Tarkanian was the coach UNLV needed to live again

Jerry Tarkanian watches his team play during a game in the 1990-91 season (Courtesy)

UNLV Rebels basketball fans, from left, David Carafelli, Boyd Magdall and Candy Goodman wear "Keep Tark" t-shirts during a game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Feb. 19, 1992. Many Rebels basketball fans want UNLV to keep embattled coach Jerry Tarkanian, who has been accused of NCAA rules violations. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Sig Rogich always had an eye for political talent, an ability that even served him well in sports when he noticed a young basketball coach compiling victories at an astonishing rate.

Then after Jerry Tarkanian went a combined 67-4 from 1966 to 1968 at Pasadena (Calif.) City College, Rogich watched as Tark then moved on to Long Beach State and kept the winning going for another five seasons.

Rogich was convinced Tarkanian was the coach UNLV needed to instill life into its slumbering program.

“I thought he was the perfect choice for us,” said Rogich, a longtime Republican Party consultant and president of The Rogich Communications Group.

So, with the blessing of then-UNLV president Roman Zorn, Rogich tracked down Tarkanian and began to sell him on the idea of moving to the Southern Nevada desert city that had yet to blossom into the metropolis it is today.

Rogich and Tarkanian talked daily, sometimes up to 10 times, occasionally for an hour at a time. Rogich was “cautiously optimistic” of reaching an agreement, even if many others involved with the Rebels’ program weren’t so certain.

In trying to lure Tarkanian, Rogich arranged for concrete and plumbing to be donated for a new home and for Tark to make extra money through a radio and TV deal.

“I told Jerry,” Rogich said, “you can capture the community. They’re dying for a winning program. What better place to recruit? If you can recruit at Long Beach, you can recruit in Las Vegas.”

Tarkanian finally agreed to become UNLV’s coach, beginning an extraordinary stint in 1973 in which he transformed the Rebels into a household name and fulfilled Rogich’s vision of what the program could become.

“The truth of the matter is the community really did it,” Rogich said of landing Tark. “The momentum started to build, and it wasn’t going to be anybody else.

“The city embraced him, and the rest is history. If we hadn’t gotten him, I’m not sure what we would’ve done. There were times I was on edge. Long Beach was doing everything it could to keep him.”

History turned out to be on Las Vegas’ side, and the city now mourns one of its favorite sons. Tarkanian, 84, died Wednesday morning.

Tarkanian not only became the Rebels’ beloved basketball coach, but his popularity allowed him to become a power broker.

When Brad Rothermel sought to become UNLV’s athletic director in 1981, he looked at who made up the 19-person search committee and saw the basketball and football coaches and two key boosters weren’t on it.

“I knew those 19 weren’t going to decide it,” Rothermel said. “It would be the other four.”

And of the four, Rothermel knew Tarkanian’s opinion probably mattered most. So Rothermel went to visit Tarkanian, who was finishing practice in the North Gym.

Tarkanian explained he was supporting another candidate, but if something changed, he would back Rothermel. Something did indeed change, and Tarkanian then supported the man who would become the next athletic director.

The basketball coach, in a sense, hired the athletic director, the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

A beautiful, loyal friendship.

If Tarkanian was there for Rothermel in the beginning, Rothermel later returned the favor.

Then-UNLV president Robert Maxson called Rothermel into his office in 1984 and asked his thoughts on firing Tarkanian. Rothermel was floored.

“We’re fortunate to have Jerry here,” Rothermel responded to Maxson.

Rothermel then relayed the information to Tarkanian, saying Maxson was “getting ready to come after you.”

“He said he didn’t believe it,” Rothermel said.

Tarkanian was forced out by Maxson in 1992, creating a bitterness with many UNLV fans that still exists.

“Jerry bounced back, and he was OK,” Rothermel said. “I bounced back, and I’m OK. A lot of people in the department never recovered.”

UNLV’s administration long ago welcomed Tarkanian back into fold, even naming the Thomas & Mack Center court after him in 2005.

Current university president Len Jessup and athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy were effusive in their praise of Tarkanian through prepared statements after news of his death broke.

“Coach Tarkanian’s contribution to UNLV and Southern Nevada stretches far beyond the game of basketball,” Jessup said. “Many in Southern Nevada and around the nation were introduced to UNLV through Coach Tarkanian and the Runnin’ Rebels. He made Runnin’ Rebel basketball a brand name during his 19 years on campus, inspiring our community and creating a legacy that endures to this day. He will be deeply missed though fondly remembered as a college basketball icon and as one of the greats in our university’s history.”

Said Kunzer-Murphy: “Our hearts are heavy today, as we’ve lost an icon — a leader who will be forever remembered. Coach Tarkanian was fiercely proud of UNLV. He loved his student-athletes and their families. And he cared deeply about the Las Vegas community.

“He was a fighter, and his teams reflected that same intensity and fighting spirit. He was never afraid to stand up for a cause, or a person, he believed in — and nothing was more important to him than fairness. He valued loyalty and dedication above all else, and returned it in equal measure. He coached with intensity, but lived a life defined by generosity.”

Former longtime UNLV administrator Jerry Koloskie, who served as interim athletic director in 2009, said watching up close how Tarkanian handled adversity has assisted him in his career. Koloskie, now the deputy athletic director at Albany, was the head athletic trainer when Tarkanian was on the bench.

“If there was a bad newspaper article or something bad happened, he would continue and move forward,” Koloskie said. “He never let it affect his players or coaching staff.”

During the 1989-90 championship season, Koloskie watched as players were declared temporarily ineligible and pulled off airplanes four or five times. Guard Anderson Hunt was ruled ineligible while going through warmups before a game at Temple, which the Rebels won 82-76.

“Tark never missed a beat,” Koloskie said. “He went through his game plan. He focused on his game plan. I’m sure he was upset. But he went about his business and went out and beat them.”

Former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller, a season-ticket holder for more than 40 years, watched the Rebels develop from a basketball afterthought into a national power under Tarkanian’s watch.

“Frankly, he was a genius, and like many other geniuses, he was focused on his area of expertise,” Miller said. “You could talk to Jerry about the crisis in Croatia, and he’d think you were talking about a 6-10 center. (His wife) Lois was involved in politics and in more recent years his son Danny. Jerry was never a political person.”

Though Miller, a Democrat who was governor from 1989 to 1999, wasn’t part of the group that hired Tarkanian in 1973, he got to know the coach over the years and watched his fame grow.

Miller once saw fans call Tark’s name on the streets of New York.

“He was a very fun person,” Miller said. “If you were a basketball fan, there wasn’t anyone more enjoyable you could be around.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.