Tubbs bring his last team to Las Vegas

Victoria Sun

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 12:50 p.m.

It's fitting that TCU head coach Billy Tubbs, in his final season with the Horned Frogs, will get to coach a few games in Las Vegas, one of his favorite places to play.

But the venerable Tubbs, entering his 28th season as a head coach and eighth at TCU, won't get to coach in the Thomas & Mack Center or a similar arena.

Instead, his team and seven others, including 18th-ranked (ESPN/USA Today coaches poll) Oklahoma State and Big East sleeper Providence, will be relegated to the Valley High School gymnasium on Monday for the second round of pool play in the Las Vegas Tournament.

"Some of the big boys in Congress didn't want us playing at a casino," Tubbs said with disdain. "If you're going to play in Vegas, you're probably going to stay in a casino, anyway.

"Moving the tournament will hurt the tournament, but it won't stop the potential risks. The whole thing is silly. That's the word for it."

The Las Vegas Tournament, along with the Las Vegas Invitational (Nov. 22-24) and the Las Vegas Classic (Dec. 20-22), were originally to be held at the Paris Hotel.

Under a strong recommendation by the NCAA, tournament organizer Chris Spencer agreed to move the tournaments out of the casino and away from the strip.

Tubbs last week announced that this will be his final season at TCU, which will be making its Conference USA debut this year.

He spent 14 years at Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to nine NCAA Tournaments, and is ready to match wits with the likes of Rick Pitino (Louisville), Bob Huggins (Cincinnati) and John Calipari (Memphis).

"It doesn't bother me to be coaching against them," Tubbs said. "I've coached against those guys before, just not in conference.

"We're excited about playing because it's a very prestigious conference."

Following this season, Tubbs said he will evaluate what jobs are available before deciding on his next move.

Until then, his focus is on the Horned Frogs, who were 20-11, 9-7 in the Western Athletic Conference last season.

The team lost its top four scorers and top three rebounders, forcing Tubbs to reload in a hurry.

Six-foot-eight junior Bingo Merriex returns to shore up the frontcourt for TCU. He averaged 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds last season but has been sidelined by a broken foot in the preseason.

Tubbs expects him to play limited minutes tonight when TCU hosts Northwestern State in the first round of the Las Vegas Tournament in Fort Worth (the opening round games are played at campus sites) and plays Arkansas-Monticello at Valley High School at 2:30 p.m. Monday.

The Horned Frogs will be without their second-most experienced player, guard Nucleus Smith, who has a sprained ankle.

Tubbs is impressed with junior college transfer Jamal Brown, a 6-foot-7 forward, shooting guard Alan Blount and freshman point guard Corey Santee.

"I'll start four players that have never played a Division I game," Tubbs said. "It concerns you, but it adds an air of anticipation.

"This tournament will mean a tremendous amount for our team regardless of the wins and losses we come away with. This time next week, a lot of the speculation about what we can and can't do will be over."