The Shark is apparently headed to Springfield. Jerry Tarkanian has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in his first time on the ballot, reports CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman.
Jerry Tarkanian reportedly elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
Jerry Tarkanian made the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels one of the greatest college teams of all time in the early 90’s, and now he’ll be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tarkanian, best known for his huge success at UNLV and adversarial relationship with the NCAA, won 784 games over his college career, losing only 202. He took the Runnin’ Rebels to four Final Fours, winning in 1990 behind Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony, crushing Duke 103-73 in the national title game. That squad is considered one of the best of all time, nearly pulling off an undefeated season the next year before being shocked by Duke in the Final Four.
Tarkanian, 82, coached from 1973-1992 in Las Vegas. He had begun his career at Long Beach State, winning 20 games every season with the 49ers. Despite his success, the school forced Tarkanian to resign for various controversies surrounding his teams and his players. He then briefly coached the Spurs, but disagreements with management ended his lone NBA job only 20 games into the year. After that, he spent his time battling the NCAA in court, claiming they’d unfairly harassed him for decades, earning a $2.5 million payout in an out-of-court settlement. He would finish his career at Fresno State before retiring in 2002.
As of now, Tarkanian has the 26th-most wins of all time, not including the ones stripped due to various NCAA violations.
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