Eustachy can give thanks to the Bulls

Steve Carp

Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998 | 10:52 a.m.

Somewhere along the food chain that is the dysfunctional hierarchy of the Chicago Bulls is Larry Eustachy.

You may have to look long and hard, but he's there. And because he's there, he's in Ames, Iowa instead of Logan, Utah.

It goes something like this: Phil Jackson tells the Bulls he's not interested in coming back to coach the six-time NBA champions. General manager Jerry Krause hires Tim Floyd from Iowa State to take Jackson's spot. That leaves a vacancy at ISU.

Meanwhile, Chuck Bell, who was Eustachy's boss at Utah State, leaves for San Jose State to be that school's athletic director. Eustachy has a seven-year deal with the Aggies, but Iowa State is the Big 12 and Utah State is the Big West.

Throw in he had been an assistant there, that his wife Stacy likes the Midwest and the Cyclones would pay him more money and it was a no-brainer.

So thank you, Phil. And thank you too, Michael Jordan.

"I was probably as uninformed as anyone as to what was going on in Chicago," Eustachy said Wednesday at Stallion Mountain Golf Club, where he, UNLV's Bill Bayno, Arizona's Lute Olson and Cincinnati's Bob Huggins got together to promote the Dec. 19 Las Vegas Shootout doubleheader at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I've known Tim 12 years and he is my best friend in coaching and probably my best friend outside of coaching. I wasn't going to do anything until his situation was settled."

Once Floyd was brought on board by the Bulls in July, things happened quickly.

"I think when you consider the entire situation, it was the right thing for me to do," said Eustachy, who in five years at Utah State guided the Aggies to a 98-53 record and took the school to the NCAA Tournament.

Eustachy's name had come up almost annually when vacancies occurred. UNLV fans may remember he was a candidate for the job in 1995 that eventually went to Bill Bayno. Eustachy withdrew his name from consideration when Bell offered him a seven-year extension.

But he also admits he wasn't ready to coach the Rebels back then.

"The job scared me," he said. "The high expectations. Trying to follow Tark (Jerry Tarkanian). It was tough on Gerg (Tim Grgurich). And I saw first-hand what Rollie (Massimino) went through.

"That's why I respect Billy. He stepped in and rolled the dice. I don't think I could have handled the pressure he did at age 33. I started at Idaho. he started at UNLV. What does that tell you?"

Tickets for the Shootout are on sale at the Thomas & Mack box office. Prices for the doubleheader are $28 for the lower level and $22 for the balcony. For UNLV season ticket-holders, the Shootout will be part of the 15-game package. The schedule has Iowa State meeting Arizona at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2 with UNLV meeting Cincinnati at 9 on ESPN. There is interest on both sides of resuming the UNLV-Arizona series, which has been dormant since 1990. The schools were tentatively scheduled to play each other in 1995, but UNLV was able to get together with UCLA and couldn't do both. "I think it's something that could be worked out," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "I think it would continue to be a national rivalry." UNLV's Bill Bayno said: "I'd be all for it. When you think of the powers on the West Coast, you think about Arizona, UCLA, Utah and UNLV. We already play Utah. We're playing UCLA. I think it would be great if we can get something going (with Arizona.)" UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro said he will look into it. "It's all about number of scheduling opportunities and starting next year in the new league, we'll have two more games freed up and Arizona is a team we'd certainly be interested in playing."