Tarkanian, Payton, Haywood clear first hurdle for Hall of Fame

Jerry Tarkanian cleared the first hurdle Monday in his latest chance to earn a place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, reaching the ballot for the next round of voting.

The former UNLV coach, making his fourth bid to be enshrined in Springfield, Mass., and 30 other nominees from the North American Committee were placed on the ballot, which will go to the Hall's nine-member screening committee in the coming weeks.

"That's good," Tarkanian said. "I don't know if I'm any more optimistic, but it's nice to be on the ballot."

Tarkanian, 82, will need to be selected on seven of the nine ballots to advance to the final round of voting. The results of that vote will be revealed Feb. 15 during NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston.

Among the 31 North American nominees are college coaches Rick Pitino, Eddie Sutton, Lefty Driesell, Guy V. Lewis, Gene Keady, Speedy Morris and Gary Williams.

Las Vegas residents and former NBA stars Gary Payton and Spencer Haywood also are on the ballot.

Payton played 17 NBA seasons, was a nine-time All-Star and averaged 16.3 points, scoring a career total of 21,813.

Haywood, a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 1968, played 13 pro seasons, averaged a double-double (20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds) and scored 17,111 points.

Tarkanian had a 509-105 record in 19 seasons at UNLV and guided the Rebels to four Final Fours, winning the 1990 NCAA title. Overall, he won 900 games in a 38-year college coaching career (including junior college) and had a Division I winning percentage of .784.

If Tarkanian makes the final ballot, his candidacy will be deliberated by the Hall's 24-member selection committee, and a candidate must receive at least 18 votes to gain induction. The 2013 induction class will be revealed April 8 at the Final Four in Atlanta.

Monday's news was good for Scott Gulbransen, who last week launched a social media campaign to rally support for Tarkanian's Hall Of Fame candidacy. Gulbransen, a 1995 UNLV graduate who lives in Kansas City, Mo., started a Twitter account - "@TarkForTheHall" along with a Facebook account - "electtarktheshark."

"So many people aren't aware that he's not in," said Gulbransen, the national director of social business for H&R Block. "To me, it's wrong that he's not in, and we're hoping to create an awareness and that people can look at everything he did in its totality."

Gulbransen's web campaign and national coverage of Tarkanian by mainstream media have invigorated his family's efforts to get him inducted. Tarkanian was profiled in the December issue of Playboy magazine, and The New York Times last week published a lengthy profile of Tarkanian, his legacy and his absence from the Hall. His candidacy also has been a topic among college basketball media, on talk radio and on college basketball game telecasts.

"So far, we've had good response," Gulbransen said. "We picked up over 700 followers on Facebook, and the Twitter is building as well. We've taken out ads for both Facebook and Twitter, so we're hoping to gain more followers."

Gulbransen believes the more the subject is discussed publicly, the better Tarkanian's chances of induction will be.

"We're not trying to bash the Hall of Fame. That's not what this is about," Gulbransen said. "It's about showing what Coach Tark did, his accomplishments and his impact on the game."

To prevent politicking, identities of the Hall of Fame's screening and selection committees are kept secret. Gulbransen said he wishes there was greater transparency, but also knows those committee members don't live in a cocoon. In other words, it can only help when TV analysts such as former UNLV star Greg Anthony, Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas talk publicly about Tarkanian's candidacy.

"If those committee members look at it objectively and they weigh Coach's candidacy on what he did and accomplished, he'll get in," Gulbransen said. "I have more hope than ever he'll get in."

The North American Committee is one of seven categories for a person to gain induction. The Women's Committee nominates 12 people, who then need to be named on five of seven ballots to become a finalist. The other committees (ABA, Early African-American Pioneers, Veterans, International and Contributor) each will have one person voted in from their respective groups of nominees.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.