Charlie Spoonhour is no Rick Pitino, and that's just fine with him.
Hopefully, it will be fine with UNLV fans, too.
Rejected by Pitino, UNLV turned to the 61-year-old Spoonhour on Thursday to become the third coach of the Runnin' Rebels within the last four months.
Shortly after Spoonhour was given a three-year contract to try and lead the once vaunted UNLV program out of the depths of recent mediocrity, he was answering questions about how fans will accept him following UNLV's failed pursuit of Pitino.
"I don't know why anyone would worry about something they've never had," Spoonhour said. "There's probably a lot of people who would rather see coach Pitino here than me. But he can't be everywhere."
Pitino, the former Kentucky and Boston Celtics coach, was hired March 21 at Louisville. He has not yet signed a contract, but will get a $5 million bonus if he completes the six years of the deal he agreed to.
Spoonhour, who took Saint Louis University to three NCAA Tournament appearances in seven years, was lured out of retirement with a contract that will pay him about $400,000 a year about a fourth of what was being offered Pitino to come to the desert.
It didn't take long to convince Spoonhour about the job. He is a frequent visitor to Las Vegas and had planned to retire here.
Spoonhour, who retired from coaching in 1999 after a 15-16 season at Saint Louis, has been doing some regional television commentary. He has a 319-171 Division I record in 16 years at Saint Louis and Southwest Missouri State. UNLV was banned from the NCAA tournament this year because of the probation, and faces some scholarship and recruiting limitations for the next three years.
Former Tennessee coach and Kansas assistant Jerry Green was also reportedly a candidate for the Rebels' job.
Several other coaches were on the move Thursday:
Gene Keady received a two-year contract extension to stay at Purdue through the 2004-05 season. No terms of the new contract were disclosed.
Tommy Amaker agreed to a multiyear contract with Michigan. Details on Amaker's contract were not immediately released. Reports earlier Thursday said Amaker who left Seton Hall would receive a guaranteed contract of $500,000-$600,000 per year and, with incentives, could earn as much as $900,000 per season. Amaker replaces Brian Ellerbe, who was fired two weeks ago.
Bo Ryan was introduced as head coach at Wisconsin. His compensation package is expected to be about $2 million over five years, double what he was making at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ryan won four NCAA Division III national championships in 15 years at Wisconsin-Platteville before moving to Milwaukee two years ago.
Tim O'Shea, who's never been a college head coach, was hired by Ohio and charged with ending the school's six-year postseason hiatus. O'Shea, an assistant at Boston College the past four seasons, agreed to seven-year contract with a base salary $150,000.
Monte Towe, coach at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Fla., became New Orleans' basketball coach. He replaces Joey Stiebing, the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, who was fired after the conference tournament.
Bob Huggins, who has guided Cincinnati's basketball team to the NCAA Tournament for 10 consecutive years, wants a contract extension and has asked athletics director Bob Goin for a meeting.
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