Runnin' Rebels Put Their Chips On Tim Grgurich -- Ex-Sonic Aide Has Unlv Fans Abuzz

LAS VEGAS - A crowd of Nevada-Las Vegas basketball fans wait in the Sahara hotel's grand ballroom, abuzz with talk of hoop triumphs past and the success that surely would follow the man who was about to walk into the room.

That man is Tim Grgurich (pronounced "Gergerich"), the new coach of the UNLV men's basketball team. He is regarded by Runnin' Rebels fans as virtually a clone of their herom Jerry Tarkanian, the former UNLV coach who departed under pressure in 1992 after being pursued for years by the NCAA.

As Tarkanian's top assistant for 12 years, Grgurich is known in this American capital of quickness - the one-minute wedding, the In-N-Out Burger - by one quick syllable, just as his mentor was. Gerg, as in Tark.

Grgurich is tall, sandy-haired and, though 50, youthful enough to run the floor with the Rebels. Unlike Tarkanian, he doesn't chew on towels during games. But he coaches like Tarkanian and thinks like him - and despite an 0-3 record thus far, including an 82-80 loss to Cal State-Fullerton in the Dec. 17 home opener - he's the one admirers and skeptics say will lure back fans to the 18,500-seat Thomas & Mack Center, where the average attendance dropped to 8,915 last season, the second and final one for Tark's replacement, Rollie Massimino.

Massimino's contract was bought out by the school in October amid more controversy, and his status among Tarkanian supporters is reminiscent of Stalin's in later Soviet regimes.

The fact that Tark's right-hand man landed the job seems preposterous to some, even in Las Vegas and on campus, given that Tark's time was one not only of triumph but turmoil - one that finally resulted in the NCAA putting UNLV on three years' probation in November 1993, with all but one series of rules violations occurring during Tarkanian's tenure. To some, Grgurich's hiring represents a return to the Tarkanian era. But that doesn't appear to matter to the crowd at the Sahara.

"Welcome Back, GERG" is inscribed on the red T-shirts many are wearing.

The pressure was on

From 1985 through 1992, UNLV averaged 32 victories a season under Tarkanian. In 1990, it won the national championship. But winning had a downside. The NCAA's infractions investigators were constantly hovering and eventually found recruiting violations. Former university president Robert Maxson got his way in wanting Tarkanian out, and he hired Massimino, the former Villanova coach. But Tarkanian remained immensely popular in Las Vegas. And so did Grgurich, who went to Seattle as an assistant coach of the National Basketball Association's SuperSonics."It would have been hard for anyone to follow Tark," said a Rebels fan.

So Massimino discovered. His popularity sagged with two mediocre seasons. Then came the revelation that he'd been making $375,000 a year from a secret supplemental contract in addition to an announced salary of $511,000 a year. Maxson, who resigned earlier this year to take the top job at Long Beach State, had negotiated the secret contract with Massimino that was paid with privately raised funds.

The interim president, Kenny Guinn, wouldn't go along with the deal, and moved to get rid of Massimino, whose 36-21 record at UNLV had sent attendance downward. Reluctantly, Massimino agreed to a $1.88 million settlement in October.

With Massimino's departure coming so close to the season, Guinn initially stated that he would seek an interim coach. But there was plenty of pressure to hire Grgurich. Fans, Nevada politicians, Rebels players from the Tarkanian era and current players all stood up for Grgurich. Even Nevada's governor, Bob Miller, wanted Grgurich. An interim coach would be at a disadvantage in recruiting, it was argued.

Quick fix needed

And the athletic department, struggling financially, needed a fix-quickly. Grgurich's popularity was seen as a sure way of stirring fan fervor. Indeed, merely the mention of his possible return resulted in a reported $450,000 in ticket sales in just three days.

But some still held firm against Grgurich. About 70 UNLV faculty members gathered to express their concerns over personnel changes on campus and the possible rehiring of Grgurich because he'd worked for Tarkanian. Len Zane, chairman of the school's Intercollegiate Athletic Council, was quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as saying, "Appointing Grgurich coach would demonstrate to every person who follows UNLV that the boosters are back in control."

Athletic Director Jim Weaver, who had been hired by Maxson, opposed the hiring. After a meeting with Guinn, Weaver resigned. At a news conference, Weaver said: "I think that as a part of, or at least having a tag as being part of, the old, that in the best interests of this university and in the best interests of this community, because there has been such a division, such a fight for so many years, I want to remove myself so that this university and this community can start to heal and move back toward a state of normalcy."

Weaver, who will stay on until June at Guinn's request, said last week that he would not comment further on Grgurich's hiring - but it was clear where he stood. "I will not get into the situation between Grgurich and myself any more," Weaver said. "I didn't have a comfort zone in recommending the gentleman."

Zane said recently: "The process of hiring Grgurich looked terrible . . . in terms of the athletic director not being involved (and other reasons). Now he's back and you have to make these things work. He's got to avoid getting the NCAA after his program and he's got to get the players to class and they have to do enough to pass. . . .

"When (Grgurich's) name was mentioned (for the job), I was shocked. We've paid a tremendous price trying to get over the Tarkanian era - that was the faculty reaction and that was my reaction initially. But when forced to think about it, you have to think he probably deserves a shot. Maybe he's learned some things from the Tarkanian era. Some of the faculty have thrown up their hands and said, `We have no control.' But there's a lot of `Let's wait and see' now."

Happy to be back

Grgurich took over Oct. 22, having agreed to a salary of $300,000. He clearly is happy to be back. "Every day's an important day. . . . We have 17 road games (10 out of 12 to start the season), five trips east. Conditioning is going to be very important. If we can play hard, always with a work ethic that the fans will love and the community can appreciate, then we can enjoy the season."

And despite the early-season record, one fan already is enjoying the start of the new era.

"As soon as I get a chance, I'm going to put on a UNLV shirt again," said Tarkanian, who watched Saturday night's game from courtside - the first time he had attended a UNLV game since his departure. "I put 'em away for two years, but I'm going to get 'em out again. Our plan was always to have Tim follow me. Our plan wasn't to have a two-year layover. I think they're going to be one of the better teams in the West, and within two years a national power again. And they'll be a national power as long as Tim is coach."