DAN ABDALLA HIRED TO LEAD REBEL ATHLETIC FUND
Former Rebel student-athlete and head coach named associate athletics director for development
Dan Abdalla, a former UNLV student-athlete and women’s soccer head coach, has been named associate athletics director for development, UNLV Interim Athletics Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy announced Monday.
Abdalla will officially begin as the head of the Rebel Athletic Fund on Tuesday, Oct. 15, after having served as the director of development for the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration for the past year.
“We are thrilled about the addition of Dan to our department,” Kunzer-Murphy said. “He knows all about uniting Rebels because he has been part of UNLV Athletics as a student-athlete, then a successful head coach and then on the university side. We are fortunate to get him to move across campus to help us take our development area to a new level in serving all Rebel fans.”
Abdalla came back to UNLV from TCU where he was the head women’s soccer coach, also leading fundraising efforts for a sport-specific capital improvement project.
“I am excited for the vision that Tina has for the future of Rebel Athletics and I am very appreciative to her for providing me this opportunity to be a part of such an exciting time for UNLV Athletics,” Abdalla said. “You can feel Rebel pride gaining momentum everyday and I look forward to working with the community to ensure our student-athletes and coaches have the support necessary to win on the field and in life.”
A 1997 graduate from UNLV’s Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, Abdalla starred at the university as a member of the men’s soccer team from 1994-98. He still holds the program record as goalkeeper for the most saves in a season (101) and a career (321), and his nine career shutouts rank third all-time.
As coach of the Rebels’ women’s soccer team from 2000-05, he compiled a 54-38-8 overall record, which ranks first in program history for winning percentage (.556). His 2004 squad won the Mountain West’s regular-season title and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. He was named the league’s coach of the year that season.
He left UNLV in 2005 when he was named head coach at TCU, a position he held for six years.
In his most recent position with the hotel college at UNLV, Abdalla was responsible for all fundraising as well as directing fundraising efforts for the college’s $50 million new academic building. He also has played an integral supporting role in the university’s plans to build an on-campus stadium.
Dan and his wife, Jennifer, have two children: Zak (7) and Kloe (4).