Missed meeting could lead to Bayno suspension

Victoria Sun

Friday, Oct. 22, 1999 | 9:50 a.m.

When the UNLV men's basketball team hosts BYU on Jan. 10 in its Mountain West Conference season opener, head coach Bill Bayno might have to watch the game on TV.

On Thursday morning, Bayno missed the mandatory MWC coaches meeting at the Four Seasons hotel that lasted from 7:30 to 9:15.

MWC rules state that the penalty for missing the meeting is a one-game suspension to be served during the conference opener.

Bayno arrived at the Four Seasons at 9 a.m., 50 minutes before he was scheduled to speak to reporters during the MWC's inaugural basketball media day.

"I understand the importance of being there," Bayno said. "I didn't know about the meeting and that's my fault. I take responsibility for that.

"I had to take my little girl (Bayno revealed Thursday that he is a legal guardian for a 7-year-old named Alyssa) to school. I didn't know about the meeting until 8:20 a.m. and it was too late."

Bayno also didn't know about the ramifications of missing the meeting.

"I didn't even know there was a penalty," he said. "No one communicated that to me."

Sometime today, Bayno is scheduled to discuss the situation with MWC commissioner Craig Thompson.

When asked if the penalty was negotiable, Thompson answered "No."

He then wavered, saying, "I just need to talk to a couple of more people to get the background of what happened and we'll see. But it is clear as black and white that he missed the meeting."

Utah head coach Rick Majerus defended Bayno.

"I can see where he missed that," Majerus said. "We've got so many things to do, people pulling us in 50 directions.

"Really, it's travesty about 100 trees were wasted to put together all this crap they gave us at the meeting. I spend 1 1/2 hours each day going through mail and politely trying to turn down this group or turn down that group to speak. So I can see how Bayno accidentally missed the meeting."

With four starters returning to a team that was 28-5 overall and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, Utah was picked to finish first in the MWC in both the coaches and media polls.

The Rebels were voted tied for third with Wyoming in the coaches poll and voted third outright by the media.

* UNLV WOMEN PICKED FIFTH: The UNLV women's basketball team, led by sophomore Linda Froehlich, was picked to finish fifth in both the coaches and media polls. Froehlich last season averaged 23.5 points and was named the National Freshman of the Year.