The way UNLV and Arizona went at it on the court, and on the recruiting trail, you’d think Jerry Tarkanian and Lute Olson could never be friends.
But they were, at least somewhat.
Olson said after he sent some of his Long Beach City College players to Tarkanian at Long Beach State in the early 1970s that they became friendly and, after Tarkanian retired from Fresno State in 2002, Olson used to go on Tark's radio show and sometimes saw him at Del Mar when they were watching horse racing.
In between, well, you could say things sometimes were a little strained.
“Once I got to Arizona is when the some of the conflict came up,” Olson said today. “It was at a time when UNLV was really good and so it was a highly competitive situation.”
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Olson said his toughest memory involving Tarkanian was UA’s 68-67 loss to UNLV in the 1989 NCAA tournament, when Anderson Hunt hit a game-winning three-pointer after Kenny Lofton tried to take a charge against him but no call was made, leaving Hunt open for the shot.
“One of our players guarding him fell back and (Hunt) went into him,” Olson said. “If our player had stayed upright, he could not have gotten a shot off.”
In recruiting, Olson and Tarkanian's biggest battles came over forward Tom Tolbert and guard Matt Othick. Landing Tolbert at what appeared to be the last minute prompted Tarkanian to famously name Olson “Midnight Lute” -- but Olson said he had a commitment from Tolbert even before Tolbert offered Tarkanian a softer one under pressure.
“I didn’t think he was really serious,” Olson said of Tolbert’s commitment to UNLV. “That’s when I got the nickname Midnight Lute, that I swept in and stole Tom Tolbert. (Tarkanian) was very upset about losing Tolbert but I never did tell him we had a commitment before he went to UNLV for his visit.”
Pac-12 Networks analyst Kevin O’Neill, then an assistant to Olson, said both Tolbert and the signing of Las Vegas guard Matt Othick heightened the tension.
“My recollection is we were recruiting Tom just like they were,” KO said. “He had committed to them and I kept recruiting him. We turned it around and it worked out.
“I don’t know exactly what changed but that was a big recruit. And then to get Matt from the city of Las Vegas was a big coup for us.”
The rivalry extended even beyond the court and the recruiting trail. There was also the time UNLV players, assigned to UA’s locker room during NCAA games at McKale Center, put their autographs on a ball that was on display.
But some UA players got a kick out of it at the time, and Olson’s longtime former assistant, Jim Rosborough, said it was not a big deal.
“They signed the ball and trashed the locker room but to be honest I think that was more blown out of proportion,” Rosborough said. “It blew over in a day or two. None of our players were very concerned about it.”
However, it was true that Olson never scheduled UNLV after 1990 until well after Tarkanian left the Rebels in 1992. The two rivals didn’t play again until what turned out to be Olson’s final season, facing Lon Kruger’s Rebels in 2006-07.
“There was just a big difference in philosophy between the two of us so I just felt at that time it was best to cut off that series,” Olson said.
Tarkanian left the Rebels in 1992, then briefly coached the San Antonio Spurs and later spent seven seasons at Fresno State before retiring in 2002.
While Tarkanian had methods that attracted critics and the NCAA – which he famously won a $2.5 million lawsuit over in 1998 – Rosborough said you couldn’t ignore what he did on the court. Tarkanian was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
“He won games. They recruited well and they were very, very good defensively,” Rosborough said. “He could have been the mayor there (in Las Vegas) and they really haven’t recovered since he left. He was regarded as a really good X-and-Os basketball coach.”
Lot of good bio and reaction in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's obit on Tarkanian today.
Dan Wetzel's Yahoo column recaps some classic Tark stories, including this line from him: "I always like to get transfers, especially from the Pac-10. They already have their cars paid for."
And Ed Graney of the R-J writes about Tark's legacy in the game.
Stanley Johnson was named one of 20 players to the Wooden Award's "late season" list.
Stanford's Chasson Randle and Utah's Delon Wright were also named to the list but not UA's T.J. McConnell.
The Pac-12 will put limited single-session tickets for the Pac-12 Tournament on sale Thursday. The tournament sold out for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals last year.
