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I’ve been asked about what some of my former players are up to, and I can say that I am so proud of the vast majority of them.
Travis Bice is very successful in Arizona, Leon Symanski is an attorney in Las Vegas and doing well, and Stacey Cvijanovich is one of the top guys in hotel management, I think in food and beverage, at Caesars Palace.
John Flowers is doing well with Wynn. He’s been there for a long time. I hear from most all of them.
One guy I’m so proud of is Michael “Spiderman” Burns. I might be more proud of him than all of them.
Spiderman was a real mess when he was in college. We thought he’d be hopeless. I helped him all I could, but I was worried about him.
He came in one day and said, Coach, I have my life in order. Please help me with a job. We got him a job, and he’s working and has his whole life in order. It’s absolutely wonderful.
He’s at the Wynn. He’s been there more than 20 years and they tell me he’s one of the top people in his area. Doing great. He’s totally straightened out, got off some bad habits.
Richard Box is a minister. Jackie Robinson, Flintie Ray Williams and Michael Loyd own a bunch of Pizza Huts together.
One guy I haven’t seen much is David Butler, but he came out this year to our pre-season get-together, the golf tournament and banquet, that Lon Kruger started.
David just hasn’t been back to town. He told some friends of mine that he was so upset about that picture in that hot tub. It wasn’t like he did something wrong. He did nothing wrong.
The guy (Richard “The Fixer” Perry) was a friend of Moses Scurry, and the guy (Perry) only talked to them about doing well in school. He seemed like a real good person. David was very upset about that.
Someone asked me about Leroy Byrd, who played for me in 1981-82. He was a little guy from Lexington, Ky. I had a friend in Lexington, and I always wanted to get a player out of the state of Kentucky.
We had recruited some good ones, but never got them. If they were from Louisville, they went to Louisville. I realized you can’t get them out of Kentucky, out of Lexington or Louisville.
Impossible.
Leroy was 5-foot-6. No one recruited him. He was not a great player. He played hard. He was quicker than heck. But how many 5-6 guys are doing great in college? He might have been shorter, too.
I like Leroy. He used to keep me up on all the Kentucky guys and tell me about the University of Kentucky. I’ve always been enamored with stories about the University of Kentucky.
Those are some great stories.
I love Joe B. Hall. I don’t tell a lot of those stories. He’s a great friend of mine.
Someone asked if Richie Adams was one of my all-time best. He had a down year or two, but that’s on him.
He’s probably as talented as anyone we ever had, but Richie’s concentration span was so small. He’d screw up in practice. His mind would just wander.
When he did that, I‘d say, Get him out of practice. We’d put him at the other end to shoot free throws or work on the timing of his dunks, stuff like that.
Or we’d tell him to sit on a ball and watch practice. We didn’t want him to screw up practice for everyone. In games, he’d be absolutely great. Boyd Grant from Fresno State believed he was the best player he ever saw in the Big West Conference.
I’ll touch on a few more of my former players next time.
Been at Wynn for 20 years? It isn't even 4-years-old. Come on Rob. You really have to edit these better. Hell, the Mirage won't be 20 until November.
Me, he's been "with" Wynn for that long... not at that particular building, but working "for Steve Wynn" ... easy to take that literally, no doubt. But Tark didn't mean that that literally. There's only so much clarifying (or parenthetical clarifications) I can do without it being too distracting. thanks
It says "at the Wynn" when referencing Burns. "With" Wynn when referencing Flowers.
You know what he meant, Me. Don't be THAT guy.
hey Me, please realize that all of us have opinions just like all of us have buttholes.
honestly, nobody cares for your smart-assed remarks.
Richie Adams was indeed one of the absolute best players ever to wear a Rebel uniform, right up there with Sid Green, LJ, and the Hammer.
I'll never forget watching Richie outplay Patrick Ewing and #1 Georgetown at the Mack in 1983. After that game, I was hooked on the Rebels for life!
Unfortunately, the Richie Adams story is one of the saddest in all of college basketball.
These are wonderfully insightful, but sometimes for the negative. I'm astounded that Tark still doesn't see anything wrong with those guys being in the hot tub with Perry. I don't care if they were sitting there playing patty cake and blowing bubbles, it was boneheaded.
New York Rebel,I agree with you about Richie 100 percent! What ever happened to him ?
I believe Richie is serving time for murder. He killed a teen age girl and they tracked him down by his bloody size 15 sneakers. Sad end.
me's correction of Tark is more distracting than the coach's colorful memory. Have some respect.
Me...what is your deal? Is he supposed to say, "He's been at the Golden Nugget, then the Mirage, then Treasure Island, after that the Bellagio, and now The Wynn...." sheeze nitpicker of the year award to "Me".... Besides, he could've just meant at a Wynn property, you know like Wynn resorts..... Whatever the case, if you knew Tark, you'd know that he tells it as he knows it....he probably doesn't even know where Burns works at specifically, just that he's at one of Wynn's old properties, or maybe at his new one...its just safe to say he's at Wynn
I grew up with Richie's younger brother. use to watch Richie Adams all the time. Could've been a GREAT PLAYER, just had no concentration. Tark, I remember when u came to NY to recruit Eric Mobley (who ended up @ Pitt) @ the Gaucho gym in the Bronx.. Myself & Arnold Bernard were 2 big UNLV fans. U simply stated to our coach David McCullough, I have guards committed to me for the next 4 years, I need a big man & I'm looking @ Eric.. I always admired your honesty... Richie Adams brought so many UNLV fans to the city because when he was home, he was just another carefree neighborhood guy. When he could stay away from certain people & the drugs, he was a different guy. When he got high, it turned him into a very different person.. Yes it's true, he is doing time for murder.. VERY SAD.. I haven' seen his younger brother in years, very embarrassed to come to the neighborhood because of that"