Rob Jeter Goes to UNLV; Bo Ryan Praises Pick

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UNLV has announced Rob Jeter, former UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball coach, as its new assistant coach, a hire which drew immediate praise from former Badgers coach Bo Ryan, who praised Jeter’s recruiting, coaching, and people skills. Marvin Menzies, head coach for UNLV, has also hired Andre Lefleur and Eric Brown as associate head coaches.

Jeter confirmed the hire on Twitter Thursday, thanking supporters and expressing excitement. He changed his Twitter handle to @CoachJeterUNLV. He hadn’t posted since March 14, three days before he was fired as UW-Milwaukee’s men’s basketball coach.

“After a very thorough process, I am extremely pleased with the staff that we were able to put together,” UNLV head coach Marvin Menzies said on the UNLV website. “Andre, Rob and Eric are three tremendous individuals and they will become a big part of the Las Vegas community immediately. They will fit perfectly into the plans we have for Runnin’ Rebel basketball moving forward.”

He touted Jeter’s recruiting talents.

“Everything from style of play, to recruiting, to coaching, were considered with all candidates and with the experience that these three bring along with their contacts and ability to recruit all over the United States, I feel like we knocked the ball out of the park.”

Jeter photo by Dan Zielinski.
Jeter photo by Dan Zielinski.

The UNLV press statement included a quote praising Jeter by former Badgers’ coach Bo Ryan: “Rob is one of the most competitive people I have ever been around,” Ryan said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge with coaching on the floor with all positions and he can recruit. He helped establish our program at Wisconsin to where it was and he has done a little bit of everything in coaching. He is great with people as well.”

The raves over Jeter’s Milwaukee performance – the highlights of which were also shared by UNLV – stood in sharp contrast to UW-Milwaukee Athletic Director Amanda Braun’s controversial termination of Jeter because she said the team didn’t meet expectations. Jeter was also getting rave reviews on social media Thursday.

Jeter was fired by  Braun on March 17. Jeter’s firing caused a lot of tension and controversy from players to fans; even former employees such as Bill Johnson, former play-by-play announcer of the basketball team, weighed in, the latter in a heated Instagram post.

Jeter has an overall winning record of 185-170 in the 11 years with the Panthers. Some of his accomplishments include four postseason games. Two of them were in the NCAA tournament.

This season, UWM finished 20-13. Braun announced that she would not let the team compete in the postseason tournaments because the team wasn’t in the top three in the Horizon League. The Jeter firing was followed by an exodus of players seeking transfers.

The UNLV press statement summed up Jeter’s career this way:

“Before becoming head coach at Milwaukee, Jeter wan an assistant under legendary head coach Bo Ryan at both Wisconsin (2001-05) and UWM (1999-01). He was also an assistant at Marquette (1998-99, under Mike Deane) and an assistant at Wisconsin-Platteville under Ryan (1994-98). He has been part of nine conference championships and two national titles as a coach. In his 11 years as an assistant coach, his teams posted a 245-85 (.743) combined overall record and a 126-46 (.733) mark in league play.

Jeter played college basketball at UW-Platteville under Ryan, captaining his team to the 1991 NCAA Division III title as a senior, and is a graduate of the school. He also earned a master’s degree from there in 2001.”

UWM hired LaVall Jordan as the head coach for the upcoming season. This is UWM’s 4th head coach over the last year. In an interview after the Jeter firing with Media Milwaukee, Braun defended it, saying, “You have to evaluate; did we meet or exceed the expectations for the program this year? Fifth place in conference is not what we aspire to be, and that was not the standard we set.”

As for the other UNLV hires, “LaFleur has been the associate head coach at Providence under head coach Ed Cooley for the last five seasons,” said the UNLV press statement and “Brown spent the last nine years as an assistant coach at Long Beach State.”