University Of Nevada At Las Vegas

Carol C. Harter, president of the University of Nevada campus here, beams as she rattles off facts about her school's new Lied Library: workstations for 2,500 laptop computers, a robotic system for retrieving books, shelf space for 2 million volumes. The kicker: "And 301,000 square feet of floor space," Harter says, pausing for effect. "That's 1,000 square feet more than the basketball arena." Harter drives the point home a moment later: "We're a university.

Two former El Dorado High School baseball standouts have signed professional contracts, El Dorado Coach Steve Gullotti said Monday. Jay Hassel, a right-handed pitcher, signed with the Chicago Cubs. He is on his way to the Cubs' Class-A team in Huntington, Va. Hassel played at San Diego State this spring and at Rancho Santiago for two seasons before that. Kevin Schula, a catcher who played at Oklahoma this spring, signed with the Atlanta Braves.

It happened the other night. Baby-faced Gary Kane, a freshman guard who has one of those "Up With People" smiles and actually drives home on most weekends just to eat his mom's cooking, had a vision. Or was it a nightmare? While reading a chapter on Japanese economics, Kane turned the page and suddenly, there he was. Anderson Hunt. That would be the same Anderson Hunt who plays guard for No. 1-ranked and undefeated Nevada Las Vegas.

Academic abuses persist in the athletic programs of colleges and universities that play big-time sports because faculty members do not care enough to correct the problems, two psychology professors at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, have concluded. "If college athletics remain unchanged, the fault will not lie with 'evil coaches' and 'wicked administrators,' but with complacent and compliant faculty," professors Terry J. Knapp and Joseph F.

The Nevada Las Vegas basketball team was flying home from a game when the plane plunged 8,000 feet after losing hydraulic power. Most of the players were terrified until the plane landed safely. But UNLV guard Anderson Hunt slept through the crisis. How could that be? "I was dreaming of Las Vegas showgirls," Hunt said. The 6-foot-1 sophomore guard has been a calming influence on the Runnin' Rebels, maintaining his composure under pressure.

The NCAA has charged the University of Nevada Las Vegas basketball program with violating numerous NCAA rules and showing a lack of institutional control in its recruitment of former New York high school basketball star Lloyd Daniels. The charges are described in a letter of official inquiry from the NCAA that was received by the university Tuesday and made public Thursday.

A strained shoulder ligament apparently has healed enough to allow UNLV guard Anderson Hunt to play in today's NCAA semifinal game against Duke. Hunt, who scored 29 points against the Blue Devils in last year's championship game and was voted the 1990 Final Four's most valuable player, hurt the shoulder against Seton Hall last Saturday. He missed two days of practice, then aggravated the injury during Thursday's workout. On Friday, his condition had improved.

He is the anti-star, the man most likely to succeed--but only if it doesn't offend his Nevada Las Vegas teammates. His favorite dessert is probably humble pie. And he wouldn't know how to spell ego if you spotted him the e and the o . He is 6-foot-7 forward Larry Johnson, the most reluctant consensus All-American since Naismith started hanging peach baskets for a hobby. His numbers, 23 points and 10.8 rebounds a game, aren't gaudy, but they could have been.

It was that rare occasion when Nevada Las Vegas' invincibility was being challenged, but Coach Jerry Tarkanian knew what had to be done. "We insisted that we look for Larry (Johnson) to start the second half," Tarkanian said after the top-ranked Rebels had broken away from a one-point halftime lead and defeated Fresno State, 98-74, in the title game of the Big West Conference tournament Sunday in the Long Beach Arena.

Although Jerry Tarkanian, former Nevada Las Vegas basketball coach, testified Monday that he repeatedly warned UNLV players to avoid associating with convicted sports fixer Richard Perry, new information obtained by The Times indicates that some of Tarkanian's players had stronger ties to Perry than has previously been reported.