Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Dean Juipe: Easley’s dismissal puzzling, uncalled for

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.

The e-mail gets right to the highlights of his coaching career.

The 208-143 record.

The four Coach of the Year honors.

The national champions he groomed for UNLV.

Succinct and newsy, the missive from the school's sports information department then gets to the point of the matter: Larry Easley has been fired as head coach of the UNLV men's tennis team.

I found it revolting. And sad.

Still a year away from the completion date on his contract, Easley was let go Tuesday in a decision that reeks of ineptitude on the part of interim athletic director Fred Albrecht and his immediate underlings.

If it's indicative of the direction the school or department is taking, it's a disturbing sign and one that needs to be brought to the public's attention.

Easley has something that isn't always in abundance: character and integrity. That he was also a nationally acclaimed coach only added to UNLV's overall stature.

He was the first and most influential coach of tennis great Pete Sampras, who owns the most Grand Slam victories of any male in the history of the sport. And he was the coach when UNLV's Luke Smith won the NCAA singles championship in 1997 and when Smith and Tim Blenkiron won the NCAA doubles title that same year.

But Easley's forthrightness could get him into trouble with the narrow-minded pencil pushers who have occasionally occupied the school's athletic department. Earlier this year he felt he was on the hot seat as the result of speaking privately to me about the widespread use of professional players in collegiate tennis.

When I re-approached him for a follow-up story on the subject, he politely declined to contribute -- either on or off the record -- for fear that the athletic director at the time, John Robinson, and his assistants, Lisa Kelleher and Jerry Koloskie, were lying in wait for him to make a misstep.

They had warned him to keep quiet.

He did and he was still fired.

Of course it was easier for UNLV to get rid of Easley after his team went only 2-14 this past season, even if it was but his third losing season in 12. The school can also claim Easley had a couple of minor infractions on his record, albeit ones he can easily explain.

He took his dismissal with surprising grace, saying he already had a second career in mind and that his days as a tennis coach are likely behind him. But beyond his collegiate successes he was also the head pro at the prestigious Jack Kramer Club in Palos Verdes, Calif., for several years and a man with contacts in the sport that UNLV simply will not be able to replace.

Was he let go because of his age? If so, at 54 he has grounds for a discrimination suit.

Was it his salary? At $63,000 he was hardly overpaid, even if the school is apt to save money on his successor.

Was it his record? The past couple of seasons haven't been good but he's still 141-120 at UNLV while playing a tough schedule and competing against many a pro-laden team.

Or was it something else, something we can't quite put our finger on today? Was he simply sacrificed for some vague or remotely understandable reason?

The school, of course, is not saying.

But by its own choice it has lost a valuable asset, an educator with masters and doctorate degrees, who knew college tennis inside out and who tried to keep the sport as pure and as accessible to American kids as possible.

The perfect coach in many respects, Easley was nonetheless told he was no longer wanted. If those in the athletic director's office at UNLV still have the ability to feel disgraced, that is how they should feel today.

archive