NCAABy Jesse Kramer on

Media days can get boring with all the interviews and waiting around. So for Mountain West Media Day on Tuesday, Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich brought along some live entertainment in the form of an Elvis impersonator.

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Thanks to a few creative folks like Rolovich, we’ve had some eventful media days this summer. Texas Tech safety Jah’Shawn Johnson created a Big 12 Media Day bingo for reporters’ questions and nearly got a perfect board. For SEC Media Day, an Auburn fan brought his dog Tiger Jake, whose fur is dyed to look like a tiger.

At the cost of $350 per hour, the Elvis impersonator followed Rolovich around throughout media availability, although he didn’t participate in interviews. Initially Rolovich wanted to rent a live monkey to sit on his shoulder, but that’s illegal without a permit (even in Las Vegas.)

So he settled for The King.

From USA Today:

“He’s one of the most acclaimed impersonators,” Rolovich said from Mountain West Conference media days, where for two hours every step he took — to radio, television and print interviews — was shadowed by a late-era vintage, slightly paunchy Elvis, both strutting and thank you very much-ing their way through media availability.

“Basically, I just said, ‘Hang out.’ We’re friends for two hours. He brought it.”

Add this to Rolovich’s list of eccentric behavior. He also wants to bring back the Golden Screwdriver trophy for Hawaii’s rivalry series with Fresno State, and last month he reportedly offered a scholarship to an 11-year-old. He wore a Monopoly Man outfit to the team’s spring game in March.

Amazingly, Rolovich has become so reliably unpredictable that his players weren’t even surprised by the Elvis move. From the Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

“I was not surprised he brought Elvis,” said UH quarterback Dru Brown, who was representing the Rainbow Warriors at the two-day event.

“That was a typical Rolo move,” middle linebacker Jahlani Tavai said, grinning.

[USA Today |Photo courtesy of Honolulu Star-Advertiser]

About Jesse Kramer

Jesse is a writer and editor for The Comeback. He has also worked for SI.com and runs The Catch and Shoot, a college basketball website based in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow Jesse on Twitter @Jesse_Kramer.

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