Rebels plunge deeper into limbo

Steve Addy

Monday, March 5, 2001 | 10:21 a.m.

So much for the afterglow of Trevor Diggs' 49-point game and six Rebels seniors closing their careers with a rousing win.

Barely 48 hours after UNLV's 106-102 victory over Wyoming on Saturday, fueled by Diggs' record-setting game, the program is deeper in limbo than at any time during this topsy-turvy season.

First, the Rebels must look elsewhere in their coaching search after being turned down by Rick Pitino on Sunday.

Then there is a dedicated coaching staff whose lame-duck status has been certain for weeks. How can they recruit effectively or will they even be allowed? Will they be asked to clean out their offices?

And today the university was facing the prospect of a wrongful-termination lawsuit by former coach Bill Bayno, seeking $1.8 million for the remaining 2 1/2 years on his contract.

Bayno, removed as coach Dec. 11, said the suit would be filed today in Clark County District Court, naming defendants including UNLV president Carol Harter, AD Charlie Cavagnaro and the state Board of Regents. Bayno said the best settlement offer he has received from UNLV is $225,000.

"I was told by the university that I'd be treated fairly," he said. "But it hasn't been fair. I've been put in this position. Now I'm doing what I think is right. I'm not asking for anything ridiculous.

"If it wasn't for the work I did, Rick Pitino would not even (have thought) about taking this job. There is a lot of money being thrown around (for Pitino). Peanuts are being thrown at me."

For the players and coaches, Bayno was a welcome figure at Saturday's game. In pregame ceremonies for the seniors, he accompanied Kaspars Kambala to center court. After the game, he leaped over the scorer's table to hug Diggs and Kambala. He was in the locker room for the postgame meeting, even after Harter and Cavagnaro entered.

"They had no business being in there, talking to the team," Bayno said.

"Yeah, it got pretty uncomfortable in there," a Rebels underclassman said.

There is also a high level of discomfort among the coaching staff of Max Good and assistants Dave Rice, Charles Cunningham, Bill Wuczynski. Good's contract runs through June 30, while the others' can be fired any time with 60 days' severance pay.

Though the public coaching search has made it clear the staff won't return, at least not all of them, the coaches have been asked to stay on the job for now.

"I'm not going to sit in a rocking chair on my back porch drinking buttermilk," Good said Sunday. "I'm going to be in the office. What else am I going to do? We are still being paid. I want to earn my paycheck. I intend to fulfill my responsibilities, no matter what they are.

"Now, I don't want to get in the way and be counterproductive. But until they tell me that, I will be there. Even if we can't actively recruit, I'd like to at least make sure that our recruits honor their commitments."

The Rebels have signed three players -- prep school center Simplice Njoya, JC point guard Marcus Banks and high school shooting guard Ernest Turner -- and have two more scholarships to award.

The staff has been in contact with the trio, and Good said he might travel to Dixie College in St. George, Utah, on Wednesday to see Banks play in the national junior college regionals.

"We would like to keep all three of them," Good said.