UNLV begins process of rebuilding program

Steve Addy

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2000 | 9:47 a.m.

With unwanted assistance from the NCAA's strong arms, the UNLV men's basketball program was torn apart Tuesday.

The job of piecing it back together has been entrusted to new coach Max Good, along with a couple of lawyers.

After an eventful day in which coach Bill Bayno was fired and the NCAA penalized UNLV with four years' probation and a postseason ban this season, university officials quickly turned their attention toward rescuing the program.

The first order of business was to elevate assistant coach Good, 59, to the head coaching post without an interim title, though his performance will come under review after the season. Good will debut as the Rebels' coach at 9 p.m. Saturday when No. 17 Cincinnati visits.

The school hopes Good can quickly restore equilibrium to a team jarred by the firing of Bayno and the NCAA sanctions, the result of a two-year probe into rules violations within the program.

"We have confidence in Max and full support for him," athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro said. "This is UNLV's basketball program and Max Good is the head coach. We're confident he and the players can pull this thing together."

Off the court, UNLV is strongly considering an appeal of the postseason ban, feeling the NCAA is unfairly penalizing current players, especially its six seniors.

Barring a successful appeal, UNLV is also prohibited by the Mountain West Conference from playing in the MWC tournament March 7-10 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"We believe the postseason ban is unduly harsh (toward) our current student-athletes, who have nothing to do with any of this," UNLV president Dr. Carol C. Harter said. "They are, in fact, innocent victims of this situation. They were not part of this case."

Attorney Michael Glazier of Overland Park, Kan., who oversaw UNLV's infractions case, will investigate the school's chances of having the postseason ban rescinded by the five-member NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee. The deadline to file an appeal is Dec. 27.

Though there is precedent for a postseason ban being overturned (Louisville, 1998-99), the NCAA isn't likely to change its mind in UNLV's case, Glazier said. Cavagnaro said he won't appeal strictly for appeal's sake.

"I don't want us to get false hopes," he said. "I don't want to waste a lot of time. If we don't think we have an opportunity to be successful, we're not going to go forward with (the appeal). Our attorneys will look into it and analyze what our chances are.

"The concern here is the young men on the team, who are being punished with a premature end to their season. But we don't want to lead them on, either."

The players, of course, are anxious to have their postseason restored. If not, their last game would be the regular-season finale against Wyoming on March 3.

"That's hard to swallow," guard Trevor Diggs said. "I hope we get the chance to play in the tournament, but I don't think it'll happen. There's nothing we can do about it."

"As a senior, you want your last year to be special," center Kaspars Kambala said. "But how special can it be if you can't play in the tournament?"

Though it's widely assumed that by firing Bayno, the university might gain sufficient NCAA goodwill to have the ban overturned, Glazier said no such deal has been discussed.

Bayno was fired late Monday by Harter and Cavagnaro after receipt of the sanctions by the eight-member NCAA Committee on Infractions. The NCAA cleared Bayno of failing to adequately monitor his program, but Harter felt he exercised poor oversight, especially in regard to improper relationships between boosters and players.

The school was penalized for improperly monitoring Bayno's program, but Harter said, "The head coach is responsible for the integrity of the program. It's the responsibility of the coach to know what's going on in and around his program."

Bayno, who scheduled a press conference today, didn't return phone calls from the Sun. But he told the Associated Press: "The institution felt it was my fault. But I wasn't charged with anything. The NCAA cleared me of wrongdoing."

Harter said the team's 3-4 record had nothing to do with the coaching change. In fact, she has been a longtime Bayno backer, often joining him and the players in the pregame huddle. That had become rarer this season, however.

"I have high personal regard for coach Bayno. Predictably, he behaved with grace and style when I informed him of the decision," Harter said. "It was one of the toughest decisions of my career, but I believe it was the right decision for the future of UNLV."

Harter and Cavagnaro announced the decision to the team at noon Tuesday, when Bayno shared tearful farewells with his players.

"There were a lot of tears and emotions," Diggs said. "(Bayno) told us to keep our heads up and play hard for coach Good."

Technically, Bayno wasn't fired, but was reassigned within the athletic department. If he rejects the assignment, he will void the remaining 2 1/2 years of his contract, Cavagnaro said. Bayno makes about $137,000 in base salary and $600,000 in total annual compensation.

"A position will be offered, but no one has a gun to anybody's head," Cavagnaro said.

Such assignments are common when coaches are fired, and are normally the first step toward expediting a settlement favorable to the university. UNLV insiders don't expect Bayno to accept the job, and settlement discussions could begin today.

Rebels booster David Chapman, a Bayno friend and central figure in the investigation, said he spoke to Bayno on Tuesday.

"He said he's at peace with himself," Chapman said. "He said if he gets an offer from a college, he won't take it. He wants to be an assistant coach in the (NBA)."

Bayno left with a 94-64 record, a .595 winning percentage, and two NCAA appearances on his resume.

Meanwhile, Good enters with a mixed coaching record, but a reputation as a fiery coach and solid strategist. He is the 11th basketball head coach in UNLV history, including the short interim stints of Howie Landa and Cleveland Edwards in 1995.

Good had a 96-129 record in eight seasons as head coach at Eastern Kentucky (1981-89), but he was saddened to be resuming his head coaching career at Bayno's expense.

"This is my worst day in 32 years of coaching," Good said. "Bill Bayno is a good friend of mine. He'll get to heaven before a lot of his critics."

Cavagnaro said Good's contract will be enriched, but not lengthened beyond this season. Cavagnaro acknowledged that the rumor mill will churn out names of available coaching candidates -- Bobby Knight was Tuesday's name du jour -- but he said no search is under way.

Good said he doesn't envision wholesale changes in the Rebels' personnel or game plan, but revealed that all five starting jobs were opened to competition after Saturday's loss at Nevada-Reno.

"No one is going to be slotted right into the lineup," Good said. "You have to earn it."

"Coach Good will probably scream more than coach Bayno," Diggs said with a chuckle.

Good said he contacted former Rebels point guard Mark Wade on Tuesday about becoming an assistant coach. He also phoned the Rebels' 2001 recruits -- Marcus Banks, Simplice Njoya and Ernest Turner -- to reassure them about the program's stability.

Turner said, "It broke my heart to hear (Bayno) won't be coaching me," but he said last month that he selected UNLV mainly because of Good.

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