Jerry Tarkanian, the colorful and controversial basketball coach, died on Wednesday, February 11, 2015, at the age of 84. The man nick-named “The Shark,” passed away at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas. The cause of death was listed as respiratory and cardiac failure.
In a statement issued by the Tarkanian family, his wife, Lois, said: “Jerry has been in fragile health since 2009. He fought his health problems with the same tenacity he showed throughout his life. Our family thanks, from the bottom of our hearts, all those who have sent letters and prayers, who have shown their love for Jerry and support for our family, the numerous fans and the many players who considered him a second father. Our hearts are broken but filled with incredible memories.”
The son of Armenian immigrants, Jerry Esther Tarkanian was born in Euclid, Ohio. After graduating with a Master’s Degree in Educational Management from the University at Redlands, he began coaching basketball at the high school level. He moved to the college ranks in 1961, first at Riverside College and then at Pasadena City College. During that time he won four consecutive state championships. Tarkanian moved to Long Beach State in 1968 and eventually landed at UNLV in 1973. His time at UNLV made him a legend, leading the “Runnin’ Rebels” to four Final Fours and one National Championship.
The Shark had a rocky relationship with the NCAA. His troubles with the group started during his time at Long Beach, when he proclaimed that the NCAA only pursued smaller institutions that did not have the resources to battle back. The troubles continued while he was at UNLV, and the team was placed on probation for “questionable practices,” and Tarkanian was suspended.
Just before the 1976-77 season, the NCAA placed UNLV on probation for two years, and the university was to suspend Tarkanian from coaching during that period. But he sued the NCAA, claiming he had been denied his rights as an American citizen under due process.
That case eventually went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1988 ruled the NCAA, as a private voluntary organization, had the right to discipline its members. But it also ruled that Tarkanian was entitled to a proper hearing and that his due process rights had been violated.
In 1998, the NCAA and Tarkanian finally settled their differences. Tarkanian, who was coaching Fresno State at that point, was awarded $2.5 million, and while he was happy with the result, he was bitter at what he had to go through to win his case.
“It wasn’t worth it, everything I went through,” he said after the settlement.
Tarkanian was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
