The connection between Oklahoma and UNLV has grown stronger. Kevin Kruger is expected to hire Carlin Hartman as an assistant coach, according to Jeff Goodman.
Hartman has been an assistant coach at Oklahoma for the last 5 seasons. Hartman and Kevin Kruger were hired in the same season to be an assistant under Lon Kruger in Norman back in 2016.
Hartman has been a lifetime assistant, starting with Rice back in 1996. Matt Norlander reported that Hartman was a head coaching candidate for low major jobs this offseason, but chose to stay an assistant and head to Vegas.
Kruger gets an experienced, familiar face on his staff. The next question is will any players follow Hartman from Oklahoma to UNLV.
Currently there are two players in the transfer portal from Oklahoma. Trey Phipps played in 16 games as a freshman and played 120 minutes. He was a three-star guard in the 2020 class.
Anyang Garang was also a three-star recruit, but he played just five games this season after redshirting in 2019-20. Either would be unproven college level looking to get more playing time at UNLV.
But the ties between UNLV and Oklahoma have created plenty of speculation on a name yet to hit the transfer portal: Jalen Hill.
Hill was a three star recruit out of Vegas in 2019. The last two seasons he played 55 games for the Sooners, mostly coming off the bench. He averaged 4.4 points per game this season.
UNLV has already lost seven players to the transfer portal and have yet to land a commitment from an incoming transfer. Kruger’s staff could be vital in landing new players.