Remembering Jerry Tarkanian: Born on This Date in 1930
- Jake C
- Aug 8
- 5 min read
Cover photo: Jerry Tarkanian coaching at UNLV. Photo credit: Ken Levine, Getty Images.
Jerry Tarkanian, one of the best college basketball coaches in history who for his successes was rewarded with a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction, was born on this date, August 8, in 1930.
Born in Euclid, Ohio, Tarkanian played collegiately at Pasadena City College before transferring to Fresno State University.
It wasn’t long after graduating, in 1955, that Tarkanian began coaching. First, he was the head coach of San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, Calif. Then, he moved to Antelope Valley High School from 1957-58 (Lancaster, Calif.), and spent three years at Redlands High School (Redlands, Calif.) from 1958-1960. From 1961-1966, he was the head coach at Riverside Community College, and from 1966-1968 back at Pasadena, the school where he played from 1950-51.
Tarkanian ascended to the NCAA ranks in 1968, where he coached Long Beach State University until 1973.
At Long Beach, “Tark” won four consecutive PCAA (Pacific Coast Athletic Association, now called the Big West Conference) titles from 1970-73. In ‘72 and ‘73, he led the 49ers to PCAA championships.
From 1982 to 1996, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) was part of the PCAA/Big West (the conference was renamed the Big West Conference in 1988). As head coach of the Runnin’ Rebels’ program beginning in ‘73, Tarkanian was successful immediately. In 1975, the program won the West Coast Conference regular season title (Tarkanian was the 1975 WCC Coach of the Year), and from 1983-1992, he led the Runnin’ Rebels to regular season conference championships. He also guided the program to seven conference tournament championships (‘83, ‘85, ‘86, ‘87, ‘89, ‘90, ‘91). In 1983, he was named the United Press International (UPI) Coach of the Year.
Tarkanian’s best season was in 1989-90, when he led the Runnin’ Rebels to the 1990 National Championship, a final in which they crushed Duke University 103-73. The win set the NCAA Division I record for largest margin of victory in the championship game.
The Rebels went 35-5 in ‘89-‘90, including a 16-2 conference record. The squad finished second in the final AP poll to the University of Oklahoma.
As the No. 1 seed in the West Region, the team for the most part cruised to the national title.
UNLV MBB wins in 1990 NCAA Tournament
First round vs. Arkansas-Little Rock - 102-72
Second round vs. Ohio State - 76-65
West Region Semifinal vs. Ball State - 69-67
West Region Final vs. Loyola Marymount - 131-101
National Semifinal vs. Georgia Tech - 90-81
National Final vs. Duke - 103-73
Ironically, on a roster that included future NBAers (all juniors) in forwards Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon and guard Greg Anthony, it was sophomore guard Anderson Hunt who was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. Hunt scored 20 points with 7 assists against the Yellow Jackets in the semifinal and posted 29 points (12-of-16, 4-of-7 from 3-point range) in the Final against the Blue Devils. Johnson posted a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds in the game, while Anthony scored 13 (6 assists, 5 steals) and Augmon 12.
Tarkanian coached the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs for 20 games in 1992, going 9-11. Three years later, he returned to the NCAA sidelines with Fresno State, whom he led until 2002. In 2000, he led the Bulldogs to the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) tournament title, and the WAC regular season title in 2001, a season in which he was conference Coach of the Year after leading his squad to a 26-7 overall record. In his final season of 2001-02, the Bulldogs went 19-15. Fresno State made the NCAA Tournament in Tarkanian’s final two seasons there, their appearance in 2001 the first for the program since 1984. In 2014, the Fresno State men’s basketball program retired Tarkanian’s No. 2 jersey.
The Rebels, in 1986-87 led by future NBA forward Armen Gilliam, went 37-2 on their way to a conference title. From Augmon’s freshman year in 1987-88 through to Isaiah Rider’s junior year in 1991-92 (Tarkanian’s last at UNLV), the program went a combined 152-22 under Tarkanian’s stewardship. In his total time there, he led the program to four Final Four appearances.
Tarkanian, whose trademark was chewing on towels during games, with a dry towel and a wet towel on hand - the wet in order to quell dry mouth - tallied an overall NCAA coaching record of 761-202, including a 509-105 record (.829 winning percentage) at UNLV and a 99-17 record (.853) at Long Beach State. During Tarkanian’s tenure at Long Beach State, the team never lost a home game. In his final four seasons at Long Beach, he led the team to the NCAA Tournament. In 38 total seasons as a head coach throughout his career, Tarkanian won 990 games.
For 20 years, Tarkanian was in a legal battle with the NCAA who alleged that he committed recruiting violations during his time at Long Beach State and UNLV. In 1998, Tarkanian received a $2.5 million payment in the settlement.
“During the time he was coaching, the NCAA controlled the media so strongly that a lot of what my father did, and the image that he had, wasn’t accurate,” said Tarkanian’s son Danny in a 2020 interview promoting his book on his father titled “Rebel With A Cause”.
In 2010, speaking to Vice Sports, the former UNLV star Johnson points out the celebrity factor with the program in the early 1990s, remembering pop culture and sports icons Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, and Evander Holyfield being at the games.
“I think if one person was bigger than that basketball team, it was Jerry Tarkanian,” said Johnson, before detailing Tarkanian’s unique way of motivating his group that included insinuating that the opposing team’s players were going to take his players’ girlfriends if they didn’t win the game.
On February 11, 2015, Tarkanian passed away ay the age of 84. Johnson handed his former coach the ultimate compliment at the time.
“You’ll hear guys talk all the time about coaches being a father figure. Well I’m 45 years old and I’ve never met my father. I consider Jerry Tarkanian my father.”
Dave Rice, who was on the ‘90 title-winning UNLV squad, said of Tarkanian in 2015:
"I don't think there's a coach that's ever coached in college basketball that had more of an effect on the game in terms of playing pressure defense and offensive transition basketball. His teams truly were the Runnin' Rebels."
Said Tarkanian in his 2013 Hall of Fame enshrinement speech:
“I have loved the game of basketball since my earliest memories. Basketball has been good to me. I’ve been able to be comrades with some of the finest individuals in the coaching profession. Sure we can be fiery, competitive and argumentative, but we all loved the game, that special game of basketball. And deep down, most of us truly understand each other.”
In 2005, UNLV’s home floor was renamed Jerry Tarkanian Court. Bishop Gorman High School since 2012 has held a high school tournament called The Tarkanian Classic. There is a middle school in Las Vegas that carries the name Lois & Jerry Tarkanian Middle School.
No doubt, a legacy left.
Today, we remember one of the best coaches in NCAA history.
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