Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 24, 1992 TAG: 9202240159
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS LENGTH: Medium
TARK REFUSES TO QUIT
Nevada-Las Vegas coach Jerry Tarkanian, claiming a cloud had been placed over his head by recent accusations against his troubled basketball program, said Sunday night he was rescinding the resignation he submitted last June.The withdrawal, announced at the end of a 2 1/2-hour hand-clapping, hymn-singing rally, came 10 days before Tarkanian was scheduled to step down as coach of the Runnin' Rebels.
The move was discounted by UNLV president Robert Maxson late Sunday night.
"Jerry Tarkanian submitted a legally binding resignation, the university accepted the resignation, and the matter is closed," Maxson said. "There is no need for any additional discussion."
Tarkanian, 61, is completing his 19th season with the Rebels, who are ranked 12th nationally with a 24-2 record. Saturday night's 69-58 victory over New Mexico State clinched the 10th straight Big West Conference regular-season championship for the Rebels.
Most of this year's players and assistant coaches were in the audience at a church on the city's west side when he made the announcement.
"We got torn up from the inside," Tarkanian said. "We got dismantled from the inside. It's totally unbelievable."
A target of the meeting's wrath was Maxson, who accepted Tarkanian's resignation in June.
"For me to coach next year is not the important issue," Tarkanian said. "The important issue is to find out what happened."
Tarkanian said he wanted to find out why his program had been targeted by the school administration. This year's team has been banned from television and postseason play as a final resolution of a 14-year battle between Tarkanian and the NCAA. The school also faces 29 new NCAA infraction allegations.
In addition to the NCAA infractions, the school has been hammered with public relations problems including publication in May of a photograph showing three former Rebels with convicted sports fixer Richard Perry.
Also, last week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal released a story saying the FBI was investigating possible point-shaving by last year's team, which was unbeaten and ranked No. 1 all season until losing to eventual national champion Duke 79-77 in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
Tarkanian has vehemently denied the rumors, saying the report of an investigation was planted by the school administration.
Throughout Sunday's meeting, a crowd of 350 chanted, "Keep Tark," and frequently booed when the name of Maxson surfaced.
Tarkanian's wife, Lois, said, "Something is wrong when you lose humanism in an institution of higher education."
Both Tarkanian and his wife said his team's graduation rate was twice that of the student body, yet school officials have refused to acknowledge that fact.
Before the meeting, the Tarkanians released a written statement in which the coach said he had watched his staff, family, present and former players and himself "trashed again and again by a series of untruths, distortions and inaccuracies. A cloud has been placed over the lives of some of the finest young men to ever represent any university, as well as a cloud on the integrity of myself, family and staff."
Tarkanian accused the school administration of trying to destroy the Rebel basketball program, one of the most high-profile in the nation.
Tarkanian is the winningest coach in college basketball by percentage. His career record after Saturday night's 69-58 victory over New Mexico State is 836-148, including 508-105 in 19 years at UNLV. Saturday night's 69-58 victory over New Mexico State win clinched the 10th straight Big West Conference regular-season championship for the Rebels.
He has taken the Rebels to the Final Four four times, winning the national title in 1990.
The current UNLV team has a 21-game winning streak, the longest in the country.