TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/032591/0325260.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 5.5 KB | 117 lines

                                                                                SPORT, Page 54

Basketball's Most Deadly Fish


Even legal battles can't keep "Tark the Shark" Tarkanian out of
the premier tournament of the college game

By SALLY B. DONNELLY/LAS VEGAS


    In college basketball, March is not the month of lions or
lambs, but of sharks. For the ninth consecutive year, coach
Jerry ("Tark the Shark") Tarkanian has led his University of
Nevada at Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels squad into the National
Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament.
UNLV, which compiled a crushing 30-0 regular-season record, was
the pretourney favorite to win its second-straight national
championship.

    But that attainment, if it happens, may be almost
irrelevant. The major surprise was that UNLV could actually
show up. For 17 years, Tarkanian has been involved with
numerous NCAA investigations for rules violations that range
from illegal recruiting to grade fixing in order to maintain
the eligibility of his players. Many of the accusations have
stuck, yet in one case Tarkanian fought the NCAA all the way
to the U.S. Supreme Court and won. Last fall, in order to avoid
punishing current players for recruiting violations committed
by UNLV in the 1970s, the NCAA lifted a ban that prohibited
the school from playing in the 1991 tournament. The team will
take its punishment in 1992.

    Tarkanian's continuing presence in the tourney is testimony
to his clout as major-college basketball's winningest coach,
despite the fact that he is also one of the sport's most
controversial figures. The chief reason why he continues to
appear in the NCAA knockout event is also the focus of much of
the controversy: his 30-year-old coaching system, built on
finding and nurturing players that other schools have passed
up. This year eight of 14 UNLV players, including All-American
forward Larry Johnson, came to UNLV from junior colleges or as
transfers. Once on the Rebels team, they are welded into a
high-speed, aggressive machine.

    The Rebels' combative, fast-and-loose style of play is a
reflection, of sorts, of Tarkanian's approach to the NCAA's
regulations. The coach's 1986 recruitment of New York City prep
star Lloyd Daniels, who attended four high schools but never
managed to graduate, is an example of his pursuit of a
questionable player. (In the end, Daniels never wore a UNLV
uniform.) Tarkanian points to the likes of Johnson and current
guard Greg Anthony as signs that his system works.

    In recruiting, Tarkanian focuses on the kind of kid he was
himself: hardworking, aggressive, looking for the main chance.
Tarkanian was born to working-class Armenian parents in Euclid,
Ohio. His father died when he was 12, and the family moved to
Pasadena, Calif., in the 1940s. Tarkanian was already planning
a coaching career as an undergraduate at Fresno State
university, and began working with high school teams while
earning a master's degree in education from University of
Redlands. He moved up to Riverside City College as head coach
in 1961, spent seven seasons at the community-college level,
then moved up to California State University, Long Beach, in
1968. His reputation as a winner, and coach of winners, steadily
soared. He made the NCAA Final Four for the first time in
1977. He earned his nickname at UNLV, where visiting teams
referred to the small arena as the "shark tank," where the
Runnin' Rebels and the crowd chewed up opponents.

    Tarkanian's outreach to talented but overlooked players
began in his community-college years, and so did his solicitude
for less fortunate players. Joe Barnes, who came to Riverside
after being cut from his school's team in Detroit, recalls
barbecues and parties at the Tarkanian house. But these days
it appears as if Tarkanian's players enjoy a bit more than ribs
and sodas. At a UNLV team practice last week there was no
cookout, but there were plenty of fancy grilles on the
player-driven Mercedes and BMWs in the gym parking lot.

    A small, balding man with dark, deep-set eyes, Tarkanian
strikes a strong contrast with his tall, predominantly black
charges. But his sense of easy authority over the team is
equally marked. Says Lonnie Wright, a UNLV forward in the early
1970s: "Coach Tarkanian is the first strong male figure many
of his players have ever had, and they have a great deal of
respect for him. The Father Flanagan image is not too far from
the truth."

    Tarkanian admits he is extremely good at "communicating"
with his players and at motivating them. "I start with the
first minute I meet a kid. If he can trust you from the outset,
he'll run that extra mile for you." The players can, and do:
in 30 years of college coaching, Tarkanian has never had a
losing season.

    He has become something of a Las Vegas institution. He has
his own retail sports shops, is a frequent TV commentator and
counts show-biz entertainers like Frank Sinatra and Dionne
Warwick among his friends. His total earnings are estimated at
$500,000 a year. Despite his  wealth, there is talk every year
-- and especially this year -- that Tarkanian is considering
a move to the pros. With the NCAA continuing to pursue what
Tarkanian calls its "vendetta" against him, the National
Basketball Association might be a very attractive option. But
close acquaintances say such a move at the moment is unlikely.
Even with tournament suspension looming in 1992, the Shark
hasn't finished being the biggest prowler in his college pond.