Legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian has died

(Image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

published 11 February 2015

Hall of Fame basketball coach and NCAA rabblerouser Jerry Tarkanian has died at the age of 84, his son announced today. Tarkanian spent 19 years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he posted a 509-105 record overall and took the Runnin' Rebels to four Final Fours with his fast-paced offense and stifling defense. With a team boasting three future NBA players — Stacy Augmon, Larry Johnson, and Greg Anthony — Tarkanian led the Rebels to the NCAA title in 1990 and an undefeated regular season the following year.

Tarkanian's high-profile success was not without without controversy, however, as he was constantly in the NCAA's crosshairs for suspected duplicity. From his start at Long Beach State University in 1968 all the way through his last year coaching with Fresno State in 2002, Tarkanian "carried the reputation of a rogue who would take in student-athletes other schools passed on — and win with them," USA Today reports. His willingness to take in unconventional prospects, including junior college transfers before adding them to four-year rosters was common practice, gave him an anti-establishment reputation. That notoriety — coupled with a damning photograph of some of his UNLV players with a noted game "fixer" in 1991 — eventually led to his ouster from the program.