecs' March Win
San Diego State’s unexpected NCAA Tournament success means extra money for all Mountain West Conference schools for years to come.
When the Aztecs advanced all the way to the April 3 national championship game (a 76-59 loss to Connecticut), they swelled the conference’s share of the tournament’s largesse.
The NCAA’s $11 billion television rights deal for the tournament, signed in 2010, is divided into “units” and doled out to conferences with participating teams.
San Diego State, alone, earned five units. With UNR, Boise State, and Utah State each appearing in one tournament game, the Mountain West netted eight units in total.
With each game projected to be worth around $2 million, according to the website Sportico, that means a $16 million haul for the Mountain West. That translates to almost $1.5 million for each of the 11 member schools, more than $240,000 a year from 2024-29.
Fabulous Five
Five UNLV football seniors capped their final seasons with a special academic award.
The National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society in April recognized linebacker Austin Ajiake, long snapper Rex Goossen, wide receiver Nick Williams, and defensive linemen Eliel Ehimare and Tavis Malakius, all of whom maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better.
