Friday, March 14, 2003 | 10:26 a.m.
Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson adamantly denied Thursday that the NCAA played even a remote role in coaxing the league into switching its tournament to Denver next year.
It will be played at the Pepsi Center for three years. Toward the end of that run, conference officials will decide whether to keep the event in Denver or to have other arena officials bid it.
When the Mountain West last put it out to bid, Denver won over Cox Arena in San Diego, The Pit in Albuquerque, the Delta Center in Salt Lake City and the Thomas & Mack Center, where a conference tournament is being staged for the seventh consecutive season.
Thompson said it wasn't the first time that he had been asked the question, about possible NCAA influence in removing the Mountain West tournament from Las Vegas because of the gambling image of the city.
In no uncertain terms, Thompson said no NCAA official has ever broached the topic, to any degree, with him.
"Absolutely not," he said.
Such an injury waiver can usually be obtained if a player has not participated in more than 20 percent of his team's games. A senior, Bailey sustained the injury on Dec. 19, after scoring 19 points in an eventual 77-63 victory against South Carolina.
It might be in his favor that Bailey, who averaged 15.6 points in those nine games, has not used a redshirt season. However, he was not optimistic after Wyoming's 74-71 loss to Colorado State.
"I haven't heard a thing, but I can't see why they would make an exception for me," Bailey said. "There have been a lot of cases like this that they haven't granted. It's pretty frustrating. Nobody tells me anything, so I don't want to get my hopes too high.
"I've pretty much been kept in the dark. I don't know where it is and I don't know how to pursue it, but I know I'm over the limit. I'll have to talk to some people and get some (phone) numbers."
Bailey expects to be able to play again at the start of the summer, and he will likely explore career opportunities in Europe when he is ready for competitive action.
Not practicing hasn't hurt his productivity, though. Nelson had scored in double figures of eight of nine games before Thursday's tournament opener against Wyoming. He scored 25 points in 29 minutes off the bench in the Rams' 74-71 victory.
"He gets water for our guys (in practice) better than anyone I've been around," said Colorado State coach Dale Layer. Nelson often rushes as many water cups as he can carry to his teammates during breaks in practice.
Nelson shoots better than anyone who played for Wyoming, too. Nelson's 9-for-16 effort from the field Thursday dropped his shooting percentage as a Ram to .635, but he's still safely ahead of John Ford (.587) and Lorenzo Johnson (.573).
"We always meet here and root for the Lobos," said Flutie, wearing a black Lobos shirt and standing in a beer line before the San Diego State-UNLV game. "The Lobo girls are our only hope now."
The New Mexico men's team lost to BYU in Thursday's first game. The Lobos' women defeated San Diego State on Wednesday and will play Colorado State today.
Flutie's band, "The Flutie Gang," played at Boulder Station last year, and he is trying to schedule a near-future gig at the Palms.
Robinson and wife Linda attended the first half of the Rebels-San Diego State game. Robinson, 67, is expected to ready to go when spring practice begins March 25.
"Denver's a beautiful place, but nobody's excited about going to Denver in March," Majerus told the Deseret News. "What are you going to do, go to a hockey game? At least it will be a neutral court for everybody."
The Hills hail from Hamilton, Ontario, traveling 3,000 miles to attend their first college basketball games in the States. She became enamored with UNLV during the Jerry Tarkanian era, and he is a Georgetown fan.
When not watching the basketball action, they were busy taking photographs of all angles, inside and out, of the Mack. Six of their friends made the jaunt, too, but -- like Flutie -- they will not be in Denver in '04.
Back in Las Vegas next spring, even if the conference hoops tournament is not here? Possibly.
"It was minus-10 degrees Celsius when we left home this morning," said Jim Hill. "It's 80 degrees here, and we're playing golf (today)."
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