Bayno fired

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

NCAA sanctions

Highlights of the NCAA sanctions of the UNLV men's basketball program:

UNLV basketball coach Bill Bayno was fired today after 5 1/2 seasons, the result of severe NCAA sanctions that put the Rebels on probation for four years and will prohibit them from postseason play this season.

Bayno was notified of the decision late Monday, numerous UNLV departmental sources said.

Assistant coach Max Good has been named head coach.

UNLV officials refused to confirm Bayno had been fired, but the school called a 1:30 p.m. press conference today.

Bayno couldn't be reached for comment, but his position throughout the investigation was that he and his staff "never knowingly or willingly committed any NCAA violations."

"He's very, very disappointed that this happened," an athletic department source said today.

Under Bayno, 38, the Rebels had a 94-64 record since 1995, but were 3-4 this season after a loss to Nevada-Reno on Saturday night.

Bayno's teams reached the NCAA Tournament in 1998 and last season, losing in the first round both times, to Princeton and Tulsa, respectively.

The decision by President Carol C. Harter and Athletic Director Charles Cavagnaro came after the NCAA imposed harsh penalties against the program today for numerous rules infractions since 1996.

The sanctions were the result of a two-year probe that found violations for recruiting inducements, extra benefits, unethical conduct and Bayno's failure to properly monitor the program.

The NCAA placed UNLV on probation for four years, ending Dec. 12, 2004; imposed a one-year postseason ban this season; banned the team from playing in next season's Preseason NIT; and levied scholarship and recruiting limits beyond UNLV's self-imposed sanctions.

Although UNLV was spared the full wrath of the NCAA's "repeat violator" rule, any violations during the probation period will likely result in the death penalty for the program.

The most serious violations were because of cash payments given to former Rebels recruit Lamar Odom by UNLV booster and Bayno friend Dr. David Chapman. The NCAA determined that Chapman provided up to $5,600 in cash payment to Odom in the summer of 1997.

Odom never played for the Rebels, having been released from his national letter of intent on July 24, 1997. UNLV and Chapman conceded that Odom had received cash and other benefits from Chapman, but they said these benefits didn't begin until Odom's release.

The NCAA also found that Chapman met with Odom improperly during the recruiting process, as early as July 1996. Chapman's booster status has been suspended for seven years.

Chapman told the Sun today, "I feel bad for any negativity around the program. It's unfortunate that (Bayno) had to lose his job. I think he has really tried to run a clean program. I don't really understand this."

The NCAA found that UNLV booster Steve Stein provided approximately $400 to two players and suspended Stein as a booster for five years. The NCAA determined that Bayno didn't monitor his program for possible violations and found several other minor violations. Four minor violations involved former assistant coach Greg Vetrone.

The NCAA largely accepted the sanctions UNLV imposed against the program on Sept. 22, but went even further, taking away two scholarships per year for the next two years and reducing official recruiting visits from 12 to eight per year for the same period. The university had imposed one less scholarship per year and two less recruiting visits per year.

Other self-imposed sanctions:

UNLV's status as a repeat violator caused the committee to impose the harsher penalties. The NCAA regarded the Rebels as repeat violators because the infractions occurred within five years of the school's previous probation (1993-96), the residue of Jerry Tarkanian's era as coach.

The committee concluded that "the university should have had a heightened sense of vigilance with respect to the issue of athletics representatives' involvement with prospects and been more pro-active in ensuring that violations did not reoccur."

UNLV was prohibited from playing in any "exempt" events next season, so the Rebels will not be allowed to play in the Preseason NIT as they had planned.

Bayno came to UNLV in 1995 after serving as an assistant coach for seven years at the University of Massachusetts. He was frequently under attack by local fans for his coaching ability and team preparation. That clamor grew particularly loud this week after the loss to Nevada-Reno.

However, sources said Bayno was shocked and angry over his firing.

Good, 59, joined the program last season after serving 11 seasons as head coach at Maine Central Institute, a prep school that has produced nearly 100 Division I basketball players, including NBA players Sam Cassell, Cuttino Mobley and DerMarr Johnson.

He was also head coach at Eastern Kentucky from 1981-89, with his best season coming in 1986-87, when the team went 19-11 and Good was named Ohio Valley Conference coach of the year.

The university isn't regarding him as the interim coach, but sources said it's not guaranteed that Good will remain the head coach next season.

In UNLV's meeting before the committee on Sept. 22 in Dallas, the university and Bayno contested the allegation that Bayno didn't properly monitor his program.

The relationship between Odom and Chapman, a Las Vegas dentist, was the heart of the case. The university had hoped to convince the NCAA that the allegations regarding Odom and Chapman weren't accurate, and that any sanctions should be "substantially mitigated."

However, Odom told the NCAA he began receiving cash payments ($5,600 total) from Chapman almost immediately after arriving in Las Vegas in June 1997 as the nation's No. 1 high school recruit.

In an August interview with the Sun, Chapman said the NCAA pressured Odom into false testimony in exchange for eligibility at the University of Rhode Island in 1998. Odom received what the NCAA called "limited immunity."

"I am not saying I didn't give (Odom) money after (his release), because I did," Chapman said. "It may be the time frame he lied about (to the NCAA) because he wanted to play (at Rhode Island)."

NCAA rules still classified Odom as a recruitable student-athlete for UNLV after his release, but UNLV didn't feel it should be held responsible for benefits he received then. The university also believed it showed good faith by releasing the country's top recruit, but that didn't satisfy NCAA committee Chairman Jack H. Friedenthal, who said UNLV released Odom because of "bad publicity."

"You can't condone improper conduct to induce a player to come your school after that athlete determines they're going to go somewhere else," he said. "You put the penalties on for making the bad attempts."

Odom refused to be interviewed by UNLV investigators. Odom's representatives said he stood by his testimony to the NCAA.