Columnist Ron Kantowski: Small-time coach not a bad idea

Tuesday, March 27, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

As UNLV's seemingly eternal search for its new one suggests, there are various strategies to hiring a men's basketball coach. The three most common are 1) targeting an established, high-profile guy (preferably one who hasn't been fired) to guide Big State back to the Final Four, 2) identifying a hot assistant from a major hoops factory to take Ole Tex to the "next level" or, 3) enticing a guy who has won a ton of games at a smaller school with the promise of more money and an occasional Big Monday game on ESPN.

No records are kept on which method is most successful. But it's a safe bet that most of today's heavyweight coaches had a stint with a lightweight program on their way up the ladder.

Just look at Saturday's Final Four coaches. Before they had six-figure shoe contracts, biographers and offices the size of airplane hangars, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (Army), Arizona's Lute Olson (Long Beach State) and Maryland's Gary Williams (American University) served apprenticeships with schools nearly small enough to be listed among those trade schools who advertise on matchbook covers.

(Maybe that's what is holding UNLV up. Instead of having its coaching applicants Draw the Pirate, they're trying to sketch Krzyzewski -- or at least spell it.)

Michigan State's Tom Izzo is the only member of the Final Four quartet who took a different route to coaching stardom. He started off as a lowly graduate assistant at MSU under Jud Heathcote before advancing through the ranks. But the guy he beat in the South Regional finals, John Chaney, was holding 6 a.m. practices at Cheyney State long before he started them at Temple.

Most fans -- and especially Rebels fans -- are partial to the marquee approach. Rick Pitino's alleged interest in the vacancy last month created the biggest buzz around here since those killer bees made their way up from the equator or wherever the heck they come from.

But when Pitino got through yanking UNLV's chain, the Rebels should have switched to Plan B. And Plan B should have been identifying the best mid-major, West Coast coach available and getting his signature on the bottom line.

Of course, it's easy to say that now, what with every established coach who UNLV has approached having turned down or laughed off the overture. But if you don't think the mid-major route is the best one, look no farther than our collective back yard.

During my 15 years in Las Vegas, the Rebels essentially have had three coaches. UNLV's version of the Chicago Cubs' notorious College of Coaches (remember when Tim Grgurich, Howie Landa and Cle Edwards shared the coaching duties in 1994-95?) and this year's pinch-hitter, Max Good, don't count. In regard to the hiring approaches outlined above, the Rebels have had one of each.

Need I go any further?