Tarkanian’s grudge against Olson, UA apparent in SI article
by Javier Morales on Jul. 31, 2010, under Sports
Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian's distaste for Arizona is evident again with critical comments made in the latest Sports Illustrated
Jerry Tarkanian has not coached at UNLV for almost 19 years. The last time he coached against Arizona with nemesis Lute Olson was more than 20 years ago. Tom Tolbert changed his mind 24 years ago about attending UNLV and decided to play for the UA instead, prompting Tarkanian to dub Olson, “Midnight Lute”, for snatching away his recruit at the last minute.
Evidently, Tarkanian, the embattled former UNLV coach who shares a long past with Olson back to their Long Beach State days in the early 1970s, does not find carrying a grudge too heavy.
In the latest Sports Illustrated, which features Tarkanian in a “Where are they now” segment, Tarkanian criticizes the way Olson’s coaching staff recruited against the Running Rebels.
“People said a lot at our expense,” Tarkanian told SI. “The Arizona assistants, they were always telling the parents of our recruits that the mob is going to get your sons or the hookers are going to get your sons if they go to UNLV. We heard it all.”
This follows disparaging comments he has made about Olson, Arizona and the Wildcat fans in his “Shark Bytes” blog published online by The Las Vegas Sun.
Last March, Tarkanian blogged about silencing Arizona’s fans at McKale Center with a win over Georgetown in the 1991 NCAA tournament there.
“Our fans who traveled to the game said they were treated so badly,” Tarkanian writes. “They would go into restaurants and have a hard time being served. To this day, John Thompson will tell you that was the only time Georgetown got cheered on the road.
“They were always considered the villains because they were a pretty rough and physical team. But when they took the court against us in Arizona, they received a standing ovation. You could say we got the last laugh. We beat Georgetown and advanced to the Final Four. And our players left a gift for Arizona’s players. We were assigned the Arizona locker room, which had this big basketball decoration inside it in with Arizona’s logos and colors. Well, our guys shouldn’t have done this, but they each autographed the ball after we won.”
Last December, Tarkanian wrote another blog that UNLV would have defeated Duke for the 1990-91 national title if it had former UA guard Matt Othick, a Las Vegas resident who attended Bishop Gorman.
Tarkanian’s lead paragraph of the blog tells it all: “Matt Othick would have played much better for us at UNLV than he did for Arizona.”
In December 2008, Tarkanian wrote a couple of blogs titled, “Beating Arizona, Part I” and “Beating Arizona, Part II”. In the first blog, he writes that beating Arizona and Sean Elliott in the 1989 Sweet 16 was one of the greatest victories he enjoyed. An excerpt:
“I was so happy. It was one of my favorite victories, because it was Arizona. We wanted to beat Arizona bad because of earlier in the year, the way they celebrated on that floor (after beating UNLV 86-75 in Tucson). Our players went nuts in the locker room. We went back to the hotel and celebrated all night. A bunch of our boosters went to the airport the next day to see Arizona go home. People were drinking and yelling, Arizona go home! Arizona go home!”
For the record, SI reports in its current edition that what Tarkanian is doing now is being the toast of Las Vegas. If he ever stepped foot in Tucson, chances are he would be Public Enemy No. 1, but then again, people there don’t carry such a grudge.
July 31st, 2010 on 10:51 am
pretty tame really….there was a rivalry between the schools, and it was a TWO-WAY rivalry. Olson took over for Tark at Long Beach, and both had words then because of disparaging comments Lute made about Tark. It just naturally evolved into a great rivalry….I wouldn’t try and read more into than that though. Tark doesn’t “hate” Arizona, and has supported Lute in his later years.
July 31st, 2010 on 11:34 am
I disagree with the above comment. He is no friend of the UofA.
Javier – get used to it. The UofA is a dirty program – officially. This will be a ‘truthful’ talking point for everyone from Tark on down. You cant change that.
… Miller is burdened with that.
As a note, KOLD mentioned last night that the UofA streak ended in 1999 with the ineligability of Jason Terry.
So the UofA is dirty, doesnt not have a streak, has exited early often from the Tourney, done well several times in nearly three decades … this isnt on par with North Carolina or others. Olson’s history has officially been rewritten.
I have one question … under the circumstances … why is Olson still in the Hall of Fame? Should leaders of dirty programs be allowed in the Hall of Fame?
For the future, my support is for truly great programs – Mike Candreas softball program.
August 1st, 2010 on 2:25 pm
Jim: Olson’s merits stand on their own that are good enough for Hall of Fame status, chief among them five Final Fours and a national championship. He also took over a downtrodden Arizona program and advanced it a few steps further than Snowden could take it. Arizona is not on par with the North Carolinas, Dukes, Kentucky’s, etc., but how many programs are? Also to Olson’s credit are the numerous NBA players he’s produced.
August 2nd, 2010 on 10:09 am
I misstated the question. The question (had I stated it better) is how can the NCAA consider the program created by Olson dirty and hall of fame caliber at the same time.
July 31st, 2010 on 4:48 pm
tarkanian and vegas deserve each other, both dirty and full of s**t.
July 31st, 2010 on 5:45 pm
Tarkanian = Small person to still be carrying a grudge after many years. He should get a real purpose in life.
August 2nd, 2010 on 11:23 pm
BTW Lute Olson is in the basketball Hall of Fame, not the NCAA Hall of Fame. Secondly, it can be argued that all of the infractions occured after his induction, and frankly, after the program lost some of its relevance.
August 7th, 2010 on 3:37 pm
The connection between the NABC and the Hall is clear. The connection between the NABC and the NCAA … while obvious … is less clear. I couldnt do an organizational chart on any of this to be honest – while it is all clearly … somehow … under the same tent.
Read above about my mistating the question of Olson’s being both dirty and in the Hall. I consistently mistated it. Javier … who I think a great deal of … has a much harder nose than I do. I support Arenas and Delashaun (sp) for example. Olson being in the Hall doesnt bother me. Being officially branded a dirty program does. (I suspect someone hates Olson and means to get one last lick in over pizza’s and van rides. Sad thing is … its official.)
August 4th, 2010 on 5:30 pm
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