Bill Bayno, University of Nevada, Las Vegas men's basketball coach, is settling into this spot, having won it three years running. By now he has proved his capabilities at molding talented young men into a cohesive unit. In 1998, the Rebels won the WAC championship and a brief berth in the NCAA tournament. This year's dreams of post-season glory were almost surely dashed with the knee injury that sidelined starting center Kaspars Kambala. Even so, the team managed to land a spot in the NIT tournament. Second place went to the often charming and media savvy John Robinson, who has taken over the UNLV football program.
Our Pick: RODGER FAIRLESS
The Green Valley baseball coach recently announced he is resigning his high school post in an attempt to work his way up through colleges and maybe the pros. There should be no shortage of takers for a coach who helped develop the best pitcher of the modern era, Greg Maddux, while at Valley High School. He led Green Valley High School to six straight state championships; in all he's won 12 state championships. Fairless will be missed, of course, but true fans of the game know it's his responsibility to shoot for "The Show" if he has the same stuff he's shared with ballplayers in Las Vegas.
