Fear Factor

Are the chancellor’s harsh words behind the Rebels’ winning streak?

Damon Hodge

When you're known for giving hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. universities and for forcing UNLV President Carol Harter to quit (something you deny); for being a smart businessman and a managerial hard-ass (something you don't); for offering to serve as local school superintendent for $1 and for a year as higher education chancellor (reneging on the former but accepting the latter) and then exerting undue influence on both systems—championing failed supe candidate Eric Nadelstern; for solidifying your power by staying on longer as chancellor—when you're known for all these things, as Jim Rogers is, people tend to take what you say seriously.

So sending a 5-page memo asking university regents to examine the financial health of UNLV athletics—a job that generally falls to university presidents—can have the effect of a corporate office announcing layoffs. Especially when, in said letter, you kick below the belt: "Why the hell would you have a football team when nobody goes to the games?" "These other schools are so far ahead of us as far as [recruiting goes]. Some of these people at Duke, they're looking at kids at 12 years old for recruitment."

If I work in the athletic department, I'm thinking, now might be a good time to update the ol' resume.

Rogers' memo surfaced about the time the season began for the Runnin' Rebels men's hoops team in early November. Not much was expected from Lon Kruger's bunch—picked to finish sixth in the middling Mountain West Conference. Nearly two months later, the team is playing like the athletic program is on the line, winning 13 of 15 games, off to its best start since the 1992-93 season, when it ripped off 13 wins against one loss.

Most impressive is that the Rebels haven't gotten fat solely by feasting on cupcakes like Norfolk State. Their strength of schedule, or the winning percentage of their competition, is the nation's 19th- toughest (of 117 teams). Vanquished during this fast start were two of nation's better squads: in-state rival and 24th-ranked University of Nevada, Reno and perennially tough Texas Tech. (UNLV's 74-66 win over Tech delayed coach Bobby Knight's history-making 880th NCAA victory.) Since the memo, the Lady Rebels—uncharacteristically average at 7-6 as of Monday—recorded their biggest win this season man—er, womanhandling—19th-ranked Depaul, 89-71.

Which begs the question: Is Rogers' meddling (threats) behind the inspired play?

Mouth for mouth, Rogers can out-jabber any politician statewide save for, possibly, Mayor Oscar Goodman. He wouldn't speculate on the Rebels' sudden surge. UNLV Sports Information Director Andy Grossman chuckled briefly and asked what coach Kruger thought of the memo's impact. As you might expect, Kruger didn't deviate from typical, ho-hum coachspeak: Success is a result of hard work and teamwork, solid preparation and practicing as if you're playing a game. (What else is he supposed to say?)

As if coaches don't have enough to worry about—keeping players eligible, interested, out of trouble and winning on the court, field or pool. Adding the Regents' prying eyes can't make the job easier: Not only can I get fired for losing but, possibly, because my team is hemorrhaging money. Kruger's response is less nervous-coach than quarterback-who-trusts-his-offensive-coordinator's-instincts. When the chancellor speaks, he says, "you have to listen." He's your boss' boss, and if your boss' boss wants the athletic program examined, "then that's not something we can control."

(One who might be nervous is UNLV football coach Mike Sanford. His team has gone 6-30 since 2004.)

"I'm not saying that the athletic programs should be shut down," Rogers reassures the Weekly, characterizing himself not as a Grinch wanting to steal UNLV sports but a CEO wanting to know where every penny comes from and how it's spent. "Regents need to look at the source of all revenues for athletic systems. There's a big difference between income—ticket sales, and revenue—money from the state, students, donors, etc. We can say we made a profit last year, but then we find out that of the $10 spent, $5 came from donations and $5 came from ticket sales. That's not a profit. We're not going to lose programs. But if we spent $22 million on athletics and the program brought in, hypothetically, $13.51, we have to do something. Do we raise ticket prices or, if we're losing money, do we say that we don't mind losing millions of dollars a year?"

In the long run, Rogers' memo might be felt more in the offices of athletic director Mike Hamrick and his staff than on the fields or the courts—he doesn't throw the passes or dunk the balls that win games, fill seats and sell luxury boxes. But he can bully, or influence Regents, university presidents and athletic directors to work on ways to pump up the coffers in hopes of a return to prominence of UNLV's big-ticket teams (football, men's and women's basketball).

"The athletic operating budget at the University of Arizona is over $30 million. At USC [University of Southern California], it's over $70 million. We're only pending $22 million, and with that, you can't expect to beat USC in the Rose Bowl, or beat Duke in the national [basketball] championship game. Bottom line: The public hasn't invested in the UNLV athletics," Rogers says.

"Great facilities and great donor support would help lure more athletes. Right now, it would be depressing for a kid, I think, to play in front of a few people."

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