It began with the 15-game suspension of star guard Tes Whitlock, a penalty imposed by the university and Western Athletic Conference following an NCAA investigation. The announcement was made the night the Rainbows kicked off the year with their Tip-Off Banquet.
In the middle was Wallace's outburst at the news conference announcing the firing of Rainbow football coach Bob Wagner, who had two years remaining on his contract. Wallace made the national newscasts, questioning the job security of coaches who run scandal-free programs such as Wagner's.
It ended with perhaps the loudest thud heard in Wallace's midsection all year, the one that came after his team was upset in the first round of the WAC Tournament by Texas-El Paso. UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida came to the coach's room, asking to speak with him in private.
"I thought it was over," said Wallace. "It was the way it happened at Centenary (when he was fired in the middle of the 1977-78 season)."
Instead, Yoshida had come to tell the coach that his season wasn't over due to UTEP using an
ineligible player game. The Miners forfeited, 2-0, giving the Rainbows a win and a quarterfinal date with No. 10 Utah.
The Rainbows lost, 76-63, ending the year at 10-18. It was the third sub-.500 season for Wallace since he took over the program in 1987-88.
Wallace feels reasonably confident that his three-year contract will be rolled over sometime this spring. He and Yoshida haven't begun discussions yet but expect to do so within a few weeks.
The coach's main concern, he said yesterday, was with recruiting. Wallace has some large holes to fill following the departure of seniors Whitlock, Anthony Harris and Justice Sueing, Tomorrow is the first day of the letter-of-intent signing period.
"I'm not worrying or talking about it right now," said Wallace. "We have recruits coming in and you don't want them to start thinking about things like that. I have two years and that is enough security for the JUCO (junior college) kids you have coming in. The high school kids might be concerned but that's anywhere you go.
"If I didn't want to stay, I'd be out of here right now. Do I want to stay until I retire? I don't know. It seems like everything you do in sports is year-to-year. You just have to do your job the best you can do it."
According to a recent survey conducted by the NCAA, the average time coaches stay at one institution is 3.8 years. Wallace has lasted nine years, compiling a record of 134-135 with one NCAA Tournament appearance and two in the NIT.
"I want to talk to Riley first before I pass judgment on this past season," said Yoshida. "We'll be talking. We haven't done contracts for Vince Goo or Dave Shoji, either."
Yoshida and Wallace had a closed-door meeting following the Wagner news conference. Yoshida felt Wallace had embarrassed the athletic department as well as the university with his outburst.
It has been an uneasy truce since then.