Vote of confidence

Steve Addy

Wednesday, April 11, 2001 | 10:31 a.m.

UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro has received a contract renewal through June 2002, university president Dr. Carol Harter told the Sun.

Cutting off any speculation about Cavagnaro's future as department head, Harter said she renewed his contract after conducting an annual performance review.

Cavagnaro, 59, has been UNLV's athletic director since Aug. 1, 1995. His year-by-year contract was set to expire at the end of June.

"Spring is when we do the reviews, and I have renewed (Cavagnaro's) contract for next year," Harter said.

She declined to offer further details, saying the renewal speaks for itself.

"Even in cases when it's positive, I don't like to discuss personnel matters in public," Harter said. "It's a matter of principle."

Cavagnaro deferred questions about his contract to Harter.

With Harter, Cavagnaro just presided over the school's prolonged search for a new basketball coach, as well as the firing of former coach Bill Bayno on Dec. 11 after the NCAA levied sanctions against the program, including four years' probation.

Charlie Spoonhour was hired March 29, about three weeks after Rick Pitino turned down the job, culminating a search that became more public than Harter or Cavagnaro had wanted. The pair absorbed criticism throughout the three-month episode, especially after Pitino said no.

But Cavagnaro said Tuesday that neither the coaching search nor the criticism has made him long for retirement. He'll turn 60 in June.

"(Retirement) is not something I've looked at," Cavagnaro said. "I've been doing this for 20 years now and I've enjoyed it. I've found it to be very rewarding.

"I don't see myself doing it until I'm 70, but whether I'll stop when I'm 63, 64 or 66, I don't know."

Though some UNLV boosters and media rapped Harter and Cavagnaro for failing to land Pitino and other facets of the coaching search, Cavagnaro regards the criticism as a natural byproduct of pursuing a coach of Pitino's stature. UNLV began going after Pitino soon after his resignation from the Celtics on Jan. 8.

"The timing of (Pitino's availability) made that situation quite unusual," Cavagnaro said. "Generally, coaches are in the middle of the season at that point. But Pitino was out of the game, and the public nature of the thing was quite unfortunate."

Cavagnaro believes hiring the 61-year-old Spoonhour out of retirement will be vindicated. Spoonhour had a 65.1 winning percentage in 16 years at Southwest Missouri State and Saint Louis, but retired in 1999.

"I feel very comfortable about recommending (Spoonhour) to president Harter," Cavagnaro said. "The payoff will be in the final results. Charlie and his coaches have hit the ground running and they've been accepted by the community with open arms. I'm excited about the future of the program."

Cavagnaro also said hiring Spoonhour has been received well nationally, helping to repair UNLV's image after the embarrassment of the NCAA sanctions.

"It's very important to have quality people as the head coaches in your most visible sports," Cavagnaro said. "That's where Spoonhour fits in so well. That's another good thing that hiring does for us."

Asked about the basketball rules violations that occurred during his administration, Cavagnaro said he is satisfied with the university's handling of the matter.

"Anytime there's something like an investigation going on, it's a serious matter and cause for concern," he said. "But I believe we tackled the issues head-on. There wasn't any ducking or dodging."