Good-time Charlie

Steve Addy

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

Somewhere, for some reason, there must be someone who doesn't like Charlie Spoonhour.

Somehow, he must have ticked off somebody.

Maybe he liberated too many coins from a 7-Eleven take-a-penny dish.

Perhaps he drove too fast in a hospital zone, blaring a Merle Haggard song.

Or maybe he doesn't rewind his video rentals.

Mind you, we're not trying to dig up dirt. We're not putting up an 800 number to solicit complaints.

It's just that you get a little suspicious when so many people say nice things about a person. You figure someone's holding back. After four decades in coaching, the guy must have made an enemy somewhere.

But then you check into his background and spend some time around him, and it hits you: Where Charlie Spoonhour goes, good times usually follow.

For fans of UNLV basketball, that revelation should be greatly reassuring. After an especially turbulent period for the program, the 62-year-old Spoonhour has taken over as the Rebels' 12th head coach, with an eye toward restoring their Tark-era glory.

Coming out of a two-year retirement after 16 seasons of Division I coaching, Spoonhour brings more than grandfatherly wit and Arkansas charm to his new position. There is more to him than his ability to keep friends and make people comfortable in his presence.

With 319 victories, a 65.1 winning percentage and eight trips to the NCAA Tournament, usually with moderately talented teams, Spoonhour's coaching resume is among the best of the past two decades in college basketball.

Even if he wasn't UNLV's first choice last spring, even if the university spent two months and considerable funds chasing ex-Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, Spoonhour could be the right man at the right time. In nine seasons at Southwest Missouri State and seven at Saint Louis, there was never a hint of scandal in his program. UNLV liked that a lot.

And it didn't hurt that in a nine-year span from 1987-95, seven of his teams made the NCAA Tournament field, with three reaching the second round despite unfavorable seedings.

And did we mention that he's well-liked?

Coaches tend to say nice things about each other in public, but you usually wonder how they would respond if there wasn't a notepad or tape recorder around.

When Charlie Spoonhour is the topic, that wonder disappears, because the coaches smile and nod with genuine feeling. They really like Spoonhour -- not to get chummy, but everyone calls him "Spoon" -- and know that having him back in the coaching racket reflects better on all of them.

"Charlie's got that low-key down-home country charm that makes everybody like him," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "He is modest to a fault, yet he's in complete control of his team.

"He does a great job of recognizing what talent he's got, then getting a structure that allows his players the best chance to be successful. That is one of the highest compliments that you can give a coach -- don't complain about what you don't have, but accent the positives. Charlie will do that."

Utah's Rick Majerus, whom UNLV briefly pursued before signing Spoonhour, said, "He's a lot like (football coach) John Robinson, who I thought was a great choice for UNLV. I think Spoon is a really good fit for that city.

"He's also a really good coach. I've coached against him and lost to him at Marquette in the NIT when he was at Southwest Missouri. He's won wherever he's gone. He'll do a great job at UNLV."

Even those who have never coached against Spoonhour are friendly with him, because he's one of the most popular speakers on the summer hoops circuit.

"I have the ultimate respect for him," Virginia's Pete Gillen said. "He's a coaches' coach. I think he's a perfect fit for Vegas. He has a great personality and sense of humor. He's a fun guy. He'll make it fun for the players and fans, and he'll create a lot of loyalty if people give him a chance.

"Vegas is a unique place, and there are high standards from what (Jerry Tarkanian) did. But UNLV could not have gotten a better guy than Spoon. No one looks forward to playing his teams. Players win games, but he'll get the most out of his players."

Some of those compliments were passed on to Spoonhour and his cheeks reddened. After all these years in the business, he must be accustomed to such praise, but he responds with a humbleness that doesn't seem falsely modest.

"That's very nice of them to say. I think that's the way all of us would prefer to be seen," he said. "We all want to be treated a certain way. The idea is still to be yourself. I can't change the way I am.

"I think you learn as you grow up that there's a right way and a wrong way to do something. I like the way I do things. I've been able to be myself, have a good time and still get stuff halfway right."

Somehow it's more charming to hear it with an Arkansas twang.

Tucked in the northwest corner of Arkansas, about 15 miles south of the Missouri border and 30 minutes east of Oklahoma, the city of Rogers served as Spoonhour's childhood home after his birth in Mulberry, Kan., in 1939.

Little of note ever happened in Rogers, though Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart there in 1962. During World War II and into the '50s, Spoonhour lived a fairly typical childhood life of modest means.

"I grew up fortunate enough to have two pair of blue jeans and a pair of corduroys," he said. "But I didn't have to walk 10 miles in the snow to school. We didn't have a lot of money, but we were very happy."

His father, Claude, was a meat-cutter and his mother, Erma, a grocery clerk. Claude played the piano and wrote song lyrics, but didn't follow sports. That was Erma's calling. She had played basketball and softball, and shared her devotion with young Charlie.

"My mom and I listened to Cardinals baseball and Oklahoma A&M basketball, because that was the one station we could bring in on our radio -- KRMG in Tulsa," he said. "Curt Gowdy was one of the announcers for A&M (now Oklahoma State).

"I probably spent more time with my mom. She would play catch with me. She was better at that than my dad. But they both sacrificed so I could play baseball. They made sure I had a bat and a good Rawlings glove. I had a Reach baseball, an official American League ball with the signature of (league president) Will Harridge."

Spoonhour's love for the Cardinals has spanned his lifetime. As a youngster, he cherished the autographs of Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst, and hung on the broadcasts of Harry Caray, Gabby Street, Gus Mancuso and Jack Buck.

As an adult, he became so friendly with former Cards manager Joe Torre that he was allowed to manage a spring training game one year against Baltimore. Ben MacDonald was dominant, not allowing a Cardinal past first base, wasting all of Spoonhour's fancy hit-and-run signs.

Spoonhour's basketball coaching career has gone a bit better than his managerial stint. He has been successful at every level he has attempted, compiling a winning percentage of 71.3 at high school, junior college and Division I.

Out of 976 games, he has won 696, mostly with a strong emphasis on defense. He makes no apologies for that, no matter how unglamorous the style, which has been tabbed Spoonball.

"Too many times, people think the only way you win games is by shooting the ball," he said. "Players think they have to get a certain amount of shots. But you can win games with your defense, rebounding, passing. The guy who sets the screen is just as important as the guy who shoots the ball, but no one ever writes about him. No one shows him on the highlight film."

Spoonhour's attention to detail doesn't occur only on game day. He prepares a practice plan every day and follows it strictly. His son, assistant coach Jay Spoonhour, lovingly refers to his dad as "the world's worst delegator."

"That's probably true," Charlie Spoonhour said. "I'll give my staff certain jobs to do, but I'll wander around and stick my two cents in, even though I've got very capable people."

Basketball operations director Dave Rice, a holdover from the previous UNLV staff, is impressed with Spoonhour's energy.

"There doesn't seem to be any rust from his time off," Rice said. "He's hit the ground running. He is excited and enthusiastic. He is well-organized and prepared. At the same time, he has the expertise to make adjustments on the fly."

Spoonhour traces his micromanaging tendencies to his first high school job at Rocky Comfort (Mo.), in 1961. He coached the team, scheduled officials and often drove the bus.

"It was the smallest high school in Missouri. I got the job because I was the only candidate," he said. "I made $4,200 and I was very happy. A big night was getting in the car and driving two miles to Dairy Queen. When we got paid, we went to Joplin. That was our big city."

Granted, Las Vegas might not be as worldly as Joplin, but it's a place Spoonhour has wanted to call home for a long time. He has been a regular visitor for 30 years and even planned to retire here with his second wife, Vicki, after quitting Saint Louis in 1999.

But Spoonhour didn't slow down enough to move to Vegas. He began doing TV for Oklahoma basketball and NCAA radio during the tournament. He and Vicki stayed in St. Louis instead, so he could be near his beloved Cardinals for 80 games a summer.

But as soon as it became clear the Rebels were seeking a coach, Spoonhour's interest was piqued. Even before Pitino became a candidate, Spoonhour made his interest known to Rebels AD Charlie Cavagnaro, whom he knew from their days in Conference USA. As soon as Pitino ended negotiations March 4, it took about three weeks for UNLV and Spoonhour to come to a deal.

Now, as his Rebels debut dawns, it is plain that Spoonhour-style success at UNLV might not occur quickly. The program is under scholarship sanctions this season and next, and the probation tag will remain until December 2004.

On the court, with few of his own recruits, Spoonhour has to make due with a team that isn't big, isn't deep and certainly isn't accustomed to playing the kind of defense that has been his staple. Overcoming all of that in his first season won't be easy.

But after almost 1,000 basketball games, no one believes that Charlie Spoonhour's coaching talent has withered in two years of pseudo-retirement. You don't go from a 71 percent winner to a bum. Patience will be required, but the eventual payoff might be as good -- or better -- than anything Pitino could have delivered.

"Charlie Spoonhour is one of the great coaches in the country," New Mexico's Fran Fraschilla said. "He'll give you all the jokes and tell his great stories, but that's only part of what makes him special. He really knows how to coach.

"I'm not sure the Rebels' fans yet understand how good a coach he is. But they will see."

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