MENDENHALLS GARAGE INC FULL

Bill Boyd and Jackie Gaughan also pitched in $250,000 each. Joel Anthony, a former UNLV center who plays for the NBA’s Miami Heat, donated $250,000 for the weight room. The women’s basketball and volleyball teams also will use the athletic training and weight rooms. Rice said the Rebels could start practicing in the Mendenhall Center “in the next few weeks” after building inspections are completed. “That was one of the things I always looked at coming out of high school was who’s got the newest, coolest stuff where you could work out and improve your game.” “It’s going to be big for us to have this, especially as a recruiting tool.

“All the elite programs are definitely going to have a facility of their own,” sophomore Mike Moser said. Smatresk labeled it the “Runnin’ Rebel Donor All-Star team,” and said, “This team has 15 members and an incredible starting five.”Ĭomparable to state-of-the-art facilities at Duke and Kentucky, the Mendenhall Center more than impressed UNLV’s players, who were seeing the nearly finished product for the first time.

MENDENHALLS GARAGE INC FULL

The main lobby and Hall of Fame is named for Maury and Marcia Gallagher ($2 million), the two full practice courts are dedicated to the Paulos and Wortman families for donations of $1 million each, and the Academic/Video Center is dedicated to the Anstett family ($500,000). Privately funded by donors, the center is named in honor of Robert and Paula Mendenhall, who committed $7 million to the construction. Is this a great facility or what?” Livengood said. Brian Sandoval and former Rebels coach Jerry Tarkanian were among those in attendance. Smatresk, UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood, Nevada Gov. The three-level building, which is connected to Cox Pavilion and the Thomas & Mack Center, is a 35,000-square-foot showcase. “This facility will be the best of its kind in the nation,” UNLV president Neal Smatresk said, and no one who toured the facility was eager to argue his statement.Īfter about five years of planning, and at a cost of approximately $13 million, the Rebels’ second home has become a reality. It was an occasion to view the big picture.Ī key part of the program’s future, the Mendenhall Center practice facility, was unveiled in a private celebration. It was time to strike up the band, let the cheerleaders loose, roll out the red carpet and listen to speeches delivered by important people in suits.īut not a word was spoken about the Rebels’ game against New Mexico on Saturday, one that figures prominently in the Mountain West Conference title chase. An hour after basketball practice ended Thursday, coach Dave Rice led UNLV’s players to a unique rally.