There’s A “Shark” In The Water

This week my college roommate, Jerry Tarkanian, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. I say, totally deserved and about time.

I have never much cared for the “Shark” nickname. I can look at it this way … perhaps in the same vein as “pool shark.” A talented person who took advantage of every opportunity to get the next win. Jerry never took any opponent for granted. Every team looked like the next NCAA Champ. Consequently, no stone was left unturned.

An example was the year I assisted Jerry at Riverside City College. We went 37-0 and won the California Community College State Championship. We had one great player, Bob Rule, who was later on his way to being a great player in the NBA, when a severed achilles tendon stopped him cold.

Our typical halftime score was 35-15. Rule was so intimidating that our opponents couldn’t score. Then he was injured in a car wreck and had to miss five or six games. We still won with an average team. Closer score same outcome.

Two things that were always true about Coach Tarkanian–he loved his players (sometimes to a fault maybe) and he constantly was looking for better ways to play the game.

He was one of the few coaches to ever consistently hire assistant coaches that already had great coaching resumes. People like Tim Grgurich, Tates Locke, Bud Presley, etc. and he let them coach.

At one point in our relationship our families were growing up together. I love his kids: Pam, Jody, Danny and George, and the source of much of his success, his wife Lois. Even though I haven’t been able to spend time with them, they are always in my heart.

Here is the long and the short of it. Jerry is my friend. Whether I am able to spend time with him or not this is true. What has him deserve the Hall of Fame is the quality of his coaching. The numbers don’t lie and he was always open to taking on the best teams.

Congratulations Jerry! I love you!