Jesse Jackson, Boyd Grant and Rollie’s secret pact

Jerry Tarkanian

Monday, April 27, 2009 | 4:10 p.m.

I’m just now settling down from a hectic whirlwind, so I can address a few readers’ inquiries.

Had a fantastic time at the Final Four in Detroit. Originally, I wasn’t going to go, as you know. Then an opportunity came up and I am glad I was there.

I was one seat away from Jesse Jackson, who didn’t know who I was. Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State’s former point guard, was three rows in front of me. He spotted me and yelled at me.

I yelled back. And we went back and forth for about 30 seconds. Then Jesse Jackson figured out who I was and he reached over and we rubbed hands.

Roy Williams is a helluva coach. North Carolina loses everyone, but they have a great recruiting class coming in and they’ll definitely be in the top 10 again.

I’ve been in Fresno, doing some work on my radio show. It’s switching over from FOX to ESPN, so I’m getting all that worked out. Then I won’t be back in Fresno until September.

Someone asked about the end of the basketball season, how tired or burned out I always felt when our seasons were completed.

Emotionally, I’d be worn out after every season. Most of the time, you’re kind of glad you’re off for a while. Then you get ready to go again. I was always ready to go away before the season started.

I wouldn’t be disappointed for the end of the year if we had a bad season, and we had a few of those … and if I didn’t like my team. Other than that, I was happy.

To the reader who recently had lunch with Boyd Grant, I was glad to hear from you. I think Boyd is in Twin Falls, Idaho, where he retired. We’ve been very good friends for so long.

Tell him I said hello, too.

Boyd’s style was total pressure defense, like we did. But their offense was slow. The thing that hurt Boyd, I think, is the shot clock. When it came in, he wasn’t nearly as effective. His teams always controlled the ball. They just held it, for at least a minute every possession.

He was a terrific defensive coach and he got his guys to play hard all the time. They played with passion.

Someone else asked when UNLV will return to the top 5 and the top 10 on an annual basis. You’ve got to be really good to do that, and you have to be lucky, too.

I thought the Rebels would be really good this past season, but I don’t think they were lucky. They lost some really tough games. It’s hard to say.

I think Lon might have a really good club next season. I know Billy Gillispie, the former Kentucky coach, really liked UNLV’s new point guard, Derrick Jasper.

Billy told me he felt if they hadn’t lost that kid they’d have a great season in 2008-09. That didn’t work out for anybody.

I only watched one UNLV practice last season, but Chace Stanback, the kid from UCLA … God, I thought he was really good. In the practice I saw, he was a better offensive player than anybody they lost.

I hated to see Kentucky let Gillispie go. Once they did that, though, I was really happy for John Calipari. He’s a perfect fit for Kentucky. He will love all that publicity.

He’ll make a ton of money, he’ll get the players and they’ll be really good. I see a big rivalry budding again between Louisville, and Rick Pitino, and Kentucky. Those are two coaches who will really go after each other.

I’m shocked at Calipari’s money. I thought I was really making a hell of a lot of money when my top salary at UNLV was $470,000. I thought I was making more money than anyone. I never thought a coach could make that much.

Then they bring in Rollie Massimino the next year and nearly doubled it! That was the most amazing thing. Rollie brought in his son to be an assistant. He didn’t have that much experience.

Yet Rollie’s son made more money than ‘Grg’ (Tim Grgurich) was making, and Tim was the top assistant in the country!

Five coaches had turned it down and the school kept getting embarrassed, so they made that secret deal with Rollie. No one knew about it until later. When it was out in the open, it kind of shocked a lot of people.

Wow, I didn’t think I’d wind up writing about that when I started this column. Friends and fans, until next time …