UNLV to open next year against Miss. Valley State

Go ahead and circle Nov. 19 on your calendar, but be advised to do it in pencil. Things tend to change when it comes to scheduling.

But that's the night UNLV tentatively is set to open its 1999-2000 basketball season when the Rebels host Mississippi Valley State at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Coach Bill Bayno confirmed the Friday night game with Mississippi Valley is on.

"We were looking for an early game and so were they," he said of the first-ever matchup with the Delta Devils, who are members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and are 7-8 this season.

Mississippi Valley State is the latest addition to the 1999-2000 slate, which includes home games against Texas, Georgetown, Nevada-Reno, Cal Poly, Austin Peay and High Point, along with road games at Cincinnati and Southern California.

And while next year's schedule continues to take shape, there's a possibility UNLV may have to dust off that Princeton tape from last year when it heads to Charlotte, N.C., for the Food Lion MVP Classic.

The Rebels were scheduled to play North Carolina and South Carolina Dec. 3-4. However, South Carolina's 10-year commitment to the event ran out with this season's appearance and the Gamecocks have opted not to renew for next year.

That leaves Raycom Sports, the sponsor of the event, to find a fourth team to go with the Rebels, UNC and Princeton. The format also has been changed from two games against pre-determined opponents to a four-team tournament with a consolation and championship game on Saturday the 4th.

Bayno wasn't happy when he got the news.

"We never agreed to that," he said of the change in format. "We knew who we were playing and we were looking forward to playing South Carolina. Now, we don't even know who the fourth team is."

Associate Athletic Director Jerry Koloskie was checking into the situation. But it's doubtful that UNLV can get out of the deal since it signed a contract with Raycom.

"Cutty's making some phone calls," Bayno said of Koloskie. "But I'm not sure what we can do at this point."

* TOUR ON HOLD: That proposed trip to Europe this August has been put on hold and it's looking more and more like it may not happen.

"Right now, we don't have all the answers to all the questions and with us being in the middle of the season, I don't have time right now to deal with it," Bayno said. "Right now, it's in a holding pattern and we'll make a final decision after the season."

Only players who are currently in the program and are eligible for next season are permitted to play, and there's no guarantee who will stick around after the season. That's especially true of senior-to-be Shawn Marion, who some NBA scouts and executives are saying is a lottery pick, should he declare early for the draft.

There's also the matter of footing the bill for an overseas excursion. Cost estimates for such a trip are at six figures for the entire traveling party. So far, nobody has come forward with a check.

* ESPN DEAL SPECIFICS: How does the Mountain West's new TV deal with ESPN affect UNLV? Probably not much more than the WAC's current deal, where the Rebels appear on the cable network's Big Monday package twice -- Feb. 15 at Tulsa (on ESPN2 because of the ESPYs on ESPN) and Feb. 22 against TCU.

According to the joint statement put out Monday by the Mountain West and ESPN, the new eight-team league will have at least three appearances on Big Monday as the late game. Big Monday usually lasts seven weeks.

If the MWC gets just three exposures, it likely means you'll see UNLV, Utah and New Mexico in all three. It's unlikely the Rebels will get more than two Big Monday appearances, so it'll be a push in terms of number of exposures from this year to next.

But there will be a minimum of 12 games for the league on ESPN, which means events such as the Las Vegas Shootout will count against that number, along with the return game in December at Cincinnati. That also includes three MWC tournament games.

"We didn't want seven (exposures)," MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said. "Three is a comfortable number with our administrators and coaches. They were concerned about the 10 p.m. starts and with us playing a Thursday-Saturday schedule, we'd have to do a lot more shuffling if we had more than three Big Mondays."

* HOOP DU JOUR: Mark Dickel had a touch of flu Monday but said he was OK and practiced with the team Tuesday in the North Gym as preparations began for Saturday's game at Air Force. Everyone else was healthy. ... Despite a strong showing last week where he averaged 22.5 points and 12 rebounds, Shawn Marion did not earn Mountain Division Player of the Week honors. Instead, Rice's Alex Bougaieff was named the POW recipient after averaging 12 points and 16 rebounds in Rice's wins over SMU and TCU. No UNLV player has been accorded Player of the Week honors this year. ... Kaspars Kambala continues to lead the WAC in field goal percentage, hitting .642 from the floor. Mark Dickel is the WAC leader in assists at 7.2 per game and Greedy Daniels is second to Utah's Andre Miller in steals with 51.

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