Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Where I Stand:

Tarkanian’s funeral a testament to his legacy

Tarkanian Statue Unveiled

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Former UNLV head basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian smiles after a statue of him was unveiled in front of the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013.

Jerry Tarkanian

UNLV players Moses Scurry, left, and Anderson Hunt hug coach Jerry Tarkanian after their 103-73 victory over Duke in the NCAA Final Four Championship game, April 2, 1990, in Denver. Launch slideshow »

It was a Hall of Fame funeral.

Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church resembled the Thomas and Mack Center in the heyday of Runnin’ Rebels basketball. It was a standing-room-only crowd, with some of the greatest basketball players — and for certain some of the greatest success stories — ever assembled, as well as the who’s who of Las Vegas’ social and business elite, who came with visions of invincibility dancing in our heads.

The guest of honor was Jerry Tarkanian.

No, it wasn’t a basketball game with a national title on the line. Everyone in attendance would rather it had been. It was far more important than that. Coach Tarkanian – Tark — had run out of time. One of the winningest basketball coaches in history, and the man who put UNLV on the map and in the minds of an entire generation of young people yearning to wear scarlet and gray, had heard the final buzzer. It was time for Las Vegas to say goodbye.

That’s what we were doing in church Monday morning. For many of us who gathered to pay respect to the coach and his wonderful family, the years that have passed since Tark stepped away from the UNLV basketball program seemed to have been just minutes. It was a sad time, to be sure, but it was also an opportunity to relive the two decades Jerry coached at UNLV while the university he loved, and the city he adored, grew up together.

I thought about the very early days of UNLV basketball— played in the rotunda of the Las Vegas Convention Center — and what it meant to land a big time coach like Jerry. I also remembered what it took to be competitive in trying to bring him to Las Vegas. Las Vegas over-promised but, as usual, it was just a matter of a few phone calls to make sure what was promised was delivered.

In my father’s case, it meant the Las Vegas Sun became the center of gravity for a column written by none other than Tark. For others, it was a radio or television show featuring the new coach. Together, we all helped build a following for the man who would bring his brand of basketball — exciting, fast-paced and winning — to a community always in search of a winner.

There was no event more sought after and more anticipated than the next Rebel basketball game. And when Tark took his first team to the Final Four in 1977, he showed all of Las Vegas that we really could be the best. And despite the outcome that year, we were the best. Throughout Tark’s career at UNLV he had his players believing it as well as his fans.

Saying goodbye to Tark, while sad for Las Vegas and heartbreaking for his family, was not as difficult as it might have been. That’s because most of us — the fans, the friends, his ball players and his family members — were there to celebrate how he lived and to say thank you. Thank you for teaching all of us that we can, as the song at the end of the service said, do it our way. No matter how hard it may be to do what is right, if you do it, and if you remain consistent and true, you will win in the end.

Tark was a winner. His town, largely because of him, is a winner. UNLV basketball and the place that Jerry Tarkanian built can, and will, be a winner again. And his friends are winners because he taught us all how to be better friends.

And his family. Well, that was the best part of the funeral service. Jerry was proud of and loved all of his kids and grandkids and, especially, his dear wife, Lois. At the front of the church, where Bishop Joseph Pepe — and what appeared to be every priest in the valley — officiated, there was a photograph for all to see.

It was a picture of Coach Tarkanian in his early days at Long Beach State. He has his arm draped over the shoulders of his young son, Danny, while they both enjoyed what seemed to be a very sweet victory. You could tell by the smile on his face that he was very proud of his team and you could see by the way he embraced Danny that he was very proud of him, too.

Monday morning Danny Tarkanian gave one of the warmest, funniest, most endearing and delightful eulogies a son could ever give his father. People cried. People laughed. And, at the end, people rose to their feet to give a standing ovation.

Yes, we were applauding Coach Tarkanian. But here is the important part: No son could have done better for his father what Danny did for Tark this week. That is also why the crowd rose to its feet.

And, if Jerry could have done so, he would have been on his feet, too.

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy