LAS VEGAS — It has been more than three decades since Jerry Tarkanian was forced out at UNLV. Even longer since his legendary feud with Lute Olson and Arizona boiled over.
Tarkanian passed away in 2015, Olson in 2020.
And yet…
Bad blood is still in the water of UNLV’s erstwhile Shark Tank, coagulating with the recent hire of Arizona alum and Olson disciple Josh Pastner as coach of the Runnin’ Rebels. “The last thing my dad would want is a Lute Olson guy taking over the program he built,” Danny Tarkanian, Jerry’s oldest son, told Hoops HQ. “I don’t want to bash (Pastner). It’s just that they went with a Lute Olson disciple instead of a Jerry Tarkanian disciple. And people will say to get over it, that was a long time ago. That no one cares or remembers. But the real Rebel fans do.”
The feud between Tarkanian and Olson began when Olson succeeded Tarkanian at Long Beach State in 1973 after Tarkanian left for Vegas. Tarkanian believed that Olson bad-mouthed UNLV, the city of Las Vegas and the players and coaches in their recruiting wars. Things got really heated after Olson got to Arizona and started beating Tarkanian for recruits. The most famous example was Tom Tobert, a 6-foot-8 forward from southern California who transferred from junior college to Arizona and led the Wildcats to the 1988 Final Four. Olson’s tendency to swoop in at the late stages and secure players whom Tarkanian pursued earned him the not-so-flattering nickname “Midnight Lute.”
“Tolbert, we’re upset about that one,” Jerry Tarkanian told a Las Vegas television station before a Dec. 1988 game between UNLV and Arizona. “We were supposed to sign Tolbert at 11 o’clock in the morning and they came in the night before and turned him 360 degrees. Anytime a guy turns 360 degrees, you’ve got to figure out why.”
Tarkanian had a long history of battling the NCAA, which resulted in the NCAA paying him $2.5 million to settle, and he was sanctioned multiple times at multiple places. That brought yet another undercurrent to his feud with Olson. That may have been a long time ago, but the fact that his sons are still harboring resentments illustrates the deep rift that still exists between the Tarkanians and the school whose basketball program he brought to great prominence.
“Is it fair game what Lute Olson did?” George Tarkanian, Jerry’s youngest son, told Hoops HQ. “Yeah, he’s not going to get arrested, he’s not going to be put on probation. But I don’t think it’s ethical, especially since Lute Olson’s career started because my dad helped him get the Long Beach State job. And my dad left him four NBA players (Cliff Pondexter, Leonard Gray, Glenn McDonald and Bob Gross).”
After UNLV fired coach Kevin Kruger in March, Danny Tarkanian pleaded for the school to interview UNLV Hall of Famer Reggie Theus, who helped lead the Rebels to the 1977 Final Four. Theus entered coaching with the specific goal of one day taking over at UNLV. Jerry Tarkanian previously endorsed Theus in 2011, but school went with another former Rebel, Dave Rice, who lasted four-and-a-half seasons.
As a college head coach, Theus took New Mexico State to the NCAA tournament in 2007 and led Cal State Northridge to the 2014 Big West Conference tournament title game. He also a season-and-a-half as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings. Theus is now in his fourth year as the athletic director and head coach at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
When the UNLV job opened in March, Danny Tarkanian personally lobbied on Theus’ behalf to UNLV athletic director Erick Harper. But Theus was never interviewed. “It would have taken great courage to bring in Reggie,” Danny said. “I’m just so disappointed. It’s a shame. I want to see it come back to what it was….He’s one of the top three or four to ever play at UNLV. He’s probably the most charismatic, and he’s certainly the most well liked. Even if his record doesn’t show it, he’s had great success at the places he’s been.”
Harper told Hoops HQ he believed Pastner was the “right person” for the job and looked forward to him “engaging with the Las Vegas community and former players to help us strengthen the bond between the team and fans, while also rebuilding the bridge with alumni. We are dedicated to reestablishing a championship culture.”
Reached in Daytona Beach, Theus said, “I wish the university well.”
The Tarkanian brothers’ disappointment intensified when they learned of UNLV’s interest in Pastner. When the hire was made official, they took to social media to express their anger. “You hire a Lute Olson guy and you don’t even give an interview to a Tarkanian guy?” George said. “I really believe Harper had no idea that he would piss off Tarkanian loyalists by hiring a Lute Olson clone. He’s an Arizona guy himself.”
Harper was Arizona’s associate athletics director for football operations from 2003-11 and was hired at UNLV in 2012. The man who brought him to Vegas was former Arizona AD Jim Livengood, who hired Rice and also served on the UNLV search committee that landed on Pastner after reportedly pursuing Will Wade, Eric Olen and Bryan Hodgson. Livengood’s son-in-law is current Arizona associate head coach Jack Murphy, a longtime friend of Pastner’s who was on his Memphis staff.
“To a degree, I really think we are persona non grata,” George Tarkanian said. “I think the history, and this might be in the academia part, it might be in the higher echelon part, it might be my imagination, but I get the sense it’s like, We can’t have a Tarkanian guy.”
Since their initial outburst on social media, the Tarkanians have softened their stances. They maintain their issues were not with Pastner himself so much as with how UNLV conducted its search. “I kind of feel bad, everything I said, but there’s nothing wrong with Pastner,” George Tarkanian said. “There would have been nothing wrong with Reggie. I just think with what my family has been through, what my dad has been through, with what those Rebel fans have been through, this was a slap in the face to that tradition.”
Other Rebel legends have been more accepting of the Pastner hire. That includes Anderson Hunt, who called himself the “Wildcat Killer” due to his last-second three-pointer to beat top-ranked Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen of the 1989 NCAA Tournament. “(Olson) was one of the greatest coaches to ever coach college basketball. You can’t go wrong there,” he said. “That’s who [Pastner] learned from, right? I’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt. Plus, he’s a gym rat. Most gym rats are great coaches. I wish him luck because if he looks good, we look good. I’m a Runnin’ Rebel ’till the day I die.”
Hunt’s former teammate on the 1990 champs, Stacey Augmon, who did interview for the job and is being advertised as a “brand ambassador” alongside Larry Johnson to get alumni involved with Pastner, is also on board with the new regime. “Give him a chance,” Augmon said. “Give him an opportunity to do what he needs to do.”
Pastner, who went 276-187 in 14 seasons as a head coach at Memphis and Georgia Tech, understands the reluctance by a small but vocal portion of Tarkanian loyalists to embrace him, although he pointed out he was all of 12 years old when the feud between Tarkanian and Olson broke out. But it was noteworthy that when UNLV announced his hiring, the school offered glowing praise from Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari and Jay Wright, but none from former Runnin’ Rebels.
“I can understand when they’re frustrated and upset about Coach Tark and what happened and how it ended,” Pastner said. “Vegas would not be Vegas if it wasn’t for what Coach Tarkanian, his staff and the players built in that era. They’re the ones that put Las Vegas on the map. They’re the ones who’ve made it a national name.”
But while the Runnin’ Rebels were the undisputed Kings of Vegas during Tarkanian’s run, Pastner noted that there is now a lot more competition for the Southern Nevada sports dollar. Besides the NFL’s Raiders and the NHL’s Knights taking up residence on the Strip, the WNBA’s Aces are a hot ticket, as is UFC. The Oakland A’s are coming in 2028 and the NBA is sniffing around.
Pastner has shown signs that he wants to repair this rift. He has spoken with Danny Tarkanian and said he wants former players to attend practices and games. His larger task is to re-energize the fan base. UNLV averaged just 4,969 in attendance in the 18,500-seat Thomas & Mack Center last season, the lowest such non-Covid figure in the arena’s 42-year history. Pastner also put to rest any notions that his allegiance is divided. “My loyalty bleeds UNLV Runnin’ Rebel red. My loyalty’s not to the University of Arizona,” he said. “If we played the University of Arizona tomorrow, I’d hope we win the game and win by as much as we can win the game. Every waking second, all I’m thinking about is, How do we get UNLV back?”
Lest anyone doubt he means what he says, Pastner has already scored an early win with a recruiting class that includes Emmanuel Stephen, a 6-foot-11 sophomore forward who transferred from … drum roll, please … Arizona. Pastner has a long way to go towards restoring UNLV to its former greatness, but in the eyes of Tarkanian loyalists, that’s a pretty good way to start.
