European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 24 a a the stars and stripes wednesday april 4,1990 College basketball no aah a most wanted has earned a respite by Jim Litke a sports writer Denver a if Little else seems right about College basketball it still makes for great drama five months shy of his 60th birthday Jerry Tarkanian who is smallish and armenian and very wealthy concluded the grandest night of his professional life forever grateful to five Young men who were tall and Black and very poor. Only in America. People use words like a outlaw and a cheats and he gets knocked in the papers 100 different ways a a Lois Tarkanian said of her husband. A but he walks into a gym in a Black High school almost anywhere and the kids stand up and cheer. A i guess its because they know what its like to get knocked,too.�?� they cheer because Jerry Tarkanian of Nevada Las vegas where else could he be from takes a flyer on kids grounded in the most squalid sort of reality from poor schools and poorer Homes the kind of kids that the Dukes of this world can usually afford to avoid. They do so because Jerry Tarkanian goes out on another limb no matter that the kid before May have Cut it off behind him. His list of failures is at least As Long As his list of successes and in trying to shorten the first and lengthen the latter Mcaa investigators have spent More time on his Campus than some of his former students. Just this season nine different players were suspended for a total of 33 games for infractions ranging from bad grades to fights to forgetting to pay hotel Bills and repay student Loans. Even As he took Home the no aah a championship trophy monday night speculation started anew whether investigators had enough new stuff on him to take the hardware Back. Tarkanian has never been a clubby sort of fellow and when he settled in at an outpost in the Nevada desert he had Little to spend on recruiting and not much of a program to sell to recruits. He turned to Junior College players Back then he once said half in jest because their cars Are already paid for. And As recently As monday night he allowed As How he would have loved to have brought the families of Many of his players to Denver but that it would simply give the no aah a hounds yet another paper Trail to Start sniffing Down. And he did his Best not to gloat. A this is not revenge a he said a but it is Sweet. I never Felt i could win this tournament. I Wasny to a great College player i did no to play at a big time program and i never coached at one. A usually the Guys who win this a he said a played at big time programs for big time this running Battle with the watchdogs has been very emotional very Public and Only recently very costly. Earlier this year Tarkanian made a temporary peace with the Mcaa by agreeing to a settlement wherein he picks up the Tab for All the Legal fees for court Battles dating Back to the 1970s. And the last time someone checked the meter it was about $320,000. So Why does he do it winning is the most obvious answer and the rewards certainly make it a More attractive proposition. Tarkanian owns the Best winning percentage among coaches still working the floor and this years final four appearance a his third in 17 seasons a guaranteed him a Bonus of $100,000 Over and above a handsome salary the Perks and walking around Money a celebrity can pick up in glittering Las vegas. But it appears to go deeper than that. A the identifies with kids who have had a tougher time in life a Lois Tarkanian said. A the got into a Little trouble himself As a Young Man though nothing serious. And he talks a lot about How if his own Mother Hadnot been patient with him he might not have made it through College. A and if you know anything about armenian history a she added a then you have any trouble understanding Jerry Tarkanian was not yet born in 1917, when relatives sewed Gold coins into the hem of his mothers dress lifted her onto the Saddle of a horse and sent her racing Down a Hill. Behind her one of the bloodiest and longest running feuds in history was boiling Over again turks this time massacring armenians and some 2 million would eventually perish. Her father already had been beheaded and her Mother about to be doused in flame As she Rode off into the distance. Which explains Why on the eve of the tournament Tarkanian said that whatever the Mcaa would and could do to him it would hardly qualify As Perry Watson who sent monday nights Star Anderson Hunt direct from his own Small scale dynasty at Detroit southwestern High to Tarkanian remembers that the coaches armenian background Wasny to the first thing the two talked about when they met. Through the years though he had several kids Tarkanian coveted and did no to get a Antoine Joubert who opted for Michigan and Bill Jones who chose Iowa a and while Watson searched for the right kid to Send West they struck up something of a Friendship. A it always impressed me the Way kids loved to play for him and after we talked i thought a lot of it had to do with his background a Watson said. A that sex Jerry Tarkanian eschews the play it Safe recruit. Planned part of Why he got along with the kids but not Why they played so Well for him. A but if you watched tonight you could see Why. He does no to try to change them. If they play their tails off for him on defense hell let them do whatever the hell they want on the other end of the court. And you can to emphasize what that Means to kids like these. At that age. A a it so i done to know How to put it a its a kind of Freedom and some kids respond better than the fact that he has now won it All will hardly end the debate Over whether he is right or wrong yet this much is Clear Jerry Tarkanian is hardly an altruist and certainly not a Saint but for however Long it lasts he gave five kids and a handful More a boost onto a stage that few of them could have climbed if they had wound up anywhere else. For that alone he deserves a few moments decides to stick with what a working by Tim Dahlberg a sports writer Denver a College basketball a Long Range gunners can rest easy at least for another season. The Mcaa said tuesday it will not push Back the 3-Point line from the current distance of 19 feet 9 inches although it will allow conferences to Experiment next year with using the International 3-Point line distance of 206. A Why fool around with something that a been extremely successful a asked Edward Steitz Secretary of the Mcaa menus basketball rules committee. A we never say never but we have a great game. To me the game has never been the committee did however make Rule changes it said were designed to Cut Down on intentional fouls Speed up the game and hand out stiffer penalties for fighting in the 1990-91 basketball season. It also decided to give three free throws to a player fouled while attempt ing a shot from beyond the 3-Point line. Under the new rules players will be Given technical for taunting or swearing at opponents and will be suspended for the season if they Are involved in two on court fights. Any player fighting will be automatically suspended for his teams next game. A the stuff that has been going on has been totally undesirable a Steitz said. A we just done to think this should be part of the College coaches or players Given two technical fouls will now be ejected from games while the head coach will be ejected after three Bench technical have been called on his team. In an Effort to Speed up the game players will be Given two free throws instead of a one and one after the opposing teams 10th foul of each half and timeouts will be Cut from four to three for each team in televised contests. A we want to minimize the time it takes to play the last few minutes of the ballgame a Steitz said. A we Felt this was a gradual approach toward doing Steitz said the rules committee debated changing the 3-Point line but decided not to because of the excitement it adds to the game. He noted that shooting accuracy from 3-Point Range has fallen from 38.6 percent to 36.6 percent Over the past three years and that 30 games in this years Mcaa tournament were decided by five Points or less. The National association of basketball coaches last week said it would recommend to the committee that the line be moved Back to correspond with the International line. Steitz predicted that no conferences would adopt the experimental 20-6 line used in the olympics and other International Competition. A we had it As an experimental Rule two years ago and we had no takers a he said. A i done to see Many conferences opting to use it this the committee also decided to offer to conferences on an experimental basis a a no foul out Rule that will allow players to remain in games no matter How Many fouls they pick up. Under the Rule a player fouled by another player who has six or More fouls will get three foul shots to make two. The Rule replaces an experimental six foul Rule used by three conferences this year that Steitz said was dropped Altera poll of coaches showed Only 21 percent supported it. A i do think Well have some conferences that will opt for the no foul of Rule a he said. Other changes approved by the committee for the 1990-91 season include. A a player will be assessed a technical if he grasps or hangs on the rim is fouled or is trying to avoid an obvious injury to himself or another player. A the 45-second clock will not be reset when a blocked shot goes of Bounds. A Only four players from each team May line up on the Lane Dun g throws. A teams will be allowed to use a Aba style Ball that has deeper Chann to allow better Ball handling and ing
