Tarkanian

The rule violation that led to the end of Jim Harrick's UCLA coaching career had Dick Vitale scratching his bald head on Wednesday night. "I do not know that rule," the ESPN college basketball analyst said. "And I'll bet you a lot of coaches don't know that rule. If that's the biggest violation at UCLA, you should put them up for sainthood." Similar thoughts were articulated by several of Harrick's longtime coaching rivals.

Louisville Coach Rick Pitino is among seven people elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Joining Pitino in the class of 2013, announced Monday, are former NBA stars Bernard King and Gary Payton, former Nevada Las Vegas coach Jerry Tarkanian, North Carolina women's Coach Sylvia Hatchell, former University of Houston coach Guy Lewis, and former University of Virginia star Dawn Staley. The inductions will be in Springfield, Mass., in September. Inductees announced previously were Edwin E.B. Henderson, a direct elect by the Early African Pioneer Committee; longtime Indiana Pacers guard Roger Brown; Oscar Schmidt of Brazil, the leading scorer in Olympic history; Richie Guerin, a star for the New York Knicks in the 1950s; and Russ Granik, the longtime assistant commissioner of the NBA. :: Bob Cantu, a longtime USC basketball assistant who served as interim coach after Kevin O'Neill was fired in January, will not be retained as part of new Coach Andy Enfield's staff, the school announced.

Behind the sanctimonious stance of the NCAA infractions committee, there seems to be an arbitrarily punitive and perhaps vengeful motive pertaining to its investigation of UNLV's basketball program. Leaking damaging rumors about schools to the media before the competition of an investigation is tantamount to lynching. The NCAA has done so with UNLV, thereby disrupting its program and discouraging athletes to join the school for fear of possible retributions by the NCAA. Tarkanian should be accountable for any misdeed he perpetrates, but first he should be proven guilty.

Combing through the artifacts of Long Beach State basketball, which plays home games in "The Pyramid," is quite an archaeological dig. What an eclectic mishmash of characters, hoop dreams and hiccups. The school nickname is the 49ers, but could easily be "The Asterisks," or "The Elevators. " "It's been up and down," Glenn McDonald, a founding forward from the 1970s, said of the program. You can guess Sutter's Mill for the nickname inspiration and be off by only a century.

Hooray! Dave Distel's article of Feb. 12 was tops, both in style (clear yet clever) and substance (informative and wise). Thank you for going directly to Tarkanian, for considering the SDSU players, for supporting the interim coach, for being blunt and realistic about Brandenburg and especially for discussing the pros/cons of Tarkanian as coach. In other words, thank you for showing excellent leadership for the SDSU basketball community. Personally, although I'm not very compatible with Tarkanian's style, my gut feeling is that he would be a perfect fit here.

Goodman's portrayal of Tarkanian was interesting reading. As a personal friend of Jerry, I feel compelled to add some information. Jerry never says no to charity. Recently he came to Newport Beach in the middle of the basketball season to appear at the Armenian-American Sports Hall of Fame dinner, benefiting the aged and the Orangewood Home for Abused Children, after a high-profile professional athlete canceled 10 days before the dinner. In doing so he bailed out a friend--and stole the show at the same time.

It was business as usual last November at the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. media day banquet: There was plenty of whining and dining. Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian was trying to quell rumors that the group of redshirts he had coming in this season regularly beat his regulars (who went 29-6 and lost to Georgetown in the Western regionals) in practice games last season. "We have the potential to be a fine team, but we have a lot of question marks.

The Supreme Court, in a key ruling supporting the enforcement powers of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn., ruled Monday that the organization may force Nevada Las Vegas to suspend its highly successful basketball coach, Jerry Tarkanian, for recruiting violations and other irregularities. On a 5-4 vote, the high court said that the NCAA does not have to follow the same constitutional guidelines that cover government agencies in investigating violations of regulations.

Jerry Tarkanian has spoken with owner Donald Sterling about the Clipper coaching vacancy and plans to fly to Los Angeles Thursday to continue discussions. A source close to the talks said the making of a deal is a longshot and that Tarkanian, who coached Nevada Las Vegas to the NCAA basketball championship this year, would settle for no less than an annual salary of $750,000 and other benefits.

SportsChannel Los Angeles, which last week completed a five-year deal with the Clippers, is expected to announce today that Jerry Tarkanian has been hired as the commentator. Tarkanian's first telecast will be Thursday night when the Clippers play a home game against the Houston Rockets. The play-by-play announcer will be Joel Meyers. SportsChannel will televise five regular-season games, plus some playoff games if the Clippers qualify.

The Stardust hotel, imploded last week, is a pile of rubble but "Titanic, the Exhibition," is back "by popular demand" at the Tropicana. Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter may also be sinking fast after allegedly punching a Cincinnati Bengal over blackjack at the Palms. Danny Gans is playing the Mirage; David Hasselhoff is starring down the Strip in "The Producers." And, perhaps the biggest news, Nevada Las Vegas basketball has reunited and is taking its act to St. Louis.

With college basketball's late signing period in full swing, it seems the most important recruit new Nevada Las Vegas Coach Lon Kruger should bag is a familiar face -- former Rebel coach Jerry Tarkanian. At least that's the opinion of Review-Journal columnist Joe Hawk, who is on a campaign to have UNLV rename the court at the Thomas & Mack Center after the Shark, just as UCLA named the floor at Pauley Pavilion after Nell and John Wooden.

They call it the House That Tark Built, a $100-million palace that rises out of an old alfalfa field at the edge of Fresno State University. That the patrons of this farming capital have dug deep in their pockets to erect not a concert hall or museum but a Taj Mahal for college basketball says something about the state of culture and entertainment here.

Retired college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian has had it with his outlaw image, as he told the Las Vegas Sun's Dean Juipe. "I'm always made to look like the bad guy," Tarkanian said. "All the [stuff] I've taken over the years and not once has anyone found anything resembling a serious violation." Wrote Juipe: "He was repeatedly targeted by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. and all but despised by occasional critics.

USC Coach Henry Bibby acknowledged Tuesday that retired Fresno State Coach Jerry Tarkanian approached him at the Final Four and inquired about the possibility of finding a spot on Bibby's staff for his son, Danny, who had been an assistant to his father in Fresno since 1995. "He asked me about it but I don't have an opening," Bibby said. "Nobody's looking to go anywhere."

Liking Jerry Tarkanian, rooting for him even when his players weren't graduating or sometimes even going to class, when they'd be arrested or suspended, when his team was on probation or headed there, has always been a guilty pleasure. Despite the sleazy image of his players in a hot tub with a convicted sports fixer, the academic shortcomings in most of his programs, the players who tried their luck with samurai swords as weapons of destruction, despite his career-long battle with the NCAA and all the recruiting irregularities, Tark was hard to root against.

Thomas B. Day, San Diego State president, refused to say whether Jerry Tarkanian's potential candidacy for the school's vacant basketball coaching position was discussed Friday in a meeting with Athletic Director Fred Miller and other university officials. "I have no comment," Day said. "We had a meeting today about the budget."

Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian said Tuesday the Clippers have tried to talk to him about a coaching job, but he said he has no interest in coaching the National Basketball Assn. team and has not returned their call. A spokesman for the Clippers said he wasn't aware of any offer. Tarkanian has had several offers from NBA teams, including one from the Lakers about six years ago, but he has spurned them all. Tarkanian's team is ranked No. 1 in the nation and has a 30-1 record.

It was checkout time. Jerry Tarkanian was ticked and tired, ready to toss in that towel he used to gnaw on. It was Jan. 4, 2000, at Logan, after a 17-point loss to Utah State. It was the night Tarkanian, the Fresno State coach, mentally walked away from basketball. Danny, Tark's son and a Bulldog assistant coach, was supposed to leave from Logan on a recruiting trip. Jerry told Danny, "Don't even go. This is my last year. If I could quit now, I'd quit, but I'd be too embarrassed."

Fresno State, ranked No. 22, celebrated its first appearance in the Top 25 in more than three years by reaching a couple of milestones in a 108-56 victory over Texas El Paso on Thursday night in Fresno. The victory was the 750th for Fresno State Coach Jerry Tarkanian at the Division I level. Last Saturday, Tarkanian moved past John Wooden into third place on the NCAA's all-time winning percentage list. Tarkanian's .804 percentage trails Clair Bee (.826) and Adolph Rupp (.822).