Deck stacked against Rebels from the start

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 10:36 a.m.

To Marquette assistant coach Trey Schwab, who received a life-saving double-lung transplant Monday. Schwab had been battling idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis since late 2001.

The Cowboys (20-2) are 4-0 against top-20 teams, have won 10 in a row and are the only Big 12 team hitting at least half -- 52.6 percent -- of their field-goal attempts.

The Scoop -- It's the Rainbows' defense (63.1 points) against the Miners' offense (80.5 points) ... UTEP cans a WAC-best 38.5 percent of its 3-point attempts, and we like junior point guard Filiberto Rivera a lot ... Hawaii got the Miners the first time around, by 22 points, on the island, but the 'Bows are in the midst of a brutal road stretch that includes a loss at Boise State and an odd game at Southern Illinois right before this one ... watch Rivera run circles around the Rainbows.

Prediction (4-5) -- UTEP 71, Hawaii 61.

Months ago, before the first ball was rolled out at the start of practice in the Thomas & Mack Center, the wheels started coming off UNLV's 2003-04 season.

Tuesday's resignation by Charlie Spoonhour only completed the chain of events that had made this a very forgettable season.

Strangely, based on the mere fact that the Rebels won a game Tuesday night, Spoonhour's departure might have been just what UNLV needed.

No offense to the classy coach -- we'll leave that to others -- but his former players finally showed they have a pulse. Shock has an interesting way of getting results.

Spoonhour might have pulled off his most poignant move of the season by stepping aside.

If, however, the Rebels had cared about Spoonhour as much as they said they did Tuesday, they could have picked a better time to rally and show enthusiasm and lose their selfish ways.

Like, say, November or December.

But by then, many dominoes had already fallen:

The very popular assistant coach led UNLV's recruiting efforts, was very tight with many players and ran most of the team's offense, which led the Mountain West Conference in scoring in back-to-back seasons.

In April, he accepted his first job as a head coach, at Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill. His departure represented a major loss, in nearly every conceivable manner, to the program.

One of the top junior college power forwards in the country, at San Francisco City College, the Rebels, namely assistant Deane Martin, had put on a full-court press to recruit him.

Then, after months of work to keep Adams on track in the classroom, and prepping him for the rigors of Division I athletics and academics, UNLV was forced to cut its ties with Adams in July.

At 6-feet-10 and 230 pounds, Adams would have been slight at center. Still, he would have been the tallest Rebel and relief for J.K. Edwards at center. Instead, Adams was forced to switch gears and wound up at Fresno State.

He has started nine of 21 games for the Bulldogs, averaging 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds.

Because coaches cannot talk about recruits until they have signed letters in their possessions, neither Spoonhour nor any of his assistants have been allowed to talk about the foul-up that occurred with Adams.

A delay in paperwork that would have certified Adams' academic standing played a role. In any case, the ball was dropped and UNLV looked foolish in the process.

With five new scholarship players on this season's team, and point guard Marcus Banks gone, the source of the team's leadership was highly unknown as spring turned to summer.

In many programs, seniors are relied upon to supply that intangible, and vital, quality. But Edwards and Peters both showed lapses in using an unauthorized telephone calling card during the previous academic year, which was reported in October.

That zapped any leadership credibility that either could have offered. Both were suspended for parts of the start of the '03-04 campaign, compounding the team's rudderlessness and its chemistry problems.

Those mushroomed two Mondays ago, when junior forward Odartey Blankson went public with some very delicate team issues that should have remained private. Blankson knew better.

Then again, so did anyone who had even a tiny inkling that this team could be a major player this season, if only he or she had been paying attention to what had been going on with the Rebels, behind the scenes, since late last spring.

Before that very first tipoff, against Delaware State at the Mack on Nov. 21, the deck was stacked against UNLV.

"Well, it's disappointing," Korach said. "Jay Spoonhour becomes the eighth head coach I've worked with, either as a head coach or on an interim basis, in my 12 years."

On the Tuesday pregame show, Dave Rice told Korach that this is the third time he's been an assistant at UNLV when a coaching change has been made during a season.

"You hate to be callous," Korach said, "but we're almost getting used to this kind of transition."

As a Denver Nuggets scout, he has accepted first-year Bruins coach Ben Howland's invitations graciously and is scheduled to make his fourth appearance in Westwood when the Bruins play host to Notre Dame on Feb. 28.

Early in the season, Howland even allowed Harrick to address the team, and an observer called Harrick's words "hair-raising."

Which is why the feeling here is that, whether UNLV gives him serious consideration or not, Lavin will ultimately continue his work as an ESPN analyst next season.

As far as Lon Kruger (Kansas State, Florida and Illinois) is concerned, he is most interested in the imminent Utah vacancy.

The Rebels? It's way early, but signs are already pointing toward Bob Huggins of Cincinnati. In fact, it's possible contact had already been made with Huggins before Tuesday's shocker.

Whether UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick can land Huggins is another story, but a strong effort will be made.