Columnist Dean Juipe: Knight ideal if Cavagnaro steps down

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, June 3, 1998 | 8:46 a.m.

IT'S NOT THAT they don't believe the stories they've heard, it's just that the wonderful tales seem so idyllic in comparison to the discontent they've experienced in recent years at UNLV.

It really was fun to be a coach at the school in the late 1980s and even into the first couple of years of the '90s. The communication lines were open to the athletic director, the school was an emerging athletic powerhouse, Las Vegas was just coming into its own, and it was downright harmonious on campus.

Of the members of the current collective coaching staff at UNLV, only a few were here during those heady days. The newcomers -- or anyone who has come aboard since then-president Robert Maxson initiated the demise of the men's basketball program, which, in turn, led to a series of distressing decisions -- missed out on an era of success and compatibility that had a positive effect on virtually everyone associated with the school.

For most of the coaches, their UNLV tenure has come with mixed emotions. Maxson's reign of terror led not only to Jerry Tarkanian's ouster as basketball coach but to Brad Rothermel's resignation as athletic director, and his successors have fit a similar, unflattering mold. Be it Dennis Finfrock, Jim Weaver or the still-in-power Charlie Cavagnaro, the athletic director has been marginally despised and viewed as aloof by his underlings.

For that matter, so is the current school president, Dr. Carol Harter.

As a result, there's a certain and tangible dissatisfaction among the staff members -- at least the ones who have been here for a while -- that ranges from a general malaise to out-and-out skepticism regarding the university's direction and future. It's not that they're moping about and lacking enthusiasm for their programs and their athletes, it's more a tiresomeness with having to look over their shoulders at an administration they really don't trust.

Bleak as this picture appears -- particularly in light of Cavagnaro's ongoing difficulties as a result of remarks of questionable taste he may have made and Harter's subsequent dismissal of the incident -- just this week there is reason for enthusiasm. And it came straight from the mouth of golf coach Dwaine Knight.

He's interested in becoming athletic director.

From his colleagues' perspective, that news came with multiple exclamation points. He's that well-liked.

Knight is sharp, attentive and a communicator. He's unpretentious, he's universally respected and he's apt to be available and understanding if and when a coach felt the need to approach him.

Put him in the AD's chair and the atmosphere at UNLV would change overnight.

And it's feasible, what with rumors up and running that the 57-year-old Cavagnaro may take an early retirement regardless of how his slip-of-the-tongue problems play out. He could step aside at any time in the next few days, weeks or months and Knight would be right there to replace him.

What a cheerful thought, a UNLV renaissance just in time for the 21st century. It's one the coaching staff could appreciate on a firsthand basis, rather than having to rely on some dated account of glory days that have long since passed by.