Just when the NCAA thought is was safe … the shark is back

Sporting News, The, Dec 2, 1996 by Douglas S. Looney

Junior forward Daymond Forney from Charlotte sat out last year at Fresno State while fulfilling NCAA academic eligibility requirements, following a couple years at a junior college. Not long ago he was either involved or not involved in a fight at an apartment complex. Subsequently, he was either driving or not driving a car that hit a fence. Alcohol was involved. Forney never knew his dad. His mom was a druggie. His brother was killed in a drug-related shooting. And Forney admits that while in high school, he basically didn't go to school. Then there is Chris Herren, a superstar in waiting, who transferred from Boston College. Not long ago, he was either involved or not involved in a fight in a restaurant. "Coach is serious about us staying out of trouble," Herren says. "I don't have an excuse. When you're out and about, you get in some situations that you are not supposed to be in." Then there is Dominick Young, a senior guard from Chicago, who was either publicly intoxicated or wasn't. There also is question over money Young received for a basketball tour that he didn't go on. The beat goes on. Jack Fertig concedes that Young and others sometimes "live life on the edge."

Darnell McCulloch, a senior from Oakland, admits that the players getting in trouble "hurts the school image a little bit," particularly when coupled with Tark's reputation. But the overriding point, he says, is that Tarkanian "makes it fun for the players. Everybody wants to play for him because everybody wants to get better." McCulloch was not recruited much because he didn't play his senior year in high school, having used up his eligibility while repeating a grade. Terrance Roberson, a sophomore forward from Saginaw, Mich., has had difficulties involving his ACT score. Forney, Herren, Young and Roberson are all expected to play significant roles, and McCulloch could, too.

It all seems reminiscent of UNLV when, for example, a prominent player, Lloyd Daniels, was arrested in a crack house. Another time, players were photographed sitting in a hot tub with a well known basketball fixer. Says Tarkanian, "I have taken a few kids others might not have taken. But they are good guys."

A Tark strength, says Jack Fertig, is "he lets people be themselves. If a player is a screwball, he'll let him be a screwball. Jerry gives flexibility. He feels kids are good kids if you give them a chance to be good kids. Sometimes they prove they aren't good kids. He understands that. He's forgiving, and that's why his kids become fiercely loyal to him."

Roast bite: Reggie Theus says, "When Tark was trying to get me to come to UNLV, he said, "I'll treat you like a son. 'I didn't understand what he meant until I caught him in bed with my mom."

Tark's main calling card with the players is his reputation for delivering talent to the pros--in his 19 seasons at UNLV, 38 players were drafted by NBA teams and nine were first-rounders. In one stellar year, 1991, three NBA first-round picks (Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony) played for Tark at UNLV, along with a second-rounder (George Ackles). No wonder the players, almost all of whom tower over Tark, will kid him by kissing him on the top of his bald head. "They see how Tark's teams dunk, run, press, deny and just light it up," Fertig says, "and they like that."