Rebels having trouble fitting Hoyas on schedule

Steve Carp

Thursday, Aug. 20, 1998 | 10:52 a.m.

The final hurdle in UNLV's attempt to set its 1998-99 basketball schedule is becoming a large obstacle.

After trying to find a suitable date to play Georgetown, the Rebels may postpone the series with the Hoyas for a year and look elsewhere for their 27th regular-season game.

Georgetown wants to play either Nov. 29 in Las Vegas or Nov. 30 in Washington, D.C. UNLV wants a game the first week of January to fill what would be a 12-day gap between the Dec. 28 Southern Utah game and the Jan. 9 Western Athletic Conference opener against Air Force.

Georgetown can't play in early January because of its Big East schedule. An attempt to move the Dec. 2 game with Nevada-Reno to January couldn't be done because it would have meant switching the Wolf Pack's Jan. 2 game with Colorado State to December, and the Rams don't have room on their schedule to play UNR in early December.

"It's not looking good," associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie said Wednesday. "We've got a date. It's just not conducive to us. We're working on an alternative plan."

Coach Bill Bayno is pessimistic. "It doesn't look like we're going to be able to do it this year," he said. "Reno couldn't move their schedule."

Instead, UNLV may try to re-establish a game with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The Rebels initially were going to play Dec. 5 at Cal Poly. But when Arizona State invited UNLV to play in a nationally televised doubleheader in Phoenix the same day, the Rebels asked the Mustangs if they would accept a $20,000 buyout to drop the game.

Cal Poly agreed. Now, Koloskie may call Cal Poly AD John McCutcheon to see if he's willing to put the game back on. The hope is to get the game at Mott Gym for early January.

Practice facility plans

If you've got $5 million laying around and want to see your name in lights, Thomas & Mack director Pat Christenson would love to talk to you.

Christenson is trying to find a title sponsor for the practice facility that would be shared by men's and women's basketball and volleyball. The Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack, as it is called, is a planned 60,000 square-foot, three-story building that will adjoin the arena at the southeast corner of the T&M.

"We have some interest," Christenson said of finding a title sponsor to foot the $5 million bill to build the facility, which would seat a minimum of 2,500 for basketball and volleyball and have new locker rooms, meeting rooms and training facilities.

"There's a proposal out with one entity and they're seriously considering it."

Christenson wouldn't name the interested party. But he said he has heard from at least two other entities that want to see the pavilion proposal.

Meanwhile, the foundation already has been poured for the facility as well as part of the walls. Christenson said if the funding can be secured in the next 60 days, work can continue in November and the building would be ready for the fall 1999 semester.

"This would be a multi-event facility," he said. "It could be used for other sporting events, meetings, small concerts. We expect it to be a revenue-producer for us, which would help with the cost of building and maintaining the pavilion."

Christenson said he is also looking into alternative funding, including bonds, to pay for the construction.

"I don't think it's a question of if it's going to happen but a matter of when," he said. "When this is done, we'll have the best setup of any on-campus arena in the entire country."

Hoop du jour

* PRESEASON ALL-WAC: Two UNLV players, Kevin Simmons and Brian Keefe, are on the WAC Preseason All-Conference Team ballot. The media is being asked to vote for the top five players in each division for this year's team. The results will be announced at the WAC's media preview Oct. 14-15 at the MGM Grand hotel-casino.

* NO. 1 IN KOREA: Former UNLV forward Warren Rosegreen found himself the No. 1 overall draft pick in the Korean Basketball League. The 6-5 Rosegreen, who graduated in May, was selected by the KBL's Nasaan Slammers. The season begins Sept. 1. Rosegreen, who spent part of last season playing in France, has not yet committed to playing in the KBL. ... Meanwhile, former guard Reggie Manuel can add another stamp to his passport as he is playing professionally in Switzerland. Manuel, who finished his UNLV career in 1995, has played in France, Spain and last season, in Poland.