It's no accident every story written about first-year UNLV coach Dave Rice last season celebrated the Rebels' long-overdue return to the blistering pace that was once a trademark of the program's glory days.

Rice carefully crafted that message, highlighting UNLV's freewheeling style and rich tradition as much as possible because he believed that was his best recruiting sales pitch.

He vowed to put the "Runnin'" back in Rebels during his introductory press conference. He spearheaded a clever marketing campaign that fit the new rapid-fire style. And he proved the "Let's Run" billboards, print ads and TV spots were more than a mere hollow slogan by giving his players the freedom to push the ball and to shoot early in the shot clock every chance they had.

"Winning will always be the most important thing on the court, but in our first year I really thought if winning was 1A, then style of play was 1B," Rice said. "I thought it was important for us to brand our program, to talk about being the Runnin' Rebels again and to back it up."

Even though the prospects Rice pursued this year weren't even born until well after UNLV's most recent Final Four appearance in 1991, the idea of restoring the program's former style and swagger still resonated with recruits. UNLV signed a consensus top 10 recruiting class this year and landed a trio of big-time transfers, raising hopes that the Rebels can be a major presence in college basketball again as soon as next season.

Katin Reinhardt, a sweet-shooting consensus top 50 guard, was the first marquee recruit to buy into Rice's plan. Coveted Pittsburgh transfer Khem Birch and McDonald's All-American Anthony Bennett followed suit in the coming months. Now the roster is such an embarrassment of riches that Rice has broached the idea of redshirting with recent signee Savon Goodman, a rarity for a top 75 prospect.

What sparked interest in UNLV for many of those players was the Rebels' stunning 90-80 victory over top-ranked North Carolina last November. Between the tempo of the game, the caliber of opponent and the sight of throngs of red-clad fans pouring onto the court to celebrate afterward, the victory served as a nationally televised two-hour showcase for Rice's vision for UNLV basketball.

"I saw how they were playing, and I was like, 'Wow,'" Birch said. "They were running up and down, rebounding and scoring, and I was like, 'That's the kind of system I like. That's the type of team I want to play for.'"

With all-conference forward Mike Moser, slashing point guard Anthony Marshall and defensive stopper Justin Hawkins returning and a glut of new talent set to arrive, the toughest challenge Rice may face next season is keeping his players happy. He's dealt with playing time issues as candidly as possible, telling Goodman and one or two other recruits there's a chance they may redshirt because there simply won't be enough minutes to go around.

"I've been very, very, very candid about that," Rice said. "I knew throughout the recruiting process that there would be a chance I might lose guys, but I was not going to have those discussions at the start of the season. I needed to have them in April, May and June and even earlier in the recruiting process."

It's staggering the talent Rice and his staff have collected in such a short time because UNLV hadn't recruited at this level since the Tarkanian era. Rice's predecessor Lon Kruger stabilized the program and went to three NCAA tournaments in his final four seasons, but that success came via under-the-radar recruits and transfers seeking a second chance.

When Rice left his assistant coaching gig at BYU to return to his alma mater last year, he inherited a dream scenario. A winning foundation was in place, construction on a state-of-the-art $14 million practice facility was underway and 11 players from Kruger's 2010-11 NCAA tournament team were returning, enabling Rice to focus on future classes rather than scrambling to fill holes in his current roster.

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