Spoonhour, Nike near agreement

Steve Addy

Friday, May 18, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.

UNLV basketball coach Charlie Spoonhour and Nike are negotiating a contract that could add up to $100,000 to his annual compensation.

Spoonhour signed a three-year UNLV contract worth $1.275 million on March 29, but there was no mention then of compensation from Nike, which paid previous coach Bill Bayno about $136,000 per year to represent the company.

But Nike will continue to outfit the Rebels, and Spoonhour said talks are progressing to continue the relationship he had with Nike as coach at Saint Louis from 1993-99.

Though Nike reportedly offered as much as $800,000 a year to Rick Pitino if he signed with UNLV, coaching sources said Spoonhour's deal probably won't top $100,000. The company is said to be downsizing its college marketing program with coaches around the country.

Spoonhour wouldn't reveal details of the negotiations, but said, "I'm very comfortable with Nike. I've spoken at their clinics for years, and they're good people to work with."

Nike public relations manager Eric Oberman said the company hopes to have a deal with Spoonhour before the season.

"Charlie Spoonhour has been a consultant for (Nike) for several years and we want to continue that relationship," Oberman said.

Spoonhour had a minor contract with Converse at Southwest Missouri State from 1983-92. He continued with Converse at Saint Louis in 1992-93, then switched to Nike for his final six seasons.

"At Southwest Missouri, people weren't exactly knocking our door down with offers," he said. "Then we started winning and people got interested."

Spoonhour's UNLV contract is worth $425,000 a year, with $135,000 in base salary. He earns the rest through TV-radio appearances, and there are incentives based on attendance and his players' academic performance.

Lewis is expected to return to action as early as November, but possibly not until January. So far, the Rebels haven't considered redshirting him.

"I'm optimistic we'll have Jermaine for some of the season," Spoonhour said. "We'll take a look at (redshirting) after we see how things go. But I've had players go through this (surgery) before, guys with the same body and work ethic as Jermaine, and they came back strong."

The ligament graft will be performed by Dr. Gerald Higgins and Dr. Vern Prochaska.

"Everything is going as we hoped," Spoonhour said. "His class work is going well and he'll graduate in mid-June."

Turner, a 6-2 shooting guard from Sterling High in Somerdale, N.J., was recently ranked 77th among 2001 high school signees by PrepStars.com. He was selected to play in the Coca Cola All-Star Classic here this month, but the game has been canceled, organizer Dinos Trigonis said.