 | | UNLV men's basketball director of operations Mike Shepherd participated in a Live Chat session on Thursday, Feb. 19 on UNLVRebels.com. |
UNLV men's basketball director of operations Mike Shepherd participated in a Live Chat session on Thursday, Feb. 19 on UNLVRebels.com. Shepherd is in his fifth year as the director of basketball operations after coming to Las Vegas in the spring of 2004 from Northern Illinois University where he spent three seasons as an assistant coach. Shepherd's relationship with Kruger dates back to Kansas State University when Shepherd was a student manager for the Wildcats. He started his coaching career in 1990 as a volunteer assistant at the University of Florida, also under Kruger, and spent a total of six seasons in Gainesville as a volunteer and assistant coach. In the spring of 1996, Shepherd followed Kruger to the University of Illinois where he served as an assistant coach. His time at Florida was highlighted by the 1993-94 season that saw the Gators go 29-8 and make an NCAA Final Four appearance. That team also captured the Southeastern Conference East Division title. While at the University ofIllinois, the Fighting Illini produced 22-10 and 23-10 seasons, won berths in the NCAA Tournament and were crowned Big Ten champions in 1998. A native of Burlingame, Kan., Shepherd won 10 varsity letters in three sports at Burlingame High School - football (4), basketball (2) and track (2). He attended Allen County Community College in Iola, Kan., and received a Bachelor of Science degree in social sciences from Kansas State in 1992. Fans were invited to ask Shepherd about his road to Las Vegas, his coaching experiences with head coach Lon Kruger as well as his thoughts about the season. The transcript is below: |
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 |  | UNLV Moderator: Hey Rebel fans .... sitting here with UNLV men's basketball director of operations Mike Shepherd... let's get started. |
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| Carmen (NV): What is the difference between your duties and an assistant coaches duties? Do you have any recruiting responsibilities? |
 | | Mike Shepherd: My job touches on many different areas of our basketball office. From a recruiting standpoint, rules are pretty specific on what I can and cannot do. When recruits are on campus, I have the opportunity to set up the official visits and do different scheduling logistics for the visit. I do not have an opportunity to recruit off campus. That is restricted to Coach Kruger and the three assistants. |
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| Mark (Las Vegas): You have worked with Coach Kruger for a long time. What can you say about him that others can't? In terms of on the inside... how he reacts to people and recruits? As a coaching staff, you guys have had a lot of success here... congrats and good luck the rest of the season. |
 | | Mike Shepherd: I have been fortunate to be able to work with Coach Kruger for a long time. He has been very good to me and influential in my professional career. Coach Kruger does an excellent job of communicating roles that each player and staff member need to assume to make our program successful. He is an excellent teacher of the game. Over the years, I have learned a great deal about basketball, but more about the way to interact with players and other staff and how to get the most out of each. |
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| Carly (nevada): You have a background of coaching in women's basketball. Are there any real differences you find between coaching men and women? The type of ball game they play has to be different, but I would think there would be more to it and it would be difficult to switch. |
| | Mike Shepherd: The one year I had the opportunity to be part of the women's game was very rewarding. The women's game differs from the men more related to the individual athletic ability. I found that the team I was a part of had a great willingness to learn the all-around game of basketball. |
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| Mike (Salt Lake City): The conference is continuing to get a lot of attention because of how competitive it is getting. When post-season rolls around, it will be a close call as to who makes the tournament. A lot of people are saying its likely for us to even get 4 in the tournament. Do you think thats a possibility with all the teams struggling through each game. |
| | Mike Shepherd: The NCAA Tournament field has so many variables that it is hard to predict how many teams from our league will be selected. Our league is extremely competitive this year. We have some awfully good teams that will be very deserving of the opportunity to play in March. As it relates to at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, there are nine to ten leagues that look to be one-bid leagues if the favorite wins the conference tournament. If those certain teams were to be upset in their conference tournaments, then two teams from those leagues would go and eliminate possible at-large teams from other leagues, such as the Mountain West Conference. |
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| Brandon (LA): I think its great everything the coaching staff has done with the program. But, it has to be frustrating on the rollercoaster the team has been on this season. What has the coaching staff been trying to do to get more consistency each game? How do you continue to motivate players after a game like last night? |
| | Mike Shepherd: We appreciate your comments. It is frustrating, both from a coaching standpoint and I'm sure from a player's standpoint to have inconsistent nights. Our goal at this time and it has been all year, is to continue to get better. That time frame gets smaller as the season winds down but that has to be our focus. |
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| Bill (Las Vegas): There are just a few games in the regular season left. Hard to believe the season went by so fast! But, there is a good group of seniors that have been through a lot in this program. Next year, how will the team get that experience and leadership from the group after losing a core group like this year's seniors? |
| | Mike Shepherd: This group of seniors has meant a lot to the resurgence of Runnin' Rebel basketball and they will leave a legacy behind that hopefully we all can be proud of. As for the next group, we have some guys that continue to gain experiences and leadership each night out and in each practice as well as a handful of guys sitting out that will bring their own experiences. Let's not forget Matt Shaw, who has been through a lot during his three years. We look forward to getting him back on the floor next season. |
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| Patrick (las vegas): BYU at home this Saturday. I think they might try to take away a win like we took one at their house. What are you expecting out of BYU? |
| | Mike Shepherd: BYU is a very talented team with back-to-back MWC regular season championships. They have experienced players like Lee Cummard, Jonathan Tavernari and Jackson Emery that will make them a tough group to compete with any night. |
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| Greg (Greeley, CO): Coach Shepherd - In regards to recruiting do you feel a low post presence is needed? It seems that the last two years the offense has been pretty one dimensional. Is relying mostly on perimeter scoring the way you like your teams to play or ideally would you like more balance? Thanks and good luck. |
| | Mike Shepherd: Over the last couple of years, we have taken advantage of the strengths of our team, which is what you would like to do anytime you have players on the perimeter that have those abilities. Our experience on the interior has not been as great as our experience at the guard position. When we have an advantage on the inside, we try to utilize that when we can. |
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| | UNLV Moderator: Thank you for all the questions. The Runnin' Rebels are back at the Thomas & Mack Center this Saturday at 8 p.m. when they host BYU in one of the most anticipated match-ups in the Mountain West Conference. Go Rebels! |
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