Terps coach rejects UNLV

Steve Addy

Tuesday, March 20, 2001 | 9:36 a.m.

At least Rick Pitino waited for an actual offer before turning down UNLV's basketball coaching job.

Like Utah's Rick Majerus, Maryland coach Gary Williams told the school to save its sales pitch for someone else.

The coaching search took a bizarre twist Monday, when an Internet outlet reported that Williams was waiting for his agent to return from UNLV with a contract offer worth more than $1 million a year. Sportsline.com reported that Williams was "open to considering" the offer.

Barely three hours later, not only had Williams flatly rejected any interest in the job, he denied that the agent who met with AD Charlie Cavagnaro represents him.

Washington D.C. agent Rob Ades, who represents coaches including Mike Jarvis of St. John's and Jeff Van Gundy of the New York Knicks, had lunch with Cavagnaro on Monday. But Cavagnaro said no offer was discussed, and Williams quickly distanced himself from the matter.

After all, Maryland (23-10) has advanced to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 and is set to play Georgetown on Thursday in the West Regional semifinal at Anaheim, Calif. Williams doesn't need a distraction like this.

"I have no interest in UNLV. None. Period," he said at the team hotel in Costa Mesa, Calif.

"You can't control (speculation). There is nothing that I can do. It is flattering in a way to be considered, but I have no interest -- now and forever. I'm staying at Maryland. My word is my bond. I'm going to tell my players, 'You're stuck with me.' "

Of his relationship with Ades, Williams said, "Rob is somebody I know. (But) Don McCartney is my representative. And UNLV hasn't been in contact with (McCartney) or the school."

Cavagnaro acknowledged meeting with Ades, but didn't say who was the focus of the talks.

"We talked about a variety of college basketball issues and a number of college basketball coaches," Cavagnaro said.

Assuming there was mutual interest between UNLV and Williams, it would have been difficult to pry him away from Maryland anyway. He earns up to a $1 million a year, including incentives, on a contract that was extended through 2008 three years ago.

Also, leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference for a Mountain West school would seem an unlikely career move for Williams.

"I'm an East Coast guy," he said Monday.

However, with a 23-year head coaching resume, including 12 years at Maryland, Williams fulfills many of the qualifications UNLV is seeking in its next coach -- experience, success and the kind of weighty reputation that would keep NCAA investigators and overzealous boosters away from the program.

Williams is 240-138 at Maryland, 447-266 including stints at Boston College, Ohio State and American. He has led the Terrapins to eight straight NCAA tournaments and five berths in the round of 16.

That's the sort of track record Cavagnaro is seeking. A key UNLV insider said Cavagnaro wants "a senior guy with a proven record," and that relative newcomers like coach Bobby Braswell (Cal State Northridge) are not high on UNLV's list.