Bayno fights back

Steve Addy

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

Instead of cutting ties to the university that fired him this week, former UNLV basketball coach Bill Bayno is trying to get back in the hot seat.

Or at least force a favorable financial settlement.

Bayno's attorney says his client has a strong case for reinstatement as coach, claiming that UNLV president Dr. Carol Harter wrongfully terminated Bayno for inadequate monitoring of the Rebels' program.

Attorney Steve Owens said the university, not Bayno specifically, was found guilty of poor oversight and that Bayno was fired despite being cited only for two secondary violations.

Owens said Bayno is considering "all options," including legal remedies.

"We want people to read and understand the NCAA report," Owens said. "If they read it, they will understand that coach Bayno wasn't found guilty of (failure to monitor) and should not have been terminated."

Though Owens said he and Bayno aren't splitting hairs, their stance could be a prelude to negotiating a financial settlement with UNLV. Bayno has two years left at a base salary of $136,500, but his total annual compensation is around $600,000.

Bayno's contract subjects him to dismissal for "intentionally violating" any rule of the NCAA, university or conference.

But if Bayno can show that the university didn't have proper cause to fire him, he might be able to negotiate a settlement for more than his base salary.

"For the university to fire him and not pay him the full value of his contract, it has to be a for-cause termination," Owens said.

"We would like to find a solution that's mutually agreeable for Bill Bayno and UNLV. What form that takes, I don't know."

Preliminary discussions took place Wednesday between Owens and University of Nevada System attorney Tom Ray. It's unclear if they discussed Bayno's request for reinstatement or began negotiating a settlement.

Owens called the meeting "cordial and professional."

Bayno was fired Monday after UNLV received notification of NCAA sanctions resulting from a two-year probe of his program. The Rebels were put on four years probation and banned from postseason play this season, and incurred scholarship reductions and recruiting limits.

Harter and athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro asked Bayno to resign, but he refused. They immediately relieved him of the duties and re-assigned him within the athletic department, though the post hasn't been defined.

On Tuesday, Harter said Bayno was fired because he failed to properly monitor his program, especially pertaining to relationships between boosters and players. The central issues in the investigation were cash and benefits given by boosters to ex-Rebels recruit Lamar Odom and other players -- as much as $5,600 in Odom's case, given by booster Dr. David Chapman.

However, Bayno was cleared of poor oversight by the NCAA. In the original NCAA letter of inquiry, he was accused of improperly monitoring his program for possible rule violations. But UNLV's official response on July 12 denied that charge, and the NCAA dropped it.

"(UNLV's) response specifically says Bill Bayno did not fail to monitor his program, and the NCAA agreed," Owens said. "Now how can UNLV come back and claim he didn't properly monitor?"

Instead, the NCAA found the university liable for failure to monitor Bayno's program. That is a telling distinction, Owens said.

"When the NCAA made any references to Bayno or the head coach, they were very specific," Owens said. "They specifically referred to the university's failure to monitor."

Citing the relationship between Bayno and Chapman, the NCAA report concluded that the UNLV "athletic staff" knew about potential improprieties, or should have known, but failed to discourage the relationship.

"The fact that Bayno was friends with David Chapman was not grounds to be relieved of his coaching duties," Owens said.

But Harter said the totality of the violations uncovered by the NCAA points squarely to Bayno.

"The real issue here is who is responsible for the basketball program, and it is the head coach," Harter said. "I think we all finally take responsibility for the jobs we're given and the head coach is responsible for the integrity of the basketball program.

"The responsibility of the coach is to know directly what's going on in and around his program. When you have boosters involved with the program, who are showing up regularly at practices, whom you see on a regular basis, it is the responsibility of the coaching staff and the head coach to monitor that participation in the program."

After canceling his press conference Wednesday morning, Bayno referred all legal questions to Owens, other than to say, "I'm keeping all of my options open at this time."

But Bayno spoke briefly about the aftermath of his dismissal.

"I'm obviously going through a tough time right now," he said. "I am using this time to reflect on my situation and try to figure out the right thing to do.

"This has been hard. I have always prided myself on being tough and not feeling sorry for myself. But I'm looking at the big picture. I've had an incredible opportunity here. I'm a better person for it, and I have made friends I never thought I'd have."

About being fired after the Rebels had struggled to a 3-4 record, Bayno said, "We had a 3 1/2-hour meeting after the game in Reno (last Saturday), and this team is going to turn it around with or without me. Nobody left that room until we were all on the same page."

Bayno said new coach Max Good deserves to continue as the Rebels' coach next year, barring his own reinstatement.

"I would hate to see someone (besides Good) come in and take over after 90 percent of the job is done," Bayno said. "We were this close to turning this into a top-25 program. I'm one-zillion percent behind Max and this staff, and I know they will be very successful.

"I'm just sorry I won't be there to see it."