Rollie Massimino

Rollie Massimino's arrival in the Big West Conference will mean a reunion with former Villanova guard Lloyd Mumford, now at UC Irvine. The two didn't part amicably. "I can't believe it," said Mumford, who transferred from Villanova after Massimino dropped him from the team last summer. "I'd like to beat him probably as bad as anybody could be beaten, on a professional level."

Nevada Las Vegas has no plans to pay basketball Coach Rollie Massimino the remainder of nearly $2 million secretly promised him in a supplemental contract by former university officials, UNLV's interim president said Wednesday. President Kenny Guinn said that since the contract giving Massimino an extra $375,000 a year above his base salary was never approved by the Board of Regents, the university is not obligated to pay the coach.

No stranger to long-running legal battles, Nevada Las Vegas might soon have another nasty courtroom fight on its hands after the refusal Wednesday of embattled basketball Coach Rollie Massimino to accept the school's cash offer to terminate his lucrative and controversial contract. A scheduled meeting between Massimino, UNLV interim President Kenny Guinn and Athletic Director Jim Weaver in Weaver's office ended abruptly with the two sides far apart on a possible buyout figure, Guinn said.

Rollie Massimino's future as Nevada Las Vegas basketball coach was on the line Monday, with university officials trying to negotiate a buyout of his contract. Only five days before the Runnin' Rebels are to start practice, Massimino met with UNLV interim president Kenny Guinn and athletic director Jim Weaver to discuss whether he would remain coach.

After doing a commercial for an antacid product, Tom Lasorda recommended Villanova basketball Coach Rollie Massimino for one, and the sponsor agreed. "It took all day to film," Massimino told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I had to keep getting up and down. They said, 'Take your coat off.' "I said, 'I don't take my coat off. I haven't taken my coat off in 5 years.' They said, 'This is acting. You've got to take your coat off.' I did it for 7 hours. Running up and down those sidelines.

Although Nevada Las Vegas officials say that a deal has not yet been cut to oust beleaguered basketball Coach Rollie Massimino, they indicated Thursday that progress has been made and that an agreement could be completed as early as today. Athletic Director Jim Weaver acknowledged having met with Massimino briefly Thursday afternoon, but said they had not discussed the possible buyout of Massimino's lucrative and controversial contract.

The tumultuous two-year reign of embattled Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Rollie Massimino ended Friday night when he accepted the university's cash offer to terminate his lucrative and controversial contract, paving the way for the school to pursue former UNLV assistant Tim Grgurich for the now-vacant post. Massimino will receive $350,000 a year for five years to leave UNLV, pending almost certain approval by the Nevada Board of Regents on Wednesday.

Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Rollie Massimino will meet with Kenny Guinn, the school's interim president, this week to discuss a proposal to buy out the remaining six years of Massimino's contracts. Massimino has been under fire since the disclosure in August of a supplemental contract, one never approved by the Board of Regents. The secret contract, signed in April of 1992, called for Massimino to get an extra $375,000 on top of the $511,000 he was being paid.

At the stroke of midnight, Halloween was officially over, but the basketball season for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas had only begun. Students dressed as vampires, as werewolves and as Larry Johnson's grandmother were here to start the party. And so was the new coach, Rollie Massimino, looking very Vegas indeed. They love their basketball here, really love it, and thousands have come to express their continued support.

Outraged over a secret contract that gave Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Rollie Massimino an extra $375,000 a year, Nevada regents on Friday ordered an investigation of the deal. Some regents hinted they might try to rescind Massimino's contract to coach the Rebels altogether, saying they were duped when they hired him two years ago. "I would like the opportunity to reverse my vote," regent Jill Derby said.