Columnist Dean Juipe: UNLV needs an AD with local ties

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, May 27, 2003 | 9:57 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The record speaks for itself: UNLV is much better served if it can find an athletic director who is already familiar with the Las Vegas community.

That said, it's somewhat alarming that perhaps the two leading local candidates to succeed John Robinson as AD have seemingly pulled their names from consideration.

Perhaps a little arm twisting would come in handy.

UNLV badly needs someone who can coddle and placate its athletic donors, as well as be upfront and hospitable with its coaches and ancillary personnel. It needs an administrator, a fundraiser, a counselor and a therapist all in one.

Jerry Koloskie, the current associate athletic director at UNLV, could handle that diverse role.

So could Don Logan, the president and general manager of the Las Vegas 51s.

But each has said he isn't interested in becoming athletic director, although Koloskie has already wavered on the point and neither's public position is etched in stone.

Someone from the Carol Harter school of charm should check and recheck on these two men, both of whom are respected figures with long ties to Las Vegas. Koloskie has lived here for 21 years and Logan was born in Tonapah before migrating to the valley.

If they're adamant that they are content in their current positions, the search committee that Harter is forming to find someone to replace Robinson faces a daunting task. Not that UNLV can't find someone who looks good on paper; the trouble is finding someone who knows the territory and the idiosyncrasies of the populace.

Robinson succeeded in his brief run as AD in part because of his gregariousness and credentials, and in part because he had a head start. He was here for three years before assuming the athletic director's duties when the job came open two years ago, giving him an overview that someone coming directly from the outside simply can't have.

Charles Cavignaro certainly didn't have it.

And either did Jim Weaver.

They were the UNLV athletic directors for a decade (1992-2001) and the common thread of their regimes was a lack of communication with the school's coaches, an untrusting view of the media and a standoffish relationship with the school's supporters.

They kept friends and foes alike on edge and rarely, if ever, came across as anything but reserved and conspiring. They not only never seemed at home here, they weren't at home here and when the time came to leave they bolted without a glance in the rear-view mirror.

Ideally, the next AD already has a familiar address.

Might Koloskie or Logan come around? Or Dwaine Knight, the beloved golf coach? Or how about Larry McKay, who just stepped down from his positions with the Clark County School District and Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association?

If the answer is "no" in each of these cases, UNLV should dig a little deeper before sending a search party beyond state lines. It should exhaust every local resource before turning the department over to an outsider, or, heaven forbid, someone on the rebound such as Keith Tribble.

It should show that it has learned something from its not-too-distant and sullied past.