Jerry Tarkanian - Success At Long Beach State

In his five seasons at Long Beach State, Tarkanian compiled an impressive record of 122-20. The Long Beach State team never lost a home game while under his direction. In 1970 Tarkanian coached the Long Beach State squad into the NCAA Tournament, boasting that his entire first string was made up of former junior college players, a class of players that had long been considered second-rate material by coaches at other four-year colleges. It was at Long Beach that Tarkanian first developed the now-popular 1-2-2 zone defense. Of his defensive coaching skills, Wayne Embry, general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, explained to the Akron Beacon-Journal: "Tark is a hell of a coach. People think that all he does is roll out the balls and let them run. Forget it. He is one of the best defensive coaches in the country."

Tarkanian's troubles with the NCAA first surfaced during his tenure at Long Beach State. In 1972, shortly after the coach had written a column critical of the NCAA in a local newspaper, the giant athletic association launched an investigation into the college's basketball and football recruiting practices. In March 1973 Tarkanian took over as head basketball coach at UNLV. A month later, the NCAA submitted to Long Beach State an official inquiry listing alleged violations of NCAA rules. Supplemental allegations were submitted in August, September, and November 1973, and in January 1974 Long Beach State was placed on three years probation and penalized because of alleged rules violations. Tarkanian, now coaching at UNLV, denied the violations as they applied to Long Beach State's basketball program and protested that the findings were made without his participation in the hearing process.

Jerry Tarkanian, center