Columnist Dean Juipe: Rumor mill has McClain out, Bolla in

Dean Juipe

Friday, Jan. 2, 1998 | 9:25 a.m.

LaDONNA McCLAIN is a very nice person who coaches a very bad basketball team. Her UNLV Lady Rebels are 1-11 after a Thursday night loss at Wyoming.

They weren't any better last season, either, which was McClain's first at UNLV. That team went 4-23.

So she's 5-34.

In six seasons at Austin Peay, where she coached before signing a three-year contract with UNLV in 1996, McClain's teams went a collective 60-103.

So she's 65-137 overall.

And feeling some pressure.

And hearing some rumors, like the one making the rounds on campus that the UNLV athletic administration is considering buying out the final year of her contract and finding a new coach by next season when the Lady Rebels will play all of their home games in the Thomas & Mack Center. The rumor includes the possibility of McClain being replaced by the man she succeeded, Jim Bolla.

"Yeah, I'm hearing things, too," McClain admits. "The team's aware of the controversy."

Realizing the ultimate decision is out of her hands, she's taking a wait-and-see approach.

"I had some rough times at Austin Peay, too, but we eventually were successful," she said, referring to her 1996 squad that was invited to the NCAA Tournament and finished with a 21-8 record. "I came here to get things going and I still think it can happen.

"I have a strong faith in God and feel I'm here for a reason."

Polite and obviously not evasive, McClain said even without the rumors she would be feeling uneasy in light of her team's record.

"Anytime you're coaching and you're 0-10 (which her team was before winning its first game Tuesday night), you start to feel the pressure you're putting on yourself," she said. "No one else has to do that for you."

For what it's worth, Bolla isn't looking to add to that pressure and he declined to comment specifically on whether he would be interested in returning as the Lady Rebels' coach. He has, however, retained an interest in coaching.

"I've thought about it," he said. "I talked to some people about coaching in the women's pro league(s), although nothing has come of it."

Still employed by UNLV as the director of athletic development, which is essentially a fund-raising position, Bolla said a return to coaching isn't all-important to him despite his lingering interest.

"If it happens, it happens," he said. "If not, it's no big deal. It would have to be the right situation."

Replacing the coach who replaced him may or may not be the ideal situation, and, more to the point, Bolla says "no one from the school has talked to me about it."

As for McClain, she says the UNLV job "has been a little more challenging than I expected. It hasn't been easy." Inheriting a 4-21 team didn't help, nor was it easy to recruit players who would be excited about playing in the South Gym.

As for her future, she's surprisingly blunt.

"What the administration decides to do is up to them," she said, recognizing the decision will, indeed, be made by a higher power.