Playing against Nevada Southern

Jerry Tarkanian

Monday, Feb. 9, 2009 | 1:11 p.m.

I was asked about playing UNLV at the Convention Center when I was at Long Beach State, and I remember them well.

Rolland Todd was my assistant when I coached in junior college and he was my roommate at Fresno State, where we went to college. I got him every job he ever had.

I got him the UNLV job. I was in junior college at the time at Riverside City College. I was supposed to come to UNLV, but at the last minute I didn’t take it.

This was in 1965. Of course, the school was then called Nevada Southern. It became UNLV in January 1969.

Rolland had taken the job as baseball coach. I turned it down at the last second, so Rolland got the basketball job. We’re best of friends. He was in my wedding.

Rolland goes to UNLV and makes an announcement that he won’t use any Nevada officials. He was going to use all California officials.

A lot of teams didn’t want to play the Rebels. They’d say, They got some guy who deals craps calling the game. Stuff like that. So when Rolland goes there he says it’ll be all California officials.

So he gets two guys he used to teach with at Ramona High in Riverside. They were good friends of mine, too. Every time those guys called a game, I’d see them later on.

I’d say, what happened? They’d say, Coach, we did everything we could. They always talked like that.

One time Rolland loses to UNR. I saw those two officials in a restaurant in Riverside, where I was coaching Riverside City. They said, Coach, we did everything we could, but we couldn’t pull it off for him.

That’s the way it was in those days. It was not the only job or place like that.

So I take the Long Beach State job and I take my team to Las Vegas to play Nevada Southern. My wife, Lois, told me … you watch. You go up there and these two officials …

I said, Rolland wouldn’t do that to me. We were best friends!

I go up there, and during the junior varsity game these two officials come sit near me! I’m friends with them, too! I go to Rolland. They’re not reffing our game, are they?

He says, Coach, it has nothing to do with that. But they did, and they stuck it to us good. We lost to UNLV. They had a player, Tommy Watkins, who shot the lights out.

UNLV beat us in overtime, 91-86, in February 1969.

We had a guard, George Trapp, that UNLV couldn’t guard. George played six seasons, and 31 playoff games, in the NBA.

UNLV had a center, Odis Allison. He’d get the ball and drive right at George. I told George to back up, so he wouldn’t foul.

And he’d get called for fouling Odis! George was out of bounds, running away from Odis, and George gets called for his fifth foul! He wouldn’t come out. I had to go on the floor and get him.

Fans were raising hell. I loved them. They were really into it. I remembered that when the job came open again and I didn’t pass it up the next time.

Anyway, UNLV had to come had to come to Long Beach at the end of that season, and we had the place rocking. We killed them, 111-82.

The following season, we lost in Las Vegas (86-82) and won in Long Beach (94-90).

A few weeks after we lost in Las Vegas, I came out to see UNLV play Santa Barbara. The Rebels won, 100-90. After the game, the two officials were at the UNLV reception at a bar across from Paradise.

It was a real small bar. So I go there, and the two officials are at the party. They were the bartenders!

Once again, those were the days.