Columnist Dean Juipe: Thompson, Knight top fans' list

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4084.

It has been a topic of conjecture since the day Bill Bayno was fired.

Assuming Max Good is not the permanent coach of the UNLV men's basketball team, then just who is?

Some wet-behind-the-ears assistant, like Bayno was before being hired to take over the Rebels?

Some mid-level head coach looking to be upwardly mobile?

Or, perhaps, an aging but renowned former coach who might be willing to pump some juice back into the program? You know who we mean: John Thompson or Bobby Knight.

Admit it, you've heard the names mentioned in conjunction with UNLV and the mere thought makes you pause and rhapsodize. However informal the survey, virtually every fan of the Rebels would endorse either of the Hall of Fame legends if one or the other could be talked into it.

Thompson's name came immediately to mind when Bayno was axed, and Knight's soon followed.

Sun reporters were on the former's trail almost immediately because his appointment here actually makes sense. Thompson has deep connections to Las Vegas and wouldn't run into an iota of opposition should he make himself available for a job that Good is likely only renting.

Thompson's reputation is etched in stone. He's a big man with a growl, a tough, formidable and imposing person with a soft spot that occasionally surfaces.

He's 58 years old and has been off the court since quitting at Georgetown Jan. 11, 1999. In 28 seasons with the Hoyas he went 596-239, had a national champion and two runners-up.

Of the players who spent four years at Georgetown, 97 percent graduated.

He, and Knight to a slightly lesser extent, would give the UNLV basketball program the same type of father figure (and credibility) that John Robinson brings to the UNLV football program. The potential parallels between Robinson and Thompson or Knight would thrill UNLV administrators and fans alike.

Thompson left Georgetown for unspecified reasons, some citing health issues and some believing the move was related to divorcing his wife or having had his house burn down. He has since taken an analyst's position with the Turner Sports Network, doing NBA games.

While coaching the Rebels might intrigue him, Thompson would have to divest himself of his gaming holdings and therein lies the rub. He gets a chunk of the slot play at McCarran and might not want to give it up.

Rest assured, someone -- perhaps only tangentially affiliated with the Rebels or UNLV -- will ask Thompson about coaching the team and gauge his interest. He'll have the opportunity to turn the job down.

Knight is a greater risk, of course, having twice been suspended during his 27 years at Indiana and having been fired last season when he violated the school's zero-tolerance edict against him. But he won three NCAA championships and, at the age of 60, is said to be interested in a return to coaching.

He may not be a West Coast guy but he does have a drawer full of red sweaters and those in the business say "don't rule him out."

Perhaps wistfully, UNLV fans aren't going to rule out either man until they hear otherwise.

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