Marvin Menzies - Men's Basketball Coach - Grand Canyon University Athletics

Marvin Menzies

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Years at GCU:
first season
Alma Mater:
UCLA (1987)

Marvin Menzies serves as GCU's associate head coach, having been named to the position on April 18, 2019. He completed his 30th season in collegiate coaching on the Lopes' bench for the 2019-20 season.

Prior to coming to GCU, Menzies won 61 percent of his games over the past 12 seasons as a head coach, leading New Mexico State to four consecutive NCAA tournament bids from 2012 to 2015 and improving UNLV from an 11-win team in 2016-17 to a 20-win team in 2017-18, the Runnin' Rebels' first 20-win season in four years.

The Los Angeles native is known as a dynamic worldwide recruiter whose teams thrived on both sides. His 2015-16 New Mexico State team ranked 10th in the nation for scoring defense and his 2017-18 UNLV team ranked 13th in the nation for scoring offense. That Aggies defense kept opponents to 39.2 percent shooting, the lowest clip at NMSU since 1960-61. He also had a top-10 rebounding team nationally in 2017-18 at UNLV.

Menzies led NMSU to a cumulative record of 198-111 (.641) during his 2007-16 tenure, which included five NCAA tournament visits and producing the program's first NBA first-round selection since 1970 in Pascal Siakam.

At UNLV, Menzies took over the job when outsiders described the program being at its low point. His teams went 48-48 over his three seasons, using a top-15 recruiting class in 2017 to raise the Runnin' Rebels' Mountain West Conference finishes from 11th to seventh to fourth. The fourth-place finish in 2018-19 landed four places above preseason predictions, was UNLV's best in eight years and came despite an injury to an all-conference player.

In 2017-18, UNLV earned a Team Academic Excellence Award for the first time in the National Association of Basketball Coaches award's six-year history.

Menzies earned his reputation as a relentless recruiter while assisting big-name head coaches for major programs – two years with Rick Pitino at Louisville, one year with Lon Kruger at UNLV, one year with Henry Bibby at USC to produce a third-ranked recruiting class and four years with Steve Fisher at San Diego State. His recruiting helped revive the Aztecs' program for its first NCAA tournament visit in 17 years.

In college circles, Menzies is renowned by being able to recognize and attract talent. He is widely liked in the profession for his outgoing personality and respected for his work ethic.

His collegiate coaching career started at Santa Monica (Calif.) College during the 1990s after he graduated from UCLA in economics with intentions of a career in banking or politics. Menzies was a three-sport athlete, not including basketball, at Hamilton High School, where he began his coaching career as an assistant for eight years.

What coaches say about Menzies

"His genuine interest in the well-being for his players, both on and off the court, sets him apart. I think his passion for what he is doing, his enthusiasm is contagious." – Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger (coachmarvinmenzies.com)
"Recruiting is about relationships and Marvin has a unique ability to meet a stranger, put him at ease and start building that relationship." – San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
"Meet him and you think he's instantly a friend, like you've known him forever. He has this great ability to sincerely communicate with people." – former San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher (Albuquerque Journal)
"Marvin has a dynamic personality and is an outstanding recruiter and teacher of the game." – Iona head coach Rick Pitino (Las Vegas Review-Journal)