Tarkanian voted into Hall of Fame

Finally, Jerry Tarkanian has made it.

After more than 20 years of trying, Tarkanian, who led UNLV to the 1990 national championship and four Final Fours, has been voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of its Class of 2013.

Tarkanian, 82, is in Atlanta, where the official announcement will be made Monday morning at the Final Four. One of 12 finalists, he needed to receive a minimum of 18 of 24 votes from the Hall’s Honors Committee. He will be inducted Sept. 8 at the Hall’s headquarters in Springfield, Mass.

CBSsports.com first announced the news Friday morning.

Tarkanian said Friday afternoon he appreciated the honor and the support for his candidacy, but he could not comment until Monday’s official announcement.

But he wasn’t the only Las Vegan to get good news from the Hall on Friday. Spencer Haywood also learned that he was part of the Class of 2013. Another Las Vegas resident, Gary Payton, is going in as well.

In 19 years at UNLV, Tarkanian won 509 games and had a winning percentage of .829. The Rebels went to the Final Four in 1977, 1987, 1990 and 1991, winning it all in Denver in 1990. Overall, he had 784 wins in 31 years at the Division I level coaching first at Long Beach State, then UNLV and finally, at Fresno State, his alma mater.

His pressure defense and up-tempo transition offensive style of play implemented at UNLV helped change the way college basketball is played.

“There was hardly anyone playing that way back then,” Tarkanian said in a recent interview. “We had a big edge because we had great athletes who could go out and play that style.”

Those who played for and coached with Tarkanian were understandably thrilled with the news.

“I’m elated for Coach Tark and his family,” said current Rebels head coach Dave Rice, who played for Tarkanian from 1989-91 and was on his staff in 1991-92. “It’s an exciting day for his legacy, and it’s truly the pinnacle of his career.”

UNLV legend and current assistant coach Stacey Augmon, who played for Tarkanian from 1987 to 1991, said: “It’s great. It’s about time. I’m just glad he’s alive to enjoy it.”

Tarkanian has been battling health issues for the past few years. He couldn’t attend last year’s Final Four because he was hospitalized with a respiratory condition. But he was healthy enough to make the trip to Atlanta and will be at Monday’s announcement with son Danny and daughter Jodie, who accompanied him from Las Vegas to Atlanta.

Mark Warkentien, who was an assistant to Tarkanian during the 1980s and is the New York Knicks’ director of player personnel, said the announcement restores his faith and the hall’s credibility.

“It’s a better place, it’s a more complete place with that happening,” Warkentien said. “I have no idea why he got in this time, but if you look at what he did, the NCAA is better for it and basketball is better for it.”

Tarkanian battled the NCAA for most of his career. In 1992, he sued the organization, alleging it was trying to drive him out of coaching. In 1998, the two sides settled, and Tarkanian was awarded $2.5 million.

“Somebody had to say the king has no clothes,” Warkentien said of the NCAA, which has reformed its policies but has come under attack for the way its enforcement staff has handled some cases, most notably at Miami and at UCLA. “He left the NCAA a tighter ship. His battles made them a better organization. All college coaches should thank Tark for what he did.”

San Diego State’s Steve Fisher, who has known Tarkanian for years and is a friend, was glad to see justice served.

“It’s like so many of the political recognition — long, long, long overdue,” Fisher said from Atlanta. “Whether it was because the NCAA doesn’t like him, if you didn’t put Jerry Tarkanian in the Hall of Fame for the accomplishments he’s had in our sport, then you shouldn’t have a Hall of Fame. He should have been in years ago.”

Brad Rothermel, who was UNLV’s athletic director when the Rebels won the 1990 national championship and appeared at the 1987 Final Four, was glad to see a blatant oversight by the Hall finally rectified.

“I don’t know why he got in this time compared with the previous attempts,” Rothermel said, referring to 1992 and 2001 when Tarkanian was a finalist. “I think there was probably a shift in the conversation from his battles with the NCAA to what he accomplished on the court. But fortunately, it ends positively for him. It’s great for all of us who were associated with coach Tark.”

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