Remembering Jerry Tarkanian and the 1991 College Basketball Final Four

This week, two great college basketball coaches died. Dean Smith died days ago and now comes news that Jerry Tarkanian has passed away at the age of 84.

“Tark,” as he was known, won so many games and for years battled the NCAA and its hypocrisy. His teams at Long Beach State and Nevada Las Vegas were “outlaw” teams often facing NCAA sanctions.

His 1990 U.N.L.V. team won it all, routing Duke in the championship game. In 1990-1991 they were undefeated until the semi-finals, when Duke, a big underdog, upset them.

I think now of that 1991 semi-final/final four. In the opening game a Roy Williams coached Kansas team upset North Carolina coached by Dean Smith.

In the second game, Duke got arguably its greatest win as coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team upset Tarkanian and UNLV.

Duke went on to beat Kansas for its first title. They now have four, all under Krzyzewski, who recently notched his 1000th coaching win.

Roy Williams, an assistant coach under Dean Smith at North Carolina, eventually became the North Carolina coach where he still coaches. He won national titles in 2005 and 2009.

Now within days, Smith and Tarkanian have died and just to show who is to say nor “JUDGE” in life, consider the following.

A key, if not the key play in Duke’s semi-final win vs U.N.L.V. and “Tark” nearly 24 years ago, was a “charging” call against Greg Anthony of U.N.L.V.

Now on the same day of Tarkanian’s death, news that a solicitation charge against Anthony will be dropped. “Tark” a kind man who loved his players, likely would have appreciated the coincidence.