Las Vegas, Nevada (March 25, 2012)–The UNLV Men's golf team continues to climb up the national golf rankings. This week the Rebels peaked at second in the respected GolfStat poll. The Rebels have won five of eight tournaments and finished as the runner-up twice. Hall-of-Fame Coach Dwaine Knight has the Rebels rolling and everyone is noticing. –-By Brian Hurlburt
The recent run of success is also grabbing the attention of Las Vegas media writers and experts. In the Sunday edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal–prime real estate–respected columnist and radio host Ed Graney wrote the following about Knight and the Rebels.
"I have been in Las Vegas for nearly six years now and can say without hesitation there isn't a better man or coach in these parts than Knight," wrote Graney. "He is a Hall of Famer and the architect of a UNLV men's golf program that owns one of the school's two team national championships and is proving good enough this season to perhaps make a run similar to 1998. That's when the Rebels won their title in Knight's hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., when they withstood a final-round charge by Clemson to finish an NCAA-record 34 strokes under par." Click now to read the complete Graney article.
Texas is the nation's No. 1 team in the Golfstat rankings. California is third, followed by UCLA, and Auburn rounds out the top five. Six through 10 are Washington, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia Tech and USC.
UNLV is ranked fifth in the country in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Poll, receiving one out of 18 first-place votes. The top four in that poll are Texas, Auburn, California and UCLA, with six through 10: Alabama, Washington, Georgia Tech, USC and Arkansas. Texas received 13 first-place votes, while Auburn had two and California, UNLV and Alabama each received one. The Rebels are ninth in country in Golfweek’s rankings. UNLV will be back in action April 6-7, at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.