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First Dean Smith. Now Jerry Tarkanian,dead at 84.

I shall go chew a towel in memory.

Say what you will about his fight with the NCAA and his reputation, his college record was 729-201. Only 4 coaches have ever had a better winning%

Jerry, Tark the Shark - turned a G5 type program at UNLV into a "Name school" similar to Gonzaga, Butler and Georgetown, noted for basketball prowess. There seemed to be some kind of antagonism towards him early in his career among the "establishment schools", but I don't know the specifics. He was definitely never among the "favorites" of America's BB coaches though being very successful.

(02-11-2015 01:09 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Jerry, Tark the Shark - turned a G5 type program at UNLV into a "Name school" similar to Gonzaga, Butler and Georgetown, noted for basketball prowess. There seemed to be some kind of antagonism towards him early in his career among the "establishment schools", but I don't know the specifics. He was definitely never among the "favorites" of America's BB coaches though being very successful.

He cheated like an MF'er and dared anyone else to do anything about it. Even after the NCAA went after him, he fought them in court for years and ended up settling out of court for 2.5 million dollars. That may have been the antagonism you refer too.

Did he ever come to the 'ham to coach outside of the Fresno State game where Mo Finley went off?

Not sure if we had any NCAA tournament where UNLV or Fresno came to town.

I don't recall UNLV coming to Birmingham during their glory years. But I remember the night Tark brought Fresno State and the band was right there at their bench. We kept asking if we could taste the towel. He was a heckuva coach, but yes, he cheated like there was no tomorrow.

(02-11-2015 01:25 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Did he ever come to the 'ham to coach outside of the Fresno State game where Mo Finley went off?

Not sure if we had any NCAA tournament where UNLV or Fresno came to town.

We only played him twice. We played UNLV in Canada when they were #1 in the country and they gave us our worst lost in history: a 41 point beat down where a freshman point guard named Carter Long was filling in for the injured starter and was completely destroyed.

The second time we played him was when he was at Fresno State and Mo Finley set the record for most points by a freshman.

The story behind the towel is this. Tarik always had dry mouth, and he didn't want to be constantly getting drinks of water while coaching a game. So he had his manager dip a towel on water so he could chew on it and rehydrate during a game. Effective but ridiculous looking.

Sad day in Vegas. Coach meant a lot to people here. May he rest in peace.

(02-11-2015 12:52 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  Say what you will about his fight with the NCAA and his reputation, his college record was 729-201. Only 4 coaches have ever had a better winning%

Second fastest ever to 600 wins.

(02-11-2015 01:41 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  The story behind the towel is this. Tarik always had dry mouth, and he didn't want to be constantly getting drinks of water while coaching a game. So he had his manager dip a towel on water so he could chew on it and rehydrate during a game. Effective but ridiculous looking.

He got in the habit back in the sixties playing and coaching in un-airconditioned gyms in southern California.

The coach of the last non P5 team to win the NCAA title. RIP Coach Tark.