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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Nevada scores big for WAC

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

They can talk about the Western Athletic Conference having a basketball postseason to write home about this year as compared to the Mountain West Conference, where teams just plain were sent home in a hurry.

They can crow about the WAC going 8-8 in NCAA Tournament games in the five years since the breakup versus the MWC being just 3-12. Or, the WAC putting two teams in the Sweet 16 during the period and the MWC none.

But if you're looking for a fresh example that drives home not only that the WAC is more than holding its own with its mountain cousins in basketball but that it is also intent on maintaining it, the tug-of-war for Nevada coach Trent Johnson makes an interesting case.

Utah wanted him — and bad. But Nevada kept him yesterday and WAC schools are glad. Well, maybe until they have to play again next season.

Johnson, the architect of the Wolf Pack's Cinderella climb into the Sweet 16, was on some short lists even before upsets of Michigan State and Gonzaga made him a hot property.

It is a good bet that one of the reasons Utah athletic director Chris Hill waited so long after Rick Majerus' Feb. 10 resignation to name a replacement was because he was waiting for Johnson to finish the season.

The expectation by many, undoubtedly including administrators in Salt Lake City, was that once Utah laid out its deal over this last weekend, the issue would be all over fast. Sort of like Majerus vs. a buffet in his earlier days.

And, no doubt the Utes had plenty to offer, too. Consider Utah spent $2.1 million a year on men's hoops compared with Nevada's $983,110 for 2002-'03, the last year schools were required to report expenses. That Utah has the bigger on-campus arena (15,000 to 11,300) and the longer NCAA playoff history.

Nevada offered a spruced up contract and incentives said to be worth $450,000, nearly double what Johnson had been receiving, but still reportedly less than the money Utah was waving around.

Texas-El Paso losing its coach, Billy Gillispie, to Texas A&M — or ATM as it has become known in the realm of coaching salaries — and the Big 12 for $650,000 a year was one thing. But Utah and the MWC was apparently something different.

While Utah might be disappointed in not landing Johnson and going to Plan B, the perception of a snub has to be almost as bad.

As Nevada athletic director Chris Ault told the Salt Lake Tribune, Wolf Pack fans had come to wonder what the big fuss was all about.

Said Ault: "They say, 'Why Utah? Why the Mountain West?' ... The WAC is a better basketball league right now."

So, it would seem, again.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.