May 17, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Kreigh Warkentien has been hired as director of basketball operations for the UNLV men's basketball program, and video coordinator Rich Hilliard has been retained and his title has been changed to director of student-athlete development, head coach Dave Rice announced Tuesday.
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"We are excited to have Kreigh join our staff," Rice said. "I was thrilled to be able to bring in the three assistant basketball coaches that we hired (Justin Hutson, Stacey Augmon and Heath Schroyer), and it is very important to have someone in this administrative position that compliments the coaching staff we have put together. Her experience with the academic support area and administrative side of how a college basketball program operates will benefit our players. I am excited about this hire and know she will do a great job."
In this non-coaching administrative position, Warkentien will work closely with the entire men's basketball coaching staff and will be the liaison between the coaches and UNLV's athletics administration. She will also serve as the program's academic coordinator, working with UNLV's associate director of student-athlete academic services David Jackson. Additional duties include, but are not limited to, being the program's summer camp director, working with compliance, facility scheduling and program correspondence.
Warkentien comes to the Runnin' Rebels from Arizona State, where she was the program coordinator, working with Sun Devil Head Coach Herb Sendek. She was responsible for leading the academic support efforts for the ASU men's basketball program, as well as overseeing travel, equipment, recruiting and training table budgets. She was also involved in the program's community relations and marketing efforts, along with organizing recruiting visits, maintaining databases and handling correspondence. She also was assistant director of the Herb Sendek Basketball Camp.
"I am excited to work with Coach Rice and the rest of the staff at UNLV," Warkentien said. "I was born in the Runnin' Rebel family, as my dad was an assistant coach. I took some of my first steps in the newly built Thomas & Mack Center and I grew up loving the Rebels. This is a great opportunity and I am eager to get started and to be part of the program."
Prior to being ASU's program coordinator, Warkentien was a student manager at ASU and also worked for the NBA's Portland Trailblazers in game operations. She earned her bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in communication and business from ASU in 2009, and is working towards her master's degree in sports management.
She is the daughter of Mark Warkentien, who is a former UNLV men's basketball assistant coach (1981-87), was the NBA Executive of the Year with the Denver Nuggets in 2009 and is currently the New York Knicks' director of pro player personnel.
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Hilliard has spent the last five seasons as the Runnin' Rebels' video coordinator. He has been responsible for coordinating film exchange along with breaking down, editing and scouting game footage of opponents. His duties have also included supervising the student managerial staff with its daily, practice and game duties.
"Rich has done a great job in the video coordinator role and will continue to do so," Rice said. "I was aware of the quality of his work from being in the league and also because of the high recommendation that Coach Kruger gave. We plan to get Rich involved in many areas of our program and expand his role to help him reach his goal of becoming a coach.
Prior to serving as the program's video coordinator, he spent two years as a graduate manager for the Runnin' Rebels. During that time, he was also a graduate assistant for the department of sports education leadership at UNLV, where he taught various physical education undergraduate courses.
"I will always be grateful to Coach Kruger and his staff for giving me my start in this profession," Hilliard said. "I am honored and appreciative to Coach Rice for the opportunity to work and learn under him and am looking forward to working with the incredible staff that he has assembled. I am excited to further my responsibilities within the program, and to continue to grow professionally."
Hilliard graduated from UNLV in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in athletic coaching. He earned a master's degree in 2007, also from UNLV, in athletic administration.
