Tark The Shark
Wow, was this a sad week for college basketball, or what? We lost two of the true titans of the college basketball coaching profession in the last four days, as we learned of the deaths of both Dean Smith and Jerry (Tark the Shark) Tarkanian. That the two iconic coaches both died within just a few days of each other cannot be lost on the people who follow the history of the sport. They weren’t just a part of history, they WERE history.
Dean Smith and Jerry Tarkanian were as much a part of the fabric of college basketball as any of the coaches who have ever stepped foot onto the basketball court. Both were famous for having great teams most of the time, historic teams some of the time, and each had that one year where they had that one team for the ages that ranked right there with the greatest teams who every played.
Dean Smith had his “greatest team” in 1981-82, when his North Carolina Tar Heels won the championship from a dreamy Final Four as loaded as any championship quartet ever. ANY of those teams in the Final Four was good enough to win that year’s championship. All North Carolina had to do was survive against a Houston team that was in the middle of their Phi Slamma Jamma window of greatness (including Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler), they did not have to play in this Final Four against a Louisville team that was at the height of their power (they won championships in 1980 and 1986), and then UNC had to beat a Georgetown powerhouse in the final that was possibly THEIR best team ever, led by Patrick Ewing. Dean Smith’s North Carolina of course had Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins and won in the final seconds.
Tark’s UNLV Runnin’Rebels made it into four Final Fours, and had a two year span where they won one championship over a Mike Kryzewski Duke team by 30 points in an absolutely dominating fashion in 1989-90 and then went unbeaten the next 1990-91 season before falling to that same Duke in a semifinal game (and allowed Duke to win its first championship under Coach K). During that time period, there were many people calling that UNLV team one of the best teams in NCAA history. The image of their coach Jerry Tarkanian sucking on a moist towel on the sidelines during a close game became an indelible part of NCAA basketball history.
Dean Smith might have had a coaching career so celebrated, there are some who might say his career has earned himself a spot on the Mt. Rushmore of college coaches. 30 twenty-win seasons, 22 twenty-five win seasons, 11 Final Four appearances, two National Championships. His teams were innovative, tenacious, and always playing up close to their potential with the stamp of excellence that all Dean Smith teams seemed to have.
Tark’s UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (he also had some very good teams before UNLV with Long Beach State and after with Fresno State, but the true Tark the Shark era of greatness was his time with UNLV) always played a tough, pressing defense and then transitioned into one of the best fast breaking, run and gun offenses the game has ever seen. Again, the identity you’d always see of a Jerry Tarkanian team was always one of a tough, competitive team that was a real bitch to play.
The NCAA basketball model has always been one where a strong coach could be able to mold a strong team year after year, even though teams would have to change with new influxes of talent that would come in every four (or less, nowadays) years due to the nature of the four year college career of its players. Jerry Tarkanian and Dean Smith were two great examples of nearly celebrity-like coaches who simply got many of the really good players to want to play for and be coached by THEM. Both coaches retired a few years ago and simply became iconic coaching legends upon their retirement.
College basketball has always been a quilt-like tapestry of the teams and players that have both played the sport and created its history. The memories of the teams and players from the Final Fours of years past have indeed survived from the years they played to become a kind of living part of the sport of today.
The televised montage of great players, great teams and great moments of the past will come alive again on TV this and every March with each new NCAA tournament, and the sports fans of America will again get excited every time they see the spectacle that is NCAA Tournament basketball.
Two great men who helped become a significant part of that tapestry have died this week. Thanks to the way that memories of greatness from the past are allowed to stay alive in NCAA Tournament Basketball and Final Four lore, Dean Smith and Tark the Shark may be gone, but these two legendary coaches will probably NEVER be forgotten.
