Wallace's success at UH opens new doors

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The latest "Buzz" word surrounding Hawai'i men's basketball coach Riley Wallace goes beyond his haircut.

After guiding the Hawai'i men's basketball team to the Western Athletic Conference championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament last month, Wallace has apparently become a hot commodity.

In the last few weeks, he has been:

• Invited to coach at several basketball clinics around the country, including the Junior College National Clinic.
• Honored and commended by the Hawai'i State House of Representatives.
• Named National Coach of the Year by the Coaches vs. Cancer foundation, beating out Kansas' Roy Williams and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, among others.

Most notably, Wallace has been mentioned in the last few days as a possible candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Tulsa.

After guiding the Golden Hurricane to the NIT championship, Robert "Buzz" Peterson resigned as Tulsa coach earlier this week to accept the head coaching position at Tennessee.

Wallace, the all-time leader in coaching victories at UH with 216, said he contacted Tulsa athletic director Judy McLeod on Sunday after he learned that Peterson was resigning, but denied rumors that he received an invitation to interview for the job.

"I wanted to know what they had to offer and let them know that I might be interested if it was a similar package to what they were giving (Peterson)," Wallace said. "Not much was said beyond that because they said they're in the middle of the search."

Wallace said McLeod took his contact numbers and put him "on the list," which could have as many as 30 candidates. He said no Tulsa officials have contacted him since Sunday.

In his only year with the Golden Hurricane, Peterson made an estimated $400,000. In his 14th season at Hawai'i, Wallace made around $170,000, which included "outside" contracts with KFVE television, KCCN radio and Nike shoes. He just completed the fourth year of a five-year contract with UH.

"Who wouldn't want a chance to make double of what you make now," said Wallace, who guided the Rainbows to a 17-14 record this season, including a victory over Tulsa in the WAC championship game.

Savo takes top honor: Junior Predrag Savovic was selected as the Art Woolaway Most Outstanding Player at the Hawai'i men's basketball team awards banquet last night at the Hale Koa Hotel.

Savovic, a 6-foot-6 guard from Yugoslavia, led the Rainbows with 17.6 points per game and 61 3-pointers. He also averaged 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, and was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection.

Senior forward Nerijus Puida won three awards: Most Inspirational, Top Playmaker and Captain's Award. Fellow senior Troy Ostler also received a Captain's Award and won Top Rebounder.

Other winners:

Top Defensive Player — Mike McIntyre; Top Free Throw Shooter — Mindaugas Burneika; Academic Award — Lane O'Connor; Community Service Award — Carl English and Lance Takaki; Scout Team Award — Todd Fields, O'Connor and Takaki.