UNLV’s man of the Spoonhour

Victoria Sun

Friday, March 30, 2001 | 10:33 a.m.

UNLV's newest men's basketball coach isn't the once sought after Rick Pitino, who ultimately decided to coach at Louisville.

He is 61-year-old Charlie Spoonhour, a charismatic charmer who worked the microphone as skillfully as many Las Vegas headliners during an introductory press conference Thursday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.

And to those who still wish UNLV landed Pitino, Spoonhour holds no grudges.

"I would imagine there's probably a lot of people who would rather see Coach Pitino than me, not just here," Spoonhour said. "But, he can't be everywhere.

"I hate to break it to you, but while it looked for a while like he was going to coach three or four places, he's only going to be at one."

Spoonhour, who came out of retirement to become head coach of the Rebels, was full of humorous anecdotes on this day, but serious as an IRS audit when discussing the future of Rebel basketball and why he took the job.

He has agreed to a three-year, $1.2 million contract. While not required to by law, the school's Board of Regents will review the contract at its April 19-20 meeting.

The hiring of Spoonhour put an end to the long and arduous search for a head coach that included the courting of Pitino, among others. Max Good, who replaced fired head coach Bill Bayno in December, was relieved of his duties late Wednesday night.

"All through this long process of publicly seeking out and ultimately finding one of the best available coaches in America to lead our team, (UNLV football coach ) John Robinson has been the model for us," UNLV president Carol Harter said. "His quick success here, his terrific personal ethics, his warmth and reception in the Las Vegas community has been a marvelous model and it has been the standard by which I think we should hire all our staff."

Spoonhour, Saint Louis' head coach from 1992-99, said he hadn't given any thought to hiring a coaching staff yet and would talk to any UNLV assistants who may be interested.

"I have not got a staff picked out or anything like that," he said. "This has really come sort of fast."

Earlier in the day he had an informal meeting with the players to gauge their feelings and explain his philosophies.

Spoonhour said he is aware that some players have thought about transferring, but hoped they would stay.

"I'm just hoping they'll give me a chance and be receptive to listening," Spoonhour said. "I know it hasn't been easy for them.

"They've had three coaches in less than a year. There are a lot of different signals coming out. It's tough when you've got three different people telling you different things. I have sympathy for them."

Spoonhour said that he and his wife, Vicki, visited Las Vegas three to four times a year before he accepted the job, and that he planned to retire here.

His love of the city and the opportunity to coach at what was once a basketball powerhouse attracted him to the job.

"I like Las Vegas," he said. "I like the things the school has done in the past in terms of basketball.

"It's not like you're selling a pie in the sky dream to players. You're telling them what has been done before here and what can be done. It's a chance. It's a great chance to be good again."

Clark High School graduate H Waldman played two years for Spoonhour at Saint Louis from 1993-95. Waldman averaged 10.8 points at Saint Louis and gave Spoonhour a ringing endorsement.

"Spoon's a good guy," Waldman said. "As a person, he's maybe better than he is a coach, and I think he's a good coach.

"He's going to run a clean program, want them to go to class -- the things that you're supposed to be going to the university for besides basketball.

"He wants to recruit good guys. I think for the direction the school wants to go, Spoon's a perfect fit."

When asked if he was hesitant to accept the job because of the NCAA sanctions placed on the school, Spoonhour brought the house down with his response.

"It's pretty simple," he said. "There are certain things that we know you can't do.

"You can't break rules. If you knowingly break rules, it's history for the basketball program.

"I mean, I think that's evident to all of us. I'm not interested in presiding over funerals. I'm here for basketball. I'm not here to say good night."