Friday, April 29, 2005 | 10:20 a.m.
Enough with the Gardner-Webbs, Florida Atlantics, Occidentals and IPFWs of the college hoops world, UNLV coach Lon Kruger has aimed to upgrade his non-conference schedule.
Mission accomplished.
On Dec. 17, Bobby Knight will coach his Texas Tech Red Raiders against the Rebels in the Las Vegas Showdown, which ESPN will showcase, at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Jerry Koloskie, a UNLV senior associate athletic director in charge of scheduling, said negotiations are ongoing to determine who will play in the other half of that doubleheader.
He confirmed what athletic director Mike Hamrick said Thursday, that Kruger was directly responsible for securing Knight's visit to Vegas.
"Lon knows coach Knight, has obviously played against him, all those types of things," Koloskie said. "Through that communication channel, ESPN jumped on board because of the Showdown. Lon's relationship with coach Knight got that in gear, and Knight agreed to come out here.
"It's a good deal."
Kruger has been busy with recruiting and could not be reached for comment.
"Coach Knight is one of the best to ever coach the game, so it's going to be a great evening," Koloskie said. "I think everyone should be excited to have the opportunity to come and watch coach Kruger coach against coach Knight.
"To have coach Knight out here is good for our institution and our fans."
UNLV has played a team coached by Knight only once, against Indiana in a national semifinal game in New Orleans in 1987. The Hoosiers won, 97-93, then beat Syracuse on a jumper by Keith Smart for the national championship.
UNLV is 0-2 against Texas Tech, with both meetings taking place in the early 1970s.
The Red Raiders advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament last month. Guard Ronald Ross, possibly Knight's most important player, is testing the waters for the NBA draft, but it isn't clear whether he will hire an agent.
Underclassmen have until May 14 to declare for the draft. If they haven't hired an agent, they have until June 21 to withdrawl from the draft. Ross was a junior last season.
Koloskie also confirmed that he is attempting to schedule a home-and-home series with Arizona, possibly to start in 2006-07. That might develop into a four-year series, with two games in Tucson and two in Vegas.
Koloskie said Kruger is playing a major role in securing that series.
"Once again, because of coach Kruger's relationship with coach (Lute) Olson, that kind of started the conversation," Koloskie said. "We're certainly following through with it."
Long Beach State, Hawaii, Nevada, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount and Houston are other programs that will play UNLV at the Mack in '05-06.
"That's a pretty good non-conference schedule at home," Koloskie said. "We're very sensitive to our schedule, because of the (Ratings Percentage Index). The conference wants all the schools to keep a certain (high) level of scheduling, and I think you'll see that happen in the future."
Those dates are being worked on, Koloskie said, and a final schedule for next season will not be established until July.
Kruger has undoubtedly discovered the challenges of booking non-conference foes at the Mack, too, because of the National Finals Rodeo that the arena houses every December.
That means the Rebels hit the road for 18 or 19 days during that period. Next season, they'll play at Oklahoma State, Hawaii, Oregon State and Minnesota during that stretch.
That also makes playing in a Great Alaska Shootout or a Maui Invitational a challenge, since those take place around Thanksgiving. Combine that with the rodeo and, according to Koloskie, the Rebels ultimately would be faced with spending 33 or 34 days in a row outside the Mack.
That would not be a good precedent to set with donors and season-ticket holders.
"We have to maximize our home dates," Koloskie said. "It's a balancing act,"
One that Kruger will have pulled off well in his second season when Knight visits.
When Duke center Shelden Williams announced that he would not leave Durham early to seek fame and fortune in the NBA, the Blue Devils were reinforced as the huge odds-on favorite to win a fourth national championship for coach Mike Krzyzewski.
For the many fans who already have had enough of J.J. Redick, wait til next season, when the Duke guard promises to be shown on every sports magazine cover, and every update and highlight show.
The Blue Devils were recently tabbed as 5-1 favorites at the Palms to win it all, but those odds figure to get further whittled by the first opening tap of the season. Better get it while it's that high.
No team will feel the early-entry pinch more than defending national champion North Carolina, which loses Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Marvin Williams. The Heels' top seven scorers disappear from coach Roy Williams' nest.
Bracket guru Joe Lunardi projects Carolina as a No. 5 seed in next year's tournament. Anyone else find anything ridiculous about bracket projections when we haven't even flipped the calendar to May?
Georgia Tech guard Jarrett Jack, Pittsburgh guard Carl Krauser, Stanford guard Chris Hernandez, Missouri power forward Linus Kleiza, and Florida guards Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh appear to be just testing the waters.
Their respective coaches, especially Gators boss Billy Donovan, might be crossing their fingers for another six weeks.
Meanwhile, all -- astonishingly -- seems quiet in East Lansing, Mich., where Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been afflicted with the early-departure syndrome as much as any of his colleagues in recent years. However, it looks like underclassmen Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown and Paul Davis will all remain Spartans for next season, and Izzo has said he is not seeking a position with any NBA team.
The Atlanta Hawks dangled millions of dollars before him five years ago, then Izzo chose to remain in college. There is not a classier coach, who does it the right way and does not use American Express as a recruiting tool, in the game.
And that's our finale in Indianapolis -- Duke vs. Michigan State. Hey, if Lundardi can make brackets 11 months early ... stay tuned for a final score.
Morris told the Lexington Herald-Leader that a customer-service rep tried to coax him into retaining his account, but he had to explain that it had nothing to do with interest rates or credit limits.
It's not about money, he said, but about something more important than money -- basketball.
"She had to explain it to her supervisor before she came back to me and announced that my accounts were closed," Morris wrote to the Herald-Leader. "Cutting up my cards was one of the most satisfying things I have done since 1992."
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