UNLV coach reassigned in aftermath of altercation

UNLV assistant women's basketball coach Lisa Rathbun was relieved of her coaching duties Tuesday by Lady Rebels head coach Regina Miller for her part in a scuffle with senior forward Amy Wunderlich during a practice last week.

Wunderlich alleged that Rathbun, a first-year assistant at UNLV, scratched her face and kicked her while Wunderlich was on the ground after Wunderlich elbowed Rathbun, who was scrimmaging with the Lady Rebels last Wednesday.

Rathbun will continue to work for the university in a different capacity.

Rathbun, reached at her home Tuesday night, declined to give her side of the incident with Wunderlich. But she said she had hired Las Vegas attorney Steve Stein to represent her.

"The only comment I'll make is that I retained a lawyer a couple of days ago and my lawyer and I will meet (today) and we'll have a statement shortly," Rathbun said. "The true story will come out very shortly."

Stein said he was evaluating whether Rathbun has grounds to take legal action against the university over her suspension.

"We're looking into it," Stein said. "Only half the story has gotten out in the papers, the other half has not but it will come out."

Miller said in a prepared statement that she had placed Rathbun on suspension, relieving her of her coaching duties immediately, and would not renew her contract at the end of this season.

"It was a difficult decision ... and it was warranted based on the conduct of a coach," Miller said Tuesday night. "I made the decision based on that. I would rather not comment (any further) because it's a personnel issue because (Rathbun) is still a UNLV employee."

Miller said Wunderlich will remain on the team and would accompany the Lady Rebels today for a pair of Western Athletic Conference games at Wyoming Thursday and Colorado State Saturday.

Wunderlich has started four of the Lady Rebels' 16 games this season and is averaging 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds a game.

UNLV athletics director Charles Cavagnaro said he supported Miller's decision to remove Rathbun.

"Coach Miller looked at it and she has an awful lot of sense about her program and I certainly support the recommendation she made," Cavagnaro said. "I'm very comfortable that Coach Miller certainly looked at this from all sides and we got a very full understanding of what took place.

"It was just an unfortunate thing, one of those things that you hate to see happen."

Rathbun, a 1993 graduate of Brigham Young University, played four years for the Cougars and earned all-WAC honors her senior season (1992).

After graduating from BYU, Rathbun spent one season as the recruiting coordinator at the University of Buffalo. She served for three years as the assistant coach in charge of recruiting at Cleveland State before joining Miller's staff at UNLV before this season.

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