Bill Bayno's close coaching friends are concerned about his health.
Bayno, in his first season at Loyola Marymount, took an abrupt leave of absence Sunday due to the stress and anxiety of coaching. Max Good, who left a head coaching job at Bryant University (R.I.) to be Bayno's assistant, took over for Bayno on an interim basis. Incidentally, this is the second time Good has replaced Bayno; Good also took over for him at UNLV after Bayno was fired in December 2000. Good coached the rest of the 2000-01 season in place of Bayno.
Reached on the bus as LMU was heading to shootaround for Monday's game at Wagner, Good said he's "praying to God that [Bayno] can come back. This was the furthest thing from my mind that this would happen.''
Bayno has been open about his substance-abuse problem. In a story by Las Vegas Review Journal columnist Ed Graney after Bayno's hire in April, Bayno told Graney, "I never drank during the season, but in the offseason it controlled me. In the offseason, I walked around in an alcohol-induced fog. I did things [at UNLV] at about 60 percent capacity. I was a happy drunk, but never a casual drinker. If I had one, I had 100.''
He told Graney that his last drink came on May 25, 2002. Good said Monday that Bayno isn't drinking again. He said he is clean and that he goes home right after practice with no social life, married to the job and not his substance abuse.
When I saw Bayno in the Spokane, Wash., at the Gonzaga Coaches vs. Cancer BasketBALL and Gala in August, he talked about how good he felt at this time in his life. He said he hadn't drunk in years, mentioning that it had been six years. Throughout the fall, Bayno would text message about how well recruiting was going, too.
Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, who coached with Bayno at UMass under John Calipari, said Sunday that he has been concerned about Bayno's well-being and doesn't know when or if he'll return. Calipari, reached in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a few hours before Memphis' loss to Xavier in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic final on Sunday, said he was unaware that Bayno had taken a leave of absence. "I don't care where you are in this business, it's very hard on you and your family,'' Calipari said. "It all looks glamorous, but it's not. There is pressure to do so much and you feel that you have to win.''
Good said the Lions' recruiting has been going extremely well. The Lions have two transfers sitting out this season in Seton Hall's Larry Davis and Oregon's Drew Viney. He said the recently signed class of Terrell Vinson, a 6-foot-6 forward out of Maryland; 6-10 Edgar Garibay out of Compton, Calif.; and 6-3 Given Kalipinde out of Virginia can help the Lions climb up fast in the WCC next season.
"I want Billy to be able to see the fruits of his labor,'' Good said.
The Lions, though, are dealing with even more duress.
Redshirt sophomore Terron Sutton is out for the year with a torn ACL, which occurred in October. Tim Diederichs, who suffered a shoulder injury, was out against Notre Dame last week and isn't playing against Wagner. And leading scorer, rebounder and assist person Vernon Teel broke his right foot in the 65-54 loss to Notre Dame. He's out four to six weeks. That leaves the Lions with just eight scholarship players who are healthy and eligible on an LMU team that finished last season 5-25 overall, 2-12 in the WCC.
The Lions (0-4 heading into the Wagner game) still defended the Irish well Friday, holding Notre Dame lead guard Kyle McAlarney scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting.
"Despite all of this, we defended well, got right into [McAlarney's] face,'' said Good, who also said he challenged the team to pick it up in the absence of Bayno -- who didn't coach the Notre Dame game Friday night but wasn't officially on leave until Sunday -- and going forward in what is an odd schedule.
The Lions play on the East Coast against Wagner, then at Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday and then at Arizona on Dec. 2. That kind of scheduling should show the disparity from the top of the league in Gonzaga, which would never even think to play this type of crazed schedule across the country without television or a high-major opponent, and the bottom in LMU.
Good, who is a fiery, disciplined and determined coach from his time at Maine Central Institute to his days as a UNLV assistant to making Bryant a Division II power before the school's recent move this season up to provisional Division I, sounded exhausted over this latest crisis with Bayno.
"From my mind, this is what has to happen now: We have to step it up,'' Good said. "We have no choice. I just hope Billy can come back.''
Good said LMU has been tremendous in giving Bayno the space he needs to sort through his medical condition, to deal with the stress and anxiety, as Bayno termed in the release, of coming back to head coaching for the first time in eight years. Bayno became sober, healthy and more focused during his time as an assistant coach and scout with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Paradise Jam final
Connecticut's A.J. Price came back from an ACL injury with the hope that he would be ready to roll from day one. But he struggled initially, going scoreless in the opener against Western Carolina, and then missed the game against Hartford due to a sprained ankle.
Price played in the Paradise Jam Virgin Islands opener against LaSalle, tallying 12 points and four assists but also four turnovers. But he was playing in pain, with an abscess in his mouth from having his wisdom teeth out.
Good thing the Paradise Jam gives the winners from the first day a day off before the semifinals. Price had to find a dentist to have the abscess drained.
"The pain limited me a bit; my cheek was sore, but we got the win,'' Price said by phone Sunday night from St. Thomas.
In a much-anticipated semifinal matchup against Miami on Sunday night, Price was solid, with 13 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three turnovers in easily his most complete game since tearing the ACL in March.
"I felt like my game again,'' Price said. "Everything came together. I wish I didn't miss the free throws [1-for-4], but overall I was happy and how the team played.''
Connecticut pulled away from the Hurricanes, winning 76-63. UConn will face Wisconsin in Monday night's championship game.
"What [the win over Miami] says is that we're a good team; there were times where we really dominated them and had them on the ropes,'' Price said. "We showed that we're a big-game team and come ready to play.''
A year ago, the Huskies lacked big-time nonconference wins early in the season, losing to Memphis in New York and to Gonzaga in Boston.
Going into the game against the Hurricanes, Price said the Huskies felt all along that they were "the better team."
"If we executed," Price said, "we would win.''
The Huskies could have played San Diego, the same team that upset UConn in the first round of the NCAA tournament in March, had the Toreros defeated the Badgers. They did not, so Price won't get a chance to play the team against which he suffered his torn ACL. He said he didn't care whether they played USD or not, but the loss still irks him.
"I was just thinking, 'Man this team beat us.' I still feel like we were the better team [last year],'' Price said.
Meanwhile, the Badgers get their shot to take down the Huskies on Monday night in a matchup against UConn's perimeter quickness with Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson and Price as well as the Huskies' strength inside with Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien.
Wisconsin's Marcus Landry said Sunday night by phone from St. Thomas that going against UConn reminds him of playing Ohio State two years ago when the Buckeyes had quick guards and Greg Oden in the middle.
"We beat [the Buckeyes] once and they beat us twice,'' Landry said. "We know how to play those guys -- you've got to be really physical. You've got to move your feet, play man-to-man defense and get around guys. You've got to make their post players work for the touches.''
Wisconsin had to go to overtime to beat Iona in the first round of this event but pulled away from USD late in the second half Sunday. Landry said playing the first road game seemed to be one issue for the close game against the Gaels on Friday.
In beating USD, the Badgers got a balanced effort from Landry (five blocks, six assists), Joe Krabbenhoft (five boards), Trevon Hughes (22 points), Jason Bohannon (eight points) and Keaton Nankivil (10 points). But to take down UConn, it will require better 3-point shooting (5-of-15) and defensive rebounding, plus fewer turnovers.
"We're in a groove now, and we're playing hard,'' Landry said.
Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Here is my colleague Dana O'Neil's dispatch from Sunday's games in Puerto Rico:
Aside from USC's stunningly lackluster effort, Seton Hall was easily the biggest shocker in Puerto Rico. Hard to imagine that even the most fanatical fan envisioned the Pirates, with seven scholarship players and the Trojans up first, finishing third.
Yet the Hall not only disbanded USC, it rebounded from seven points down to beat Virginia Tech, simply outhustling the Hokies for the 67-61 win. Jeremy Hazell, an all-rookie selection a year ago, is a terrific scoring threat. He put up 23 against Virginia Tech to earn all-tourney honors.
No question the Pirates are still going to have their hands full in the Big East, but if their guards continue to play with the attack mentality they exhibited here and big men John Garcia and Mike Davis remain strong in the post, Seton Hall can become the sort of menacing team no one wants to face.
"This was a phenomenal trip for us,'' coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "We came in here very underrated."
• Missouri also should be exiting the islands feeling good about its trip. The Tigers won two, including an impressive sinking of USC, and could easily have wound their way to the title game had they made free throws against Xavier.
Blistering the Trojans for 46 points in the second half, Missouri also used its fastest 40 minutes in basketball to harass USC into 19 costly turnovers. Some of the problems were certainly attributable to the Trojans' fade, but Missouri took advantage, something it failed to do last year.
The key to Missouri's future success is no secret. DeMarre Carroll is clearly the best player on the team (and Leo Lyons offers a nice complement on the inside). If the Tigers can get the ball down low to Carroll repeatedly, they could take the heat off Mike Anderson and have the sort of season everyone expected last year. Carroll scored 29 points in the win over USC on Sunday.
Final nuggets
• Some schools take a charter for every trip, as Duke does. Pac-10 schools don't have the luxury, but USC's travel still seemed odd. The Trojans took a red-eye flight to New York and then took a direct flight from New York to San Juan. Somehow I think if it had been for a football game, the Trojans would have flown a charter directly from Los Angeles to San Juan.
• Louisville freshman Samardo Samuels has been the most impressive first-year player so far this season. Samuels scored 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting in the Cardinals' win over South Alabama on Sunday night.
• Arizona State's James Harden is making his case to be the early favorite for Pac-10 player of the year. He put forth another dominant performance Sunday, with 33 points and 12 boards in a 61-40 home win over Pepperdine.
• St. Bonaventure has been picked on quite a bit in this space for probably being in the wrong league. But the Bonnies deserve plenty of credit for turning the program around so far this season. St. Bonaventure is off to a 3-1 start and beat Rutgers 64-63 in overtime at the RAC on Sunday.
• Seton Hall is at least saving New York-area basketball at this juncture in the Big East. The Pirates' third-place finish in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic is the only bright spot after Rutgers' loss to St. Bonaventure and the news that St. John's will play the rest of the season without its best player, injured Anthony Mason Jr.
Andy Katz
