Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990 TAG: 9004030502
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press and New York Times reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Nevada-Las Vegas basketball coach may face a suspension and his school may receive additional sanctions in connection with infractions by the Runnin' Rebels basketball program that were cited in 1977.
NCAA officials said Sunday that reports indicating the NCAA had agreed to drop its 13-year case against Tarkanian were incorrect.
USA Today reported last week that the NCAA had decided not to pursue the suspension and that Tarkanian only had to pay court costs and legal fees.
"It has been reported that the NCAA has agreed not to go back and pursue its 1977 order to suspend Tarkanian," said Jim Marchiony, a spokesman for the association. "The NCAA has made no such agreement."
Last week, a Nevada District Court judge signed an order issued by the state Supreme Court that it vacate an injunction entered against the NCAA beginning in 1977.
The significance of the signing is that it allows the committee to take up the question of whether additional sanctions should be imposed on the university because of the infractions found in 1977. The committee also may go back to its original request that UNLV show cause why it should not suspend Tarkanian.
The school currently is under NCAA investigation for allegations of wrongdoing involving the recruitment of Lloyd Daniels, a player from New York City who never completed high school and was arrested on drug charges while attending UNLV.
In light of his strained relationship with the NCAA, Tarkanian was reluctant to accept the championship trophy from Jim Delany, chairman of the NCAA Basketball Committee and commissioner of the Big Ten.
"I wanted our athletic director to take it," Tarkanian said, "but I went ahead and did it."
Rivals have Coach K's number
Forget about 13 being an unlucky number. The one that keeps haunting Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is 18.
The Blue Devils blew an 18-point lead in losing to Seton Hall in the semifinal round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
In Monday's national championship game at Denver's McNichols Arena, UNLV used an 18-0 second-half run to bury Duke.
It was another chapter in the postseason frustrations of Krzyzewski, who is the winningest coach in Duke history and has taken the Blue Devils to the Final Four in four of the last five years. Each time, they have failed to win the big prize.
"I think that's the best a team has ever played against me. We were in awe," Krzyzewski said.
"I think there's a difference between not playing well and them not letting us play well. My guys were ready," the coach said. "They just would not let us do anything."
The loss ended the college career of Duke seniors Phil Henderson, Alaa Abdelnaby and Robert Brickey, who made three appearances each in the Final Four.
"It's been a great career in terms of wins and losses," said Brickey, Duke's captain who was held to four points and three rebounds. "How many teams get to win 100 games and go to the Final Four three times? But now's not one of the better moments."
"We've had a great year," said Henderson, who led Duke with 21 points. "I'm sorry the game had to be so lopsided."
Abdelnaby, who had 14 points and seven rebounds, had a quick answer when asked if anyone could have beaten UNLV on Monday night: "I don't think so."
Some `awesome' statistics
UNLV's domination of Duke, a performance Krzyzewski called "awesome," was reflected in the statistics:
The Runnin' Rebels' 103 points set a record for a championship game, as did their 30-point victory margin and 16 steals.
UNLV had five dunks to none for Duke.
The Rebels' frontcourt players outshot Duke's inside players 69 percent to 45 percent and outscored them 56-38.
UNLV's guards outshot their Duke counterparts 56 percent to 48 percent, outscored them 47-35 and had nine more assists at 12 to three.
Rebels guard Greg Anthony had as many steals (five) as the entire Duke team, and forward Larry Johnson added four.
UNLV scored 36 of its points on fast breaks, while the Blue Devils had eight points in transition.
Duke has given up the three highest point totals in championship-game history. The Blue Devils also surrendered 98 to UCLA in 1964 and 94 to Kentucky in 1978.
UNLV's 103 points increased its total for the tournament to 571, breaking the record of 552 set by Oklahoma in 1988.
The victory moved Tarkanian into sole possession of third place in victories among NCAA tournament coaches, with 33. (UCLA's John Wooden has 47 victories and North Carolina's Dean Smith 43.)
You bet Vegas loves its Rebels
For once, Las Vegas forgot the bottom line.
Prohibited from taking bets on Nevada college teams, bookmakers blanked out the line on the NCAA final between UNLV and Duke. But nobody seemed to mind.
"There are times when you set money aside," said Jimmy Vaccaro, director of the race and sports book at the Mirage Hotel on the glitzy Strip in Las Vegas, Nev.
"Who do you think would be betting?" said Vaccaro. "Anybody who's not a Rebel fan in this town is a million-to-one."
On game day, it was easy to tell the tourists from the locals in Vegas. Rebel red was the clothing color of choice for everybody from dealers to cocktail waitresses to store clerks.
Fans without tickets were welcomed to UNLV's 18,500-seat Thomas and Mack Center for a special free party and a telecast of the game on two giant television screens. Each Final Four school was allotted 1,600 tickets for the game at McNichols Arena in Denver, but Lee Riggle, the UNLV ticket manager, estimated he could have sold 9,000.
Officials scheduled a heroes' welcome for the NCAA champions, including a parade tonight led by Gov. Bob Miller and Mayor Ron Lurie.
At Stapleton Airport in Denver, hundreds of fans swarmed to waiting charter flights for the trip back to Nevada, with the chant of "Rebels" ringing through the halls.
Lurie said, "It was meant for us to be No. 1. We proved we were No. 1."
The mayor promised one of the biggest celebrations in the city's history with the parade down the famed Strip and a welcoming ceremony at the Thomas and Mack Center.
The casinos' enormous billboards flashed messages of congratulations to the team even before the outcome of the game was known.
In unofficial wagering, the Rebels were 4 1/2-point favorites, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that legal bookmakers missed out on "a good chunk of money." There was no way to determine exactly how much.
"You cannot put a price tag on what this means in terms of a positive image," said Vaccaro. "Dollars and cents are good, the bottom line of the industry. But you can't measure the good that the team has done for this town in dollars and cents."
Thanks, but no thanks
Tarkanian avoided a potential NCAA rules infraction during the Final Four.
When ESPN reported that most of the Runnin' Rebels' parents would not be attending the game at McNichols Arena, Tarkanian said he received offers from a copier machine corporation and a national restaurant chain to fly the relatives to the game.
Tarkanian declined, noting that acceptance would be a violation. When the Runnin' Rebels had their parents night during the regular season, only one parent was able to attend, the coach said.
The only UNLV players whose parents were in attendance Monday night were reserve guards Travis Bice and Stacy Cvijanovich.
`Senator' lobbies for UNLV
The Runnin' Rebels call guard Anthony "The Senator" because he spent last summer as an intern in Washington, D.C., with a Nevada congresswoman. Anthony, a junior and vice chairman of the Nevada Young Republicans, is contemplating a career in business or law and may pursue a second degree in economics upon graduation next year.
UNLV's scholar-athlete respects Duke for its academics, but likes where he is, too.
"Duke has a great graduation rate, but how many times do you see someone from the inner city graduate from there?" Anthony said. "That's one reason I like UNLV. This is the land of opportunity. The state schools give kids opportunities."
Secretary of defense
UNLV's Stacey Augmon had only 12 points and four rebounds, but his defense was exemplary.
Augmon had two steals and fed guard Anderson Hunt for back-to-back fast-break baskets during the 18-0 run that gave the Rebels a 75-47.
"Stacey's play throughout the tournament has been outstanding," Tarkanian said. "He had another great game tonight.
"One of the big reasons we're here is because of Stacey's play since the Big West [Conference] tournament."
All-tournament team
Three players from UNLV made the squad.
Hunt, also chosen the outstanding player, was joined by Johnson and Augmon of the Runnin' Rebels.
Duke's Henderson also made the squad, as did Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech, which was beaten by UNLV in a semifinal.
by CNB