Thursday, April 5, 2001
[ BASKETBALL ]
University of Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace denied a rumor that he is going next week to Oklahoma to interview for the head coach opening at Tulsa. But Wallace told the Star-Bulletin last night he would entertain the idea of leaving the Rainbows for the Golden Hurricane. Wallace not interviewing
for Tulsa job—yet, he saysBy Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin"If they called and invited me I would go (for an interview), but they haven't," the 14-year UH head coach said. "I did talk to them before (Buzz Peterson) left."
Peterson left Tulsa after one season (which ended with an NIT championship) to take the head coaching job at Tennessee earlier this week.
Wallace, 59, is entering the final year of a five-year contract with UH in which he makes about $150,000 annually. Peterson's compensation package at Tulsa was worth more than $400,000 a year.
"It pays big bucks, that's a reason to consider it," Wallace said.
Wallace, who was head coach at Seminole (Okla.) Junior College from 1984 to 1987, is on a long list of potential Tulsa coaches. In addition to being fairly lucrative, the job is considered a stepping stone to nationally prominent programs; Bill Self parlayed Tulsa's Elite Eight season of 1999-2000 to land a job at Illinois.
"Obviously the phone is ringing off the hook, and having just been through it a year ago, the list is pretty current. I've updated the list in the last week or so and the big list is probably 30 names," Tulsa athletic director Judy McLeod told the Tulsa World newspaper.
Golden Hurricane assistant John Phillips, former assistant Norm Roberts, retired Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, Wyoming's Steve McClain, Tennessee Tech's Jeff Lebo, Kansas assistant Neil Dougherty, Arkansas assistant Mike Anderson and Kent State's Gary Walters are others on the not-so-short list.
Wallace's record at UH is 216-198. The two-time WAC Coach of the Year has taken the Rainbows to the NCAA Tournament twice and the NIT four times.
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Ka Leo O Hawaii
