Lorenzo Romar recruited Cameron Dollar, helped coach him to a national championship at UCLA and thought enough of the hard-nosed guard to hire him as an assistant coach at Saint Louis and Washington.
So when the Washington head coach talks about Dollar, he speaks with a sense of authority.
Dollar, an assistant the last six seasons with the Huskies, spent a whirlwind 12-hour day Tuesday interviewing for the vacant men's head basketball coaching job at Sacramento State, meeting with the school's seven-person screening committee, university president Alexander Gonzalez, athletics director Terry Wanless and other campus officials.
While he declined comment until the hiring process is complete, Dollar, 32, had plenty of others talking for him.
"He is mature beyond his years," Romar said Tuesday. "He's very knowledgable. He's wanted to be a coach since he was 7 years old. He's great at relating to the kids but yet they have the utmost respect for him."
Dollar, the son of a longtime basketball coach, displayed that trait as a player in four seasons at UCLA. He filled in for an injured Tyus Edney in the 1995 NCAA Tournament championship game against Arkansas, helping the Bruins win. And he showed a toughness Romar, then a UCLA assistant, hasn't forgotten.
"Ed O'Bannon was the Player of the Year, and there was only one guy on the team that could grab Ed's jersey and say, 'Let's go,' " Romar said. "That was Cameron. When we got to the Final Four, he wasn't that excited. He wanted to win a championship."
Washington assistant Jim Shaw said Sacramento State would do well to hire Dollar, who helped the Huskies reach the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 in 2005 and 2006.
"He would be a great hire," Shaw said. "He's a magnet. People would gravitate toward him. I just think he would be a home run."
Said Kings center Spencer Hawes, who played for Dollar at Washington: "He's definitely a great coach. He really excels coaching on the defensive end."
Dollar, an Atlanta native, stumbled shortly after taking the Washington job in 2002, with illegal contact with potential recruits leading to a one-month suspension and a two-year NCAA probation.
Ironically, Dollar is now the basketball staff's point man on compliance.
"He learned a great lesson from all that," said John Morris, Washington's Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance. "He asks me questions all the time. If there's even an appearance of (impropriety) he doesn't go anywhere near it."
Said Shaw: "The last thing they should concern themselves with is Cameron as a person and his integrity."
Wanless said it would be inappropriate to comment on any of the three candidates interviewing this week. San Joaquin Delta College head coach Brian Katz is scheduled to interview today and Cabrillo College coach Tony Marcopulos on Thursday.
Call The Bee's John Schumacher, (916) 326-5523. The Bee's Sam Amick contributed to this story.
