Bayno: Spoon will need more than luck to build a winner

Steve Addy

Friday, March 30, 2001 | 10:37 a.m.

Bill Bayno wishes Charlie Spoonhour "all the luck in the world."

But the former UNLV basketball coach thinks the new coach will need more than luck to build the Rebels into the winning program that Las Vegans are hoping for.

"It's a tough job. There are a few things he will have to overcome," Bayno said Thursday from Minneapolis, where he is attending the Final Four.

"To get the program into the top 25, (the school) needs to drastically increase the recruiting budget. They need to increase it at least $250,000 (from $75,000). They need to look at the admission standards, which are not always fair. And they need to get control over arena availability."

During his six-year tenure as coach, Bayno was often upset that the presence of the National Finals Rodeo put his team out of the Thomas & Mack Center for two weeks every December.

Those issues didn't greatly concern Spoonhour when he interviewed with AD Charlie Cavagnaro and UNLV president Carol Harter.

"We talked about (arena) dates and the rodeo, but it's a foregone conclusion that the rodeo is going to be here," Spoonhour said Thursday. "With the new practice facility (the Cox Pavilion), that should help that situation.

"But when I was coach at Saint Louis, we practiced in a small gym all the time. We made it work."

Of the recruiting budget, Spoonhour said, "We never got into that. I'm of the opinion that it looks workable. But obviously you would always like more money for that."

Bayno, who has deposited his $400,000 buyout from UNLV, said he was unhappy that Max Good didn't get to keep the coaching job he inherited after Bayno's Dec. 12 dismissal.

But Bayno also had kind words about Spoonhour.

"I'm happy for Spoon. He is truly one of the good guys in the business," Bayno said. "When I was at UMass, we played Saint Louis a lot, and he's a fine coach.

"I'm a little surprised he got back into (coaching). When he retired, he said he felt burned out. But I'm sure he is up to the job."