Columnist Dean Juipe: Bolla ready to return to coaching

Dean Juipe

Monday, July 12, 2004 | 9:33 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.

Jim Bolla was burned out on coaching when he walked away from the UNLV women's basketball program in 1996.

"Coaching's not as much fun as it used to be," he told me one night over dinner as he revealed his plans to quit as head coach of the Lady Rebels. "I can do a lot of things besides coaching and still be happy."

He had a right knee that was acting up and a slight ulcer, as well as a running feud with then-athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro. The confluence of events told him it was time to go.

"I made this decision purely for me," he said then. "Sometimes you need a break. I don't have the kind of energy I did 10 years ago."

He completed the '96 season, his 14th at UNLV, and finished with an overall record of 300-96 and a .714 winning percentage. Statistically, he was one of the finest coaches in the history of collegiate women's basketball, and he added to his stock with appointments to task forces such as the UNLV Professional Staff Committee and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association board of directors.

He had a nice resume, which he expanded as UNLV retained him in a fund-raising and public-relations capacity before he entered private business as director of the BBQ Oasis and Water Warehouse on W. Craig Road in North Las Vegas.

I'd bump into Bolla every now and then, and each time he'd amazed me with his grasp of current events in and around UNLV. He always seemed to know precisely what was going on behind the scenes and he served as something of an untapped source of information both pertinent and trivial.

All of which serves as background material as Bolla prepares for the next endeavor in his life, as his appointment as head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Hawaii is said to be imminent. He spent the weekend in Honolulu and he could be introduced as the Rainbows' new coach as early as today.

The Hawaii job is a good one and Bolla will look to build on the success enjoyed by Vince Goo, who handled the program for 18 years before deciding to retire.

"It's a great town and I have a great lifestyle here," Bolla said of Las Vegas, yet the chance to start fresh in Hawaii was too tempting to resist.

A business associate of his confirmed that Bolla was "more than just interested" in the Hawaii opening and that the position looked to be his for the taking. Newspapers in Honolulu are reporting the same.

Bolla coached the Lady Rebels from 1982 through '96 and guided the team to 11 seasons of 20 or more victories, including a run of nine consecutive seasons and a huge 1989-90 season in which the team was ranked No. 2 in the country before finishing at No. 5 with a 28-3 record.

He helped the team win seven league championships before the strain and the lack of support from Cavagnaro drove him out. In Bolla's final season at UNLV the team won only four games, beginning a streak of three consecutive seasons in which the Lady Rebels won precisely four times each campaign.

Things were down for UNLV when Bolla departed, but they're better today.

For sure, he's better today, back to his first love as a college coach and doing it in a place that's known as paradise.