Nov. 13, 2008

Article printed in the South Bay Daily Breeze.
Written by: Phil Collin

Seven months after he signed a five-year contract to be Loyola Marymount's basketball coach, Bill Bayno has it all figured out.

"Some days I walk away and I think that we've got a chance to really surprise people," Bayno said. "Other days you know it's going to be a struggle to win games."

There are rebuilding jobs that coaches undertake, and then there is LMU, the tiny Jesuit school with a proud basketball tradition that has been hidden away in a closet for nearly two decades.

The Lions have conjured up a season with a winning record once since 1991-92. The Hank Gathers/Bo Kimble legacy barely flickers inside Gersten Pavilion.

And in comes Bayno, the former UNLV coach who battled his own demons and now finds himself inheriting a team that went 5-26 last season, then saw Orlando Johnson, who set a school record for scoring as a freshman, bolt for UC Santa Barbara.

Eight new players, including three transfers, fill out the roster.

In last week's exhibition game with Hope International, three freshmen and a sophomore transfer were in the starting lineup alongside senior center Marko Deric.

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