ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040063
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
The grass wasn't greener, but the money was.
That explains why VMI's Bart Bellairs was in Huntington, W.Va., on Tuesday, interviewing for the vacant basketball coach's position at Marshall University. It also explains why he decided Wednesday - barely two weeks after he signed a new six-year contract - to remain at VMI.
``I'm not going to go anywhere,'' Bellairs said by telephone from his Lexington home. ``I owed it to my family to listen to them. The money was huge.
``I owed it to my family to look; I owed it to VMI to stay.''
The Thundering Herd is seeking a replacement for Billy Donovan, who left to become the head coach at Florida. Marshall officials were talking with Bellairs about a yearly salary that was more than double his pay at VMI. Bellairs will make $70,000 in the first year of his new contract.
Bellairs said he hoped people would understand his obligation to at least visit with Marshall athletic director Lee Moon.
``When someone wants to double your salary, you have to listen,'' Bellairs said. ``I don't think anybody can fault me for that. That would have put my kids through college right there.
``If somebody offered me that kind of money to dig ditches, I'd have to say [to his wife], `Jacki, maybe I should give up coaching.'''
On Tuesday, Bellairs arrived at the Marshall Athletic Center to talk with Moon. Bellairs said he wanted it to be merely an information-gathering session, but the cover was blown when he asked a stranger for directions to Moon's office. The stranger turned out to be Rick McCann, a sportswriter for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch.
``I was hoping to just go there and listen and get back and think about it,'' Bellairs said.
Bellairs, 39, was not officially offered the job, but was considered to be one of the top two candidates, along with Clemson associate head coach Larry Shyatt, 44. Bellairs took his name out of consideration Wednesday, although Moon asked him to sleep on it.
Moon originally approached Bellairs last weekend at the NCAA Final Four in New Jersey. Even though he and Bellairs had just agreed on the new contract, VMI athletic director Davis Babb gave Moon, a Roanoke native, VMI graduate and former football player, permission to talk to Bellairs.
Babb, Moon and Marshall chancellor J.Wade Gilley did not return phone calls Wednesday.
Aside from the fact that Marshall is one of VMI's fiercest rivals in the Southern Conference, the Thundering Herd presented a nice fit. The money was great, Moon is a VMI man and Bellairs' mother, Mimi, lives in Richmond, Ky., about two hours from Huntington.
But Huntington isn't Lexington, and Bellairs said he and his family are happy where they are.
``A lot of people would jump ship after losing five senior starters,'' said Bellairs, referring to this past season's Keydets. ``I want to build it back up. It just wasn't feasible to go to Marshall. It wasn't for me right now.''
Right now, Bellairs is considered a hot coaching property. His 18-10 record at VMI has gained him and the school national attention. Since the Keydets' season ended March 2, Bellairs said, four other schools with head-coaching openings have called him to gauge his interest. One offered him a $35,000 raise less than two weeks ago, according to a source close to the VMI program. But Bellairs said none of the conversations lasted more than five minutes.
``I didn't want to listen,'' he said. ``As a father, I want to take care of my family. My family loves it here and I love it here. I want to be here. Hopefully, God will keep this going.''
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Bellairs. color.by CNB