I rank it even with the 1975 Indiana Hoosiers. Very similar.

 

In '90 UNLV wins it and then almost goes unbeaten to win it in '91 before a vengeful Duke upsets them.

 

In '75 IU is 31-0 before a vengeful UK upsets them. '76 the Hoosiers go 32-0 to win it all.

 

Forgot about this- of course, I have to agree.

His teams were fun to watch. 'The '90 and '91 teams were so talented. Still hard to believe they didn't win the title in '91. That has to rank as one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history.

I once saw one of Tark's teams play in the Shark Tank back in the 80's. They were not as good as the 91 team but were ranked in the top 3 at the time. Really cool experience.

I can still remember when the Rebels visited Barnhill. LJ told Nolan to "Go get yourself a man". Nolan listened and ended up recruiting a few. If you want to see some numbers check out their regular season scores from '90-'91. Long Beach gave up 230 points in two regular season games then tried to slow it down in the post season. They scored 28.

His teams were fun to watch. 'The '90 and '91 teams were so talented. Still hard to believe they didn't win the title in '91. That has to rank as one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history.

 

Or not, if you buy the premise that it was fixed. There's no way that Duke team should've beaten Vegas. Same squads both years, essentially. No way that Duke should've closed that 30-point margin from '90.

I met Tark the Shark at Two Keys during the 1985 Final Four in Lexington. I had a couple of beers with him and Lefty Driessell.

 

I told Coach Tark the loudest crowd I had ever heard in Rupp Arena was in 1978 when Kentucky beat his Running Rebs on senior day. He agreed it was loud, but it got louder in his own Thomas and Mack Center. He laughed that crowds were louder when they had money on the game.

 

He and Lefty were good guys...fun. Jerry did not call Lefty by his popular name. He called him Charles. Lefty/Charles was very tall.

 

RIP Coach Tarkanian.

I usually don't type lengthy post, but this one might be the exception. I was very heavy hearted yesterday and I got a little emotional in the morning. I knew the time was coming soon for Tark, he had been in the hospital three times in the last 10 months. There were 14 friends that called or text me yesterday, that was very nice and appreciated.

 

After graduating high school, most of my friends were going NKU, EKU, or UK. I was a basketball player trapped in a football player's body, so going to small college in a small town in Ky or TN was not in my interest. I went to NKU my first semester and was miserable. While it's a great fit for some, it was not for me. I moved to Las Vegas in 1988 when I was 18 years old on my own and stayed until 1997. Jerry Tarkanian and UNLV's style of play drew me to the city. Enrolled at UNLV, worked for Steve Wynn at the Golden Nugget (great experience), put myself though school.

 

Attending a Rebel game at the Thomas and Mack was like a rock concert. It was a time when Tyson and Agassi were both at the tops of their profession, it was a great buzz with celebrities seated in GUCCI row (front). Vegas was a small town then, 750,000 and 12,000 students compared to about 1.8 million and 25,000 students of today. I remember sitting in Calculus class, looking over to see Higlands grad Zeke Reynolds who played football for UNLV and later the NY Giants, we both said at the same time "what the hell are you doing here?".

 

My connection with Tark was through his son Danny and a former room mate of mine John Welch. John is currently a assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, but played for Tark at UNLV and coached with him at Fresno St. I played in the Sporting House summer league for five years, it was comparable to the Deveroes summer league. Played on Danny's team two of those years, Tark would come over and watch a lot. I probably had 25 conversations with him during my time in Nevada. He paid me a great compliment when he said "That I shoot like a Kentucky kid".

 

Tark loved and cared about kids, all walks of life. He believed in second chances, he did not recruit against the blue blood schools. He took chances on inner-city kids with talent, sometimes it worked and other times he took the heat. Tark battled and fought until the very end, his players were loyalist. Augmon, Johnson, and Anthony all were number 2 in the pros, because that was Tark's number when he played at Fresno St. Johnson refused to list UNLV on his trading cards, on the way they handled Tark's departure. He had over a 1000 wins if you count his Junior College career at Riverside and Pasenda.

 

Being a Rebel and Wildcat fan, there is no one that dislikes the Dukies more than me. I want to point out that Coach K is a class act, he has shown great compassion towards Tark his entire career. Coach K was the leading force in getting Tark into the Hall of Fame, he has recognized him for being a defensive coach, where most knew him as offensive minded.

 

I would invite everyone to read his book "Runnin Rebel", it is a easy and great read. He talks a lot about the respect and love for Kentucky basketball. He is amazed on how BBN travels and there is great stories on the recruitment of Sam Bowie.

I agree PP that team was Nasty Good!!!

 

RIP Shark!

 

No doubt that it will be remembered as one of the best ever. RIP Coach Tarkanian.

I usually don't type lengthy post, but this one might be the exception. I was very heavy hearted yesterday and I got a little emotional in the morning. I knew the time was coming soon for Tark, he had been in the hospital three times in the last 10 months. There were 14 friends that called or text me yesterday, that was very nice and appreciated.

 

After graduating high school, most of my friends were going NKU, EKU, or UK. I was a basketball player trapped in a football player's body, so going to small college in a small town in Ky or TN was not in my interest. I went to NKU my first semester and was miserable. While it's a great fit for some, it was not for me. I moved to Las Vegas in 1988 when I was 18 years old on my own and stayed until 1997. Jerry Tarkanian and UNLV's style of play drew me to the city. Enrolled at UNLV, worked for Steve Wynn at the Golden Nugget (great experience), put myself though school.

 

Attending a Rebel game at the Thomas and Mack was like a rock concert. It was a time when Tyson and Agassi were both at the tops of their profession, it was a great buzz with celebrities seated in GUCCI row (front). Vegas was a small town then, 750,000 and 12,000 students compared to about 1.8 million and 25,000 students of today. I remember sitting in Calculus class, looking over to see Higlands grad Zeke Reynolds who played football for UNLV and later the NY Giants, we both said at the same time "what the hell are you doing here?".

 

My connection with Tark was through his son Danny and a former room mate of mine John Welch. John is currently a assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, but played for Tark at UNLV and coached with him at Fresno St. I played in the Sporting House summer league for five years, it was comparable to the Deveroes summer league. Played on Danny's team two of those years, Tark would come over and watch a lot. I probably had 25 conversations with him during my time in Nevada. He paid me a great compliment when he said "That I shoot like a Kentucky kid".

 

Tark loved and cared about kids, all walks of life. He believed in second chances, he did not recruit against the blue blood schools. He took chances on inner-city kids with talent, sometimes it worked and other times he took the heat. Tark battled and fought until the very end, his players were loyalist. Augmon, Johnson, and Anthony all were number 2 in the pros, because that was Tark's number when he played at Fresno St. Johnson refused to list UNLV on his trading cards, on the way they handled Tark's departure. He had over a 1000 wins if you count his Junior College career at Riverside and Pasenda.

 

Being a Rebel and Wildcat fan, there is no one that dislikes the Dukies more than me. I want to point out that Coach K is a class act, he has shown great compassion towards Tark his entire career. Coach K was the leading force in getting Tark into the Hall of Fame, he has recognized him for being a defensive coach, where most knew him as offensive minded.

 

I would invite everyone to read his book "Runnin Rebel", it is a easy and great read. He talks a lot about the respect and love for Kentucky basketball. He is amazed on how BBN travels and there is great stories on the recruitment of Sam Bowie.

 

I enjoyed reading your post. You have a lot of great memories of Tark.

 

RIP coach.

The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky that Cleveland State got two years probation.

Count me as one of those that doesn't think the 1991 Duke victory was a huge upset. They had Laettner, Grant Hill, Hurley, and Thomas Hill. An upset, yes, but not a major one. And I was a huge Tark and UNLV fan.

Count me as one of those that doesn't think the 1991 Duke victory was a huge upset. They had Laettner, Grant Hill, Hurley, and Thomas Hill. An upset, yes, but not a major one. And I was a huge Tark and UNLV fan.

 

Same here. Count me in as well. I was a fan of both teams.

Count me as one of those that doesn't think the 1991 Duke victory was a huge upset. They had Laettner, Grant Hill, Hurley, and Thomas Hill. An upset, yes, but not a major one. And I was a huge Tark and UNLV fan.

 

I still think it was huge. Grant Hill was a freshman. Lattener hadn't done much vs them the year before and the same for Hurley. Remember UNLV had Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon, Hunt . Plus they were the defending champs blowing people away by over 20 points per game. I would also add that if Anthony doesn't foul out I think the Rebels would have won.

The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky that Cleveland State got two years probation.

 

The Ky HS version of that, of course, goes like this:

 

"The KHSAA was sick and tired of St. X and Trinity breaking the rules they brought the hammer down on Holy Cross."

Count me as one of those that doesn't think the 1991 Duke victory was a huge upset. They had Laettner, Grant Hill, Hurley, and Thomas Hill. An upset, yes, but not a major one. And I was a huge Tark and UNLV fan.

 

I still think it was huge. Grant Hill was a freshman. Lattener hadn't done much vs them the year before and the same for Hurley. Remember UNLV had Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon, Hunt . Plus they were the defending champs blowing people away by over 20 points per game. I would also add that if Anthony doesn't foul out I think the Rebels would have won.

 

Same teams, essentially, with Butler swapped out for Ackles in what is a wash. Again, it was a 30-point margin the first time. Vegas' players didn't get 30 points worse in one year. Rigged.