Product Description

No matter where his basketball travels took him during his 31 seasons in NCAA Division I college basketball, controversy was never been far behind Jerry Tarkanian. The legendary former coach of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels proved himself to be one of the greatest coaches in the game's history, however, amassing an incredible overall record of 778-202, more wins than all but a handful of other coaches. He also had 29 20-win seasons, second all-time only to fellow legend Dean Smith of North Carolina, and never experienced a losing season.

This book is not like most typical coaching memoirs, which are often filled with eye-rolling, high-minded, self-serving coachspeak. Runnin' Rebel is Jerry Tarkanian unplugged, dishing his wildest, most ridiculous, and most hilarious recruiting stories, capers, and tales from a colorful career as college basketball's ultimate loveable rouge. "Tark the Shark," as fans affectionately called him, details dirty tricks and recruiting battles with people like Larry Brown, Lute Olson, and Joe B. Hall; the stories behind some of his greatest players and teams, including his 1990 national championship UNLV squad and three other Final Four qualifiers; the celebrity status and A-list friends (including Frank Sinatra) he gained while coaching in America's glitziest city; and what he really thought and believes about the iconic John Wooden and his unparalleled success at UCLA, sure to be an eye-opener for sports fans across the country.

Runnin' Rebel also tells the full story behind Tarkanian's many battles with the NCAA, often brought on by his criticism of the organization's blatant hypocrisy; his penchant for giving players he recruited a second chance, and his willingness to forgive player indiscretions when he thought it was justified. Despite all that, his players loved him (including the 42 who were drafted by NBA teams), the fans faithfully cheered him, and some of his achievements in college basketball may never be matched.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #455807 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-27
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 194 pages

About the Author
Dan Wetzel is a national sports columnist for Yahoo! Sports. The awardwinning sportswriter, author, and screenwriter has covered all levels of basketball, as well as college football, the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NHL. He was previously national college basketball columnist for CBS.Sportsline.com and has won numerous national writing awards. He has also been featured in several editions of The Best American Sports Writing and is the co-author of the critically-acclaimed investigative book Sole Influence. Wetzel graduated with a political science degree from the University of Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Cover to cover in one day
This comes from a person who didn't think much of Tark the Shark. After reading this book, I have a newfound respect for the man. I don't agree with everything he said, but it was as candid a look at college basketball as you are going to find. Some of the stories were downright fascinating and others had me rolling in tears. He not only survived in the jungle that is known as college basketball, but he conquered it. This book really opened my eyes.

Feels like Tark is sitting there telling you these stories
Wetzel did a great job with this book, the first chapter being a real nice appetizer with the one-liner to finish it off. It then briefly goes through Tark's early life and winds through his collegiate days at Fresno St. After this, there is alot of detail on the junior college days and Long Beach State.

These early sections give real insight into how recruiting was done at that time, especially in regards to race relations. You can really see how much work it took to get a 'have not' like Long Beach St off the ground.

The book continues on with stories of how Tark ended up at UNLV, how his great UNLV teams got built and his epic battle with the NCAA. There are some excellent stories involving Frank Sinatra and a local person going before a gaming commision sprinkled through here.

It winds down with his days in the NBA and Fresno St as well as some details on the NCAA settlement of $2.5 million he received. The book was excellent overall, but these chapters kind of felt like a downer after all the humor early in the book.

There is a small section on how Tark got Anderson Hunt, and his dealings with Perry Watson (now at U. Detroit). I really feel any coach worth his salt needs to pay attention to that story - this is where you see the main reason for Tark's success: it all just comes down to beer and chicken wings.

The Real Tark
I have been a Fresno State team doctor for twenty years and worked with athletes primarily with medical, mental or emotional issues (I am an Internist) and have spent a number of hours with Tark and his team over 7 years, including several appearances in the NCAA tournament. I have been privy to many story telling sessions with Coach Tark as well as intense interactions at the practices and the locker room.

This book may be one of the best Basketball books every written because: (1) Coach Tark does not hide in an Ivory Tower and constantly dwells among supporters, the community and anybody who wants to talk round ball. As a result he probably knows more people in Basketball than anyone. He treats everybody with dignity and respect and is one of the least arrogant people I know. He is more likely to shed tears after a tough loss rather than insults. Consequently he has a mass of stories.

Secondly, his writer and editor are supurb and assure that the stories flow as a tale that should be told.

Finally, he tells it without fear and I assure you the tales I have witnessed and appear in this book are niether embellished or toned down.

Tark tells a story of how a fatherless, destitue first generation imigrant kid can achieve the pinnacle of his profession with hard work, committment, a lot of genius and a strong conviction not to cave into mucky-muck polital correctnes.

Regardless if you see Tark as an American hero or a sketchy coach, I guarantee that if you love basketball, you will sharing this book with your friends.