Spoon refreshed after time in Florida

Friday, March 26, 2004 | 9:42 a.m.

More than five weeks after retiring from the coaching profession, Charlie Spoonhour had a message Thursday for everyone who has wished him well in his recovery and retirement.

"I just appreciate that people have been very kind and very positive, and I'm doing fine," said Spoonhour, who cited stress-related health reasons for abruptly resigning from his UNLV post Feb. 17. "I appreciate all the nice thoughts."

The timing enabled Spoonhour, 64, to repair to Jupiter, Fla., to watch his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. Manager Tony LaRussa did not offer Spoonhour a chance to manage the Cards, as LaRussa has done in the past, for even an inning or two.

Spoonhour said he's finished with the hot seat, whether it's managing or coaching.

He also took in a New Orleans Hornets game, and has been back in Las Vegas for about a week. Last weekend, Spoonhour attended a Rod Stewart concert at The Joint in the Hard Rock and showed no signs of having slowed down, even jigging in an aisle.

Spoonhour, that is. Not Stewart.

"I thought the players and coaches did a really nice job and finished up the year well," Spoonhour said. "That last game wasn't much fun for them, but all the things leading up to that were certainly good."

UNLV ended the season with a sour defeat at Boise State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. The Rebels missed out on a trip to the NCAAs when Utah's Nick Jacobson sank a last-second, game-winning 3-pointer in the Mountain West Conference title game.

Spoonhour watched that bitter ending.

"He's pretty good at that," he said of Jacobson.

Spoonhour will remain in town, and said he will be making regular appearances at UNLV baseball, football and, yes, even basketball games in years to come.

While the other Sweet 16 teams entered this weekend's games wearing Adidas, Nike or Reebok gear, little ol' St. Joe's had the distinctive uniforms it has been donning since the 1996-97 season in its travel bags.

Sports Belle owner Jesse Lee, 57, said the high-flying Hawks have given his company invaluable publicity this season. They ended the regular season undefeated and with the Associated Press No. 1 ranking.

However, Lee also fears that St Joe's might be inspired into leaving his coop.

Sports Belle mostly caters to women's teams, and he neither pays his clients to wear his gear nor supplies those clients with free merchandise. Them paying him is how he pays his rent and mortgage.

While Hawks athletic director Don DiJulia said he would have to listen if Nike approached his City Line Avenue office, he also tried to reassure Lee.

"If somebody walked in and said, 'Here's a million dollars (to wear our stuff),' yeah, I'll come to the meeting," DiJulia told the Times. "No question about it, I'll come to the meeting. But that doesn't mean anything, just means we'll go to the meeting."

Afterward, ESPN nabbed him for an interview and Dan Patrick asked him who would win the NCAAs.

"Who's in it?" said Eustachy, sheepishly.

When pressed, he said, "Nevada ... (coach) Trent Johnson."

The Wolf Pack plays Georgia Tech today in St. Louis for a spot in the Elite Eight.

The Golden Bears defeated Pennsylvania, 82-75, to advance to a second-round game against ... Pittsburgh. The third-seeded Panthers prevailed, 63-50.

So when Pitt was plopped into Milwaukee, where a second rounder loomed against Wisconsin in its own backyard, to start the 2004 tournament last week, all of the whining from the coal mines amused us.

Then the Panthers squeaked by Central Florida (53-44) and, yes, the Badgers (59-55). That's what makes March, and Pitt passed a difficult test.

Hamrick knew what he was looking for and he set his sights high; NCAA tournament history, success on the court and in the classroom, and a squeaky clean image with the NCAA police.

Kruger, who has taken Kansas State, Florida and Illinois to a total of nine NCAAs, fit all of those prerequisites.

However, Howard railed on Hamrick for not considering some former Rebels, and she alluded to one who recently had his number retired to the rafters in a ceremony at the Thomas & Mack Center.

That was Ricky Sobers, who has been involved in camps and private business in recent years. Others, we can surmise, who were on her mind were Reggie Theus and Sidney Green.

Theus reportedly did not endear himself very much to Louisville coach Rick Pitino this season, Theus' first as a Cardinals assistant. Technically, Theus isn't even a Rebel, since he fulfilled his bachelor's degree (in business administration) requirements at California Coast University two years ago.

CCU is a distance-learning (Internet-friendly), accelerated-degree institution based in Santa Ana, Calif.

Green merits watching.

His overall record, in nine seasons as a college coach, is 93-164. At Florida Atlantic, he's 44-104. He guided the Owls to their first NCAA tournament two years ago, an eight-point defeat to second-seeded Alabama in the first round.

Moreover, the former New York City prep player of the year has been an influential figure in charity and community projects in every city he's lived with his wife, Deidra, and two children.

Green has more than a few years to improve his record and gain more experience for the next time the UNLV gig opens. Then, he just might be ready.

Then SI had to come up with a special March Madness issue, on which it pictured legendary coach John Wooden, sitting, next to a standing Josh Childress of Stanford. SI picked the Cardinal to win it all.

Oops! Stanford thumped Texas-San Antonio by 26 points in the first round, then didn't last through the first weekend when Alabama zapped it, 70-67.

Wonder who SI will pick to win it all this week?