BARRET PEERY HIRED AS ASSISTANT COACH FOR MEN’S BASKETBALL
Former head coach with almost three decades of collegiate coaching experience comes to Las Vegas from Texas Tech where he was associate head coach
@UNLVAthletics | @TheRunninRebels
Barret Peery has been hired as an assistant coach for the UNLV men’s basketball program, head coach Kevin Kruger announced Tuesday.
Peery, a former head coach at multiple programs, has almost three decades of experience and comes to Las Vegas after having spent the 2021-22 season at Texas Tech as its associate head coach. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Portland State.
“We are excited to complete our coaching staff with the addition of Coach Peery,” Kruger said. “He brings a wealth of experience as both a head coach as well as an assistant at multiple stops, including in the Big 12 and the Pac 12. He is also a proven recruiter with great connections both regionally and nationally.”
The Red Raiders went 27-10 overall last season with Peery on staff, finishing third in the Big 12 and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
From 2017-21, he led the Vikings to a 63-57 overall record as their head coach. Over the course of his 26-year coaching career, Peery also has spent time on the staffs at Utah and Arizona State, at his alma mater Southern Utah, and Santa Clara.
“My family and I are extremely excited to be a part of such a storied program at UNLV and what Coach Kruger and the staff are building here,” Peery said. “I have tremendous respect for Kevin and his family, and we are excited to be a part of the Runnin’ Rebels as we work to bring the program back to the national spotlight.”
In his first three seasons at Portland State, Peery’s teams won 54 games. He led the Vikings to 20 wins in 2017-18 – the most ever by a first-year coach in program history and the most in 10 seasons at the school. The Vikings secured the best non-conference record in school history (10-3), best road record ever (10-6), beat two Pac-12 teams in the same season for the first time ever, and went 7-2 in games against teams from other Division I conferences in the West. Portland State received a bid to the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament that year.
In 2019-20, Peery directed the Vikings to their first six-game winning streak in 11 seasons and two straight fourth-place finishes in the Big Sky – their best showings since being third in 2011-12. Peery’s teams went 30-13 in home games during his four seasons in Oregon.
Peery was also a head coach at the junior college level, compiling a career record of 178-30 in six seasons at College of Southern Idaho (2002-05, 85-19 record) and Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College (2011-14, 93-11 record). In 2014, Indian Hills was the NJCAA runner-up, going 34-3 and winning regional and district titles.
Peery was the Associate Head Coach at Santa Clara (2016-17) where he assisted head coach Herb Sendek in the revival of the Broncos program as it had its first winning season in four years and placed fourth in the West Coast Conference. He has also worked with head coaches Bill Evans (Southern Utah), Jim Boylen (Utah) and Heath Schroyer at Portland State.
At CSI, Peery led his team to two national tournaments in three seasons and twice led the nation in scoring. The Golden Eagles placed fourth in the nation in 2006-07. Peery was the Scenic West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2007-08 after leading his team to a third straight SWAC title. CSI was ranked number one in the nation for the last four weeks of the regular season.
During his time as an assistant at Southern Utah (1998-2002), Peery helped lead the program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and a 25-6 record. He also had early coaching stints at Utah Valley (1997-98) and Snow College (1996-97).
Before getting into coaching, Peery played college basketball at Snow and Southern Utah, where he earned his degree in 1996. He helped lead the Thunderbirds to two conference championships, while earning Academic All-League honors and being a team co-captain. Peery was an all-region and all-state player at Payson High School in Utah.
Peery and his wife, Tracy, have four children: daughter, Kennedy and sons, Crew, Whitton and Meyer.
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2021-22 SEASON RECAP: The Runnin’ Rebels are coming off a successful 2021-22 season, which marked the first under head coach Kevin Kruger. The team accumulated 18 wins – its most in four years – and recorded 10 Mountain West victories, exceeding preseason expectations in the league standings.
With a revamped roster that included nine transfers, the team continually showed improvement as the season progressed, advancing 43 spots in the national KenPom ratings along the way. In addition, Coach Kruger was recently recognized as one of the nation’s top first-year head coaches in Division I men’s college basketball.