Massimino to Pick Up UNLV Pieces : College basketball: The Villanova coach is hired to take the Rebels’ program in a new direction.

Rollie Massimino, respected as much for helping his players graduate as for winning games, will take over the Nevada Las Vegas basketball program that is embarking on a new direction, Jim Weaver, UNLV’s athletic director, said Wednesday at a campus news conference.

In moving from the Big East to the Big West, Massimino, 57, brings to UNLV a nationally recognized coach whose program at Villanova University was never under NCAA investigation during his 19-year tenure. Furthermore, every player who completed Villanova’s program graduated. That factor as much as Massimino’s 357-241 record was important to UNLV President Robert Maxson.

Massimino replaced Jerry Tarkanian, whose final season was overshadowed by his fight against university officials. Tarkanian coached UNLV to prominence during his 19-year stay, but along the way the program had a negative reputation for recruiting violations and players with academic problems.

The 1991-92 team was banned from live television and postseason play as resolution of a 14-year battle between Tarkanian and the NCAA. That battle started after the NCAA found Tarkanian’s program to be guilty of numerous rules violations.

Tarkanian’s last team was 26-2 and finished the regular season ranked seventh in the Associated Press college basketball poll.

But the school is facing about 40 NCAA infractions--many involving the recruiting of former New York prep star Lloyd Daniels. Those infractions will not be resolved until a federal lawsuit between Nevada and the NCAA is concluded. The suit challenges the constitutionality of Nevada’s new due process law, which in effect, stops NCAA officials from punishing UNLV.

“What has happened before has happened,” Massimino said. “We’re looking to go forward, not backward.”

But he was clear in his intent to take the program in a new direction.

“No way will any student athlete ever embarrass this university,” he said. “If they play (here), they will be eligible.”

Massimino, who will meet returning UNLV players today, received a five-year contract that includes a $106,000 base salary and other university-aided benefits that bring his total package to $386,000 per year. With shoe contracts and other outside deals, the job reportedly could be worth $700,000 per year.

Massimino was introduced to the Las Vegas community seven years to the day after his Villanova team shocked Georgetown to win the 1985 NCAA championship.

After that victory, Massimino turned down a lucrative offer to coach the New Jersey Nets because he said Villanova was like family to him. Villanova was 14-15 this season, Massimino’s fourth losing record in 19 years.

Wednesday, he was talking about new challenges. Massimino said Las Vegas has the elements to become another Villanova, although the two communities could not be more different in demography and geography.

“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think I could mend the community,” he said.

Because of his loyalty to the Philadelphia school, Massimino surprised even friends by accepting the job.

“I was surprised he took the job,” said Ted Aceto, Villanova athletic director. “I thought he would retire at Villanova.”

Coach Lou Campanelli of California, who was a volunteer assistant to Massimino at Hillside High in New Jersey, was excited about the change.

“He wasn’t happy anymore in Philadelphia,” Campanelli said Wednesday. “I told him life is too short. Get recharged, get re-juiced.”

So, Las Vegas will trade Tarkanian’s trademark towel chewing for Massimino’s frumpy look.

Massimino said he did not feel unappreciated in Philadelphia, and money was not a consideration.

“This presented another phase of my life,” he said. “An opportunity to start anew, to create a program like the one at Villanova.”

Massimino’s hiring comes on the heals of several other coaches rejecting UNLV’s overtures. Pat Kennedy of Florida State last week said he rejected an offer that amounted to $700,000, including a new home.

“I didn’t get a new home,” Massimino joked.

Massimino coached with Las Vegas’ Weaver, who was Villanova’s football coach in 1973. Massimino helped Weaver during his search for a coach. Then last Sunday, Weaver asked Massimino to consider.

The overriding factor, however, might have been the Massiminos’ impression of Maxson, who convinced them he is serious about overhauling the UNLV image while producing winning teams.

Said Weaver: “Rollie epitomizes all that is right with college athletics.”

Massimino, a shoemaker’s son from Newark, N.J., spent 11 years in the New Jersey high school coaching ranks before advancing to State University of New York at Stoney Brook in 1969. From there, he moved to Pennsylvania as an assistant before landing the Villanova job in 1973.

Throughout his career, Massimino has emphasized a family atmosphere around his program. He prides himself on calling his former players at Christmas.

Bringing that homey feeling to Las Vegas will not be easy.

“But Rollie will get the job done,” said Cal’s Campanelli, who is hosting Massimino’s daughter, Lee Ann, as she earns a master’s degree in physical therapy in Oakland.

Massimino, known for coaching a slow-down, defensive-oriented game, did not make any promises Wednesday except to say he plans to have fun in the desert.

“Now that I’m in this place, we’re going to run like the Rebels,” he said.