Marvin Menzies used to game plan against UMKC. Now he’ll coach the KC Roos
The Kansas City Roos have a new men’s basketball coach. Marvin Menzies, who previously served as the head coach at UNLV and New Mexico State, has been hired at UMKC, the school announced on Tuesday.
Menzies was most recently the associate head coach at Grand Canyon University. He was out of college coaching this past season.
“I’ve been patiently looking for the right opportunity to give back to the game I love,” Menzies said in a statement. “My staff and I will work relentlessly to bring conference championships to Kansas City. I’m looking forward to taking Kansas City basketball to the NCAA Tournament.”
Those would be firsts — a conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance — for the men’s program, which just completed its 36th season in Division I.
But that’s familiar ground for Menzies.
From 2007-16, Menzies led New Mexico State to five WAC championships and NCAA Tournament appearances, and a NIT berth. Eight teams won at least 21 games, and three won the WAC regular season or tied for first.
UMKC was a member of the WAC for three seasons while Menzies coached the Aggies. The Roos won the first meeting as conference opponents, in 2014. New Mexico State won the next six under Menzies, including a victory in the 2016 conference tournament.
Among his players at New Mexico State was Pascal Siakam, a first-round NBA Draft pick
After New Mexico State, Menzies was hired at UNLV, succeeding Chris Beard, who never coached a game there before moving to Texas Tech. In three years, Menzies went 48-48, including a 20-victory season in 2018.
Menzies, 60, whose overall coaching record is 246-159, previously had served as an assistant at Sacramento State, San Diego State, Southern California, UNLV and Louisville and served on staffs led by Rick Pitino, Lon Kruger and Steve Fisher.
Menzies replaces Billy Donlon, who left UMKC after three seasons to become an assistant coach at Clemson.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 9:36 AM.