Columnist Dean Juipe: Majerus deals UNLV big setback

Dean Juipe

Friday, March 9, 2001 | 10:25 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

The shelf life of the column originally written for this space was pitifully brief. It stood for three or four hours Thursday afternoon before it expired.

In that same three or four hours, UNLV's prospects for finding the type of men's basketball coach it wants may have expired as well.

You see, with Rick Majerus out, the Rebels not only have been rejected by the man they really hoped to nab -- Rick Pitino -- but by their "consolation prize" as well.

Majerus may have been UNLV's second choice but he was at the front of the line when he pulled his name from consideration after meeting with school officials earlier in the day. He was, at that time, the leader in the clubhouse.

His decision to stay at the University of Utah comes as a surprise, if, in fact, he really is staying with the Utes. But whether he is or he isn't, he won't be taking over a UNLV job that appeared to be a perfect fit in terms of his style and habits.

A noted "Vegas Guy" who has combed the city's buffets and showrooms as only a big-eating, single man with money can do, Majerus intermittently fancies himself as the Rebels' coach -- only to be bombarded by second thoughts. His interest in the current job opening marked the third time in a decade he had received at least an indirect job offer and then withdrawn.

But that's three strikes and he's out as far as UNLV and its dismayed fans are concerned. They would have embraced him and thought nothing of the inevitable critiques that would have, in part, labeled him "the poor man's Rick Pitino."

Maybe he wouldn't have sold as many seats in the Thomas & Mack Center as Pitino might have, but Majerus would have satisfied both administrators and fans with his drawing power and charisma. Smiles would have accompanied an announcement of his hiring.

And it really seemed as if it was going to happen, in large part because Majerus looked to be nine-tenths departed from Utah after leaving the team one game into the current season due to his own health problems and those of his mother. Factor in Dick Hunsaker doing a more than adequate job as Majerus' replacement with the Utes, and it was reasonable to assume the latter could have snipped his remaining ties to the school in mere minutes.

Is UNLV's situation so pathetic that it couldn't land a coach who has been tempted to come here so often that it has become routine? The answer, by all appearances, is "yes."

The NCAA sanctions that were imposed in December are haunting the search for a permanent replacement for Max Good, who had "temp" stamped all over him from the minute he was named Bill Bayno's successor the day the NCAA restrictions came down. Had either Pitino or Majerus filled the void there would have been reason for excitement, but now UNLV is left to rummage among the scraps for someone who would at least come across as passable.

Maybe that man exists, maybe not.

But whoever gets the job -- and, please, don't think it will be the oft-whipped Good -- won't be ideal.

It's a harsh reality, yet one that has come UNLV's way: The ideal choices have already said no.