Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels have nothing to worry about

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. His inside notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

A few weeks ago in this space I took Rebels basketball coach Bill Bayno to task for saying a little too loudly that UNLV could live with the loss of scholarships and other sanctions it imposed on itself as a peace offering to the NCAA, capping an investigation into wrongdoing within his men's basketball program.

In retrospect, Bayno could have used a bullhorn to express himself and it probably wouldn't have mattered.

Because if ever you wanted to hurl the barrel end of a broken Louisville Slugger toward NCAA headquarters, this would be the week.

After terming rampant academic fraud within the University of Minnesota men's basketball program "one of the most serious infractions cases of the last 20 years," the NCAA let the Golden Gophers off with an amazingly light penalty -- loss of five scholarships over three years, four years' probation and repayment of $350,000 in NCAA Tournament profits from the mid '90s.

Oh yeah, the NCAA also is asking Minnesota to take down its 1997 Final Four banner from the rafters at Williams Arena.

All things considered, drawing a "Do Not Pass Go; Do Not Collect $200" card in Monopoly would have been a bigger burden to bear.

What happened to the NCAA that former Rebel coach Jerry Tarkanian referred to as "The Gestapo"? Sometime after administering the death penalty to the Southern Methodist football program in 1987, the NCAA Fuhrers must have been blown out of their bunkers and replaced by Colonel Klink and Sgt. Schultz.

Based on the slap on the wrist that Minnesota received, unless a couple of Catholic nuns are added to the Committee on Infractions between now and the time it decides UNLV's fate (my knuckles are still smarting for falling behind in penmanship during the first grade), this is the first time that you could say with any certainty that the Rebels really have nothing to worry about.

There are only two possible scenarios that might give one pause to think otherwise.

One is that if the NCAA gets blasted by the national press for allowing Minnesota to use a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, perhaps it will bring out a bigger paddle in dealing with the Rebels.

But don't count on it. So far, there hasn't been much backlash from the press. Furthermore, how would the NCAA justify coming down harder on UNLV for a lighter offense?

The last time anybody checked, having a booster provide a recruit (Lamar Odom) who never appeared in a game with some walking around money was considered far less grievous than having a tutor doing homework for most of the starting five.

The second wild card is UNLV's status as a "repeat offender." In that Tark's battles with the NCAA (which resulted in the Rebels being put on probation from 1993-96) lasted longer than a World Series game, this is the second time within five years the Rebels have been charged with a crime. Technically, that would make UNLV eligible for the dreaded death penalty.

But other schools have been in the same situation. And every one has gotten off without being sent to the NCAA's version of The Hole for any length of time.

So will the Rebels.