Coach Rodney Tention arrived as a touted former assistant of Arizona legend Lute Olson and was hailed as a savior when the team finished second in his first season and made it to the WCC tournament championship game. But things have been rough the past two seasons, last year because of injuries and in 2007-08 because of youth.

Tention resigned amidst speculation that he might be fired in mid-March.

He was replaced two weeks later by former UNLV coach Bill Bayno.

Bayno, who left the bench of the Portland Trail Blazers to accept the position on April 4, took the Runnin' Rebels to two NCAA Tournaments and had a 95-65 record but was fired amidst recruiting allegations centered around Lamar Odom.

Before his stint at UNLV, Bayno was a top assistant to Memphis coach John Calipari, who was at Massachusetts at the time.

There's plenty of work to be done at LMU.

The Lions lost their final seven games, and the nine-point loss to San Francisco was the only game in that span decided by a single-digit margin.

It was the Lions' 11th losing season in the past 12 years, the only exception being 2004, when they were 15-14.

There is one cause for optimism for Bayno -- Orlando Johnson, who, as a freshman, led the team in scoring and rebounding. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of his 2007-08 season is that he responded to his worst game of the season -- an 0-for-9, scoreless game against Pepperdine -- by scoring 17, 19 and 19 points in his final three games.

He has the look of a future all-conference player, but getting enough help will be an issue.

Taking care of the ball was a problem all season, and that was primarily because the Lions could not find a reliable point guard. They committed 18.4 turnovers a game, the most in the conference.

Tention was 30-61 in three seasons and 2-12 in the West Coast Conference.

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