Goodman not on Pitino bandwagon

Erin Neff

Friday, Jan. 12, 2001 | 10:32 a.m.

College basketball fans around the country are salivating with hope that Rick Pitino lands at their beloved school to turn around a mediocre program.

One post from Pennsylvania on ESPN's website begs: "Will somebody please start a rumor that Rick Pitino is coming to Penn State?"

But not everybody in Las Vegas is convinced Pitino is worth UNLV's effort.

"I don't know anybody who's worth $1 million a year," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said when asked about the Pitino-to-UNLV reports.

"Would I like to see him coach?" Goodman repeated this reporter's question. "I'd like to see him coach better than he did in Boston."

But Goodman, a rabid basketball fan who as recently as last week discussed an NBA team's potential move here, said "I don't want to blast Rick Pitino out of Las Vegas."

Neither do a lot of Rebel fans, despite the team's 7-1 record since Max Good took over the NCAA-sanctioned program when Bill Bayno was fired last month.

"That is just a super, super name," said Tony Biggs, sporting a Rebels cap as he went into the post office near City Hall on Thursday. "What Pitino is to college basketball, Knute Rockne was to Notre Dame and Wayne Gretzky is to hockey.

"I think he could really turn this program around," Biggs said.

"And the fans could use something to get excited over."

Goodman remembers defending a case in New York 11 years ago when the Rebels had risen to national prominence and teens in Manhattan sported UNLV jackets.

"The best days, the salad days in Las Vegas -- and I mean nothing against Bill Bayno -- were the Tarkanian days," Goodman said. "They gave Las Vegas a worldwide presence."

Jerry Tarkanian coached the Rebels to the national championship in 1990. But the Thomas & Mack Center hasn't known the same excitement since.

"Pitino would get us ranked and get our highlights on SportsCenter," said UNLV junior Deshaun Jones. "We can't get people to the games and that's not good for the players."

Goodman said his criticism was only related to speculation that Pitino would need somewhere in the area of $1 million to come here.

"If Pitino could bring us a national championship, that would be great," Goodman said.

"And he could help attract the NBA. We certainly need that excitement here."