Former RCC Men's Basketball Head Coach Jerry Tarkanian Passes Away Wednesday at age 84
RIVERSIDE -- Former Riverside City College men's basketball head coach Jerry Tarkanian passed away today, February 11, in Las Vegas, Nev., after battling an infection that caused him to be hospitalized several times over the past few months. He was 84.
Tarkanian's death follows that of another former RCC basketball coach, Bob Boyd, who served as an interim coach for the 1988-89 season (28-9 overall) before Bob Schermerhorn's arrival.
Born Aug. 8, 1930, in Euclid, Ohio, Tarkanian was the son of Armen and Rose Tarkanian, Armenians who immigrated to the United States to escape persecution from the Turks. When he was 10, his father died of tuberculosis and the family relocated to Pasadena. Tarkanian played basketball at Pasadena High and Pasadena City College, eventually receiving a scholarship to Fresno State. He was known as a prankster, and it was through his on-campus shenanigans that he met his future wife, Lois Huter.
After graduating, Tarkanian became a coach at Fresno's Edison High, moving on to San Joaquin Memorial High in Fresno and Antelope Valley High in Lancaster before landing at Redlands High — where the legend of the towel-chomp was born.
Tarkanian coached the RCC Tigers from 1961 to 1966, finishing with a career record of 145-23, an .801 winning percentage. His last three RCC teams posted a combined 99-6 record, with his 1963-64 team finishing 35-0. He led the program to four straight state tournament appearances, including three consecutive state championships (1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66).
In 1966, Tarkanian left Riverside for Pasadena City College, where he won another community college championship (in 1966-67) and finished with a 67-4 record. He left Pasadena to coach at Long Beach State, beginning a 35-plus-year career as a head coach at the four-year level including record-setting seasons at UNLV, where he won a NCAA Championship (1990), and Fresno State. He also had a brief career in the NBA, coaching the San Antonio Spurs.
In 38 years of coaching, Tarkanian never suffered a losing season, finishing with an overall record of 988-228, with a major-college mark of 778-202. He won four California junior college state championships and four times led UNLV to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.
In 2007, Tarkanian was inducted into the Riverside City College Hall of Fame. During his acceptance speech he referred to his time with RCC as his "golden years of coaching." He often said he was a Rebel, a Bulldog, a 49er and a Lancer, but "forever I'll be a Tiger." In memory of Coach Tarkanian there will be a moment of silence prior to the men's game on Thursday, February 12.
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