Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990 TAG: 9007210069
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO (HEADSHOT) JERRY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS, NEV. LENGTH: Long
UNLV immediately announced it would appeal the one-year ban on postseason play, which the NCAA imposed Friday as the final resolution of a bitter battle with Tarkanian that stretches back to 1977.
"I think it's a miscarriage of justice," UNLV President Robert Maxson said. "We're being penalized twice for the same offense and that violates one of the basic principles of justice."
The ban came as the NCAA wrapped up another, more recent, investigation of UNLV, which centers on violations stemming from the 1987 recruitment of former New York City high school star Lloyd Daniels.
Sources close to that probe say the NCAA is expected to hand UNLV a list of alleged violations within the next month, which if upheld could result in probation for the basketball program.
"I'm more concerned about the outcome of the Daniels situation now," Maxson said. "Before, I was under the impression that no one knows of any major violations. But with this type of penalty, I don't know what to expect."
A stunned Tarkanian, who had been led to believe the sanctions would be nothing more than a slap on the wrist, said he couldn't believe the decision.
"It's absolutely incredible," Tarkanian told The Associated Press from his San Diego vacation home. "It just makes you wonder if I'll ever be treated fairly by that organization."
Tarkanian later issued a statement saying he was "outraged" by the NCAA decision, and said the students, faculty and athletes are being punished twice for the same violation.
"Players on this year's team, as well as most of the students attending UNLV, were six or seven years old when this began," Tarkanian said. "They are paying the price of the NCAA's vindictive decision."
UNLV became the second champion ever - and the second in three years - to be banned from defending its basketball title.
The one-year prohibition from the NCAA Tournament will not affect TV appearances or the number of athletic scholarships UNLV is allowed to give. It also bans UNLV from playing in the National Invitation Tournament, but it will be up to the Big West Conference to determine if UNLV can play in its postseason tournament.
The postseason ban couldn't have come at a worse time for Tarkanian, whose team is returning four starters, including stars Stacey Augmon and Larry Johnson, from the squad that routed Duke 103-73 for the NCAA title and figured to be a consensus No. 1 preseason pick.
"I just feel bad for Stacey and Larry," Tarkanian said. "They did what very few kids have done. They turned down big money to stay in school and that's what college basketball is all about and what the NCAA is supposed to stand for. I just feel sick for them."
Under NCAA rules, Augmon and Johnson, who are both seniors, could transfer and play immediately at their new schools. Two blue-chip recruits, Ed O'Bannon and Shon Tarver, also could go elsewhere and play right away
However, the NBA said that because its draft was held last month, Johnson and Augmon will have to wait a year to play in the league.
The sanctions go back to the mid-1970s, when the organization first started investigating possible recruiting violations at UNLV, where Tarkanian became head coach in 1973.
UNLV was hit with a two-year probation in 1977 and the NCAA - in an unprecedented ruling - ordered the university to suspend Tarkanian from coaching for a similar period.
UNLV served the probation, but Tarkanian won a state court injunction banning the university from suspending him. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled last year that the NCAA could discipline member institutions but left Tarkanian's injunction intact.
"This university 13 years ago did everything the NCAA asked it to do," Maxson said. "We did everything in a model way. To come back and penalize the university this way is unfair. I don't know what else we could have done."
"This decision," said Steve Morgan, the NCAA's associate director for enforcement, "is based on the committee's view that the show-cause order back in 1977 was a major part of the penalty at that time; that is, the school's being asked to suspend its head coach was viewed as a significant aspect of the penalty at that time.
"The university has demonstrated that despite its decision to suspend the coach, it has been unable to implement that decision through the remaining court injunction involving the men's head coach. Since that could not be implemented, the committee was put in the position to decide what, if anything, is an appropriate consequence or replacement penalty for the one that could not be fully served."
Morgan said UNLV's appeal to the NCAA Council will most likely be heard when it meets in Kansas City in October. He said he could not recall the council ever overturning a prohibition on postseason play, although some have been modified.
Danny Tarkanian, the coach's son and attorney, said that regardless of the disputed facts in the case, the NCAA should not be allowed to punish players who were children when the case began.
"We had a great chance to win it again," he said. "This is completely outrageous and unfair to the players. These kids were probably 7 years old when this happened."
by CNB