University of Hawai'i women's basketball coach Jim Bolla said many of the right things when he was asked about pursuing the same job at the Nevada-Las Vegas.

He told The Advertiser, in part, "I've got a great job and I'm not looking to make a move. I'm getting to the point where I don't want to be running around. I'll leave that to the younger kids. I'm very grateful to the university for letting me get back into (coaching) and we have a goal of getting this program back on track."

Of course, that was apparently for local consumption.

When it came to Las Vegas, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "I've applied for the (UNLV) job and I want the job." Not much ambiguity there.

Taken together, that, folks, is known as attempting to cover your posterior one cheek at a time.

Reading between the lines, which is about the only thing to do since you can't be sure which side of the mouth the words are coming out of, it is obvious Bolla wants a return to the UNLV job (1982-96) he once had. Undoubtedly, there has been some urging of former players, as he maintains, but you get the feeling he didn't have to be dragged kicking and screaming into this candidacy, either.

Which, at first glance, is hardly a vote of confidence in the struggling Rainbow Wahine basketball program. Indeed, the message people in Las Vegas say they take away is that Bolla wants back at UNLV in the worst, almost desperate, way, though he is considered a long shot.

Unfortunately, in the process, the worst way is also how it is playing out around here, where he already has a job and, it would seem in light of a 56-57 record over four years, plenty to keep him challenged.

The UH job is one that, as Bolla noted, he should be grateful to have. Especially since he was out of coaching for seven years when UH put him back on the bench at upwards of $120,000 per season. There were a considerable number of eyebrows raised when it was learned Bolla was gifted with a four-year contract extension and raise over the summer following a 44-39 record. And, now, this flirtation with UNLV.

For the faith UH has expressed in the form of what amounts to a seven-year, $1 million investment there should be a reciprocity in the form of determined commitment to seeing the job here through to a significant rise in fortunes. You would like to think that Bolla is in this for the long haul because it is gonna take full-time devotion to see it through. But after Bolla's waltz with UNLV you really have to wonder.

The way things stand now, the worst scenario would be if Bolla doesn't get the UNLV job and the perception takes hold that he is just marking time in the one he still has.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.