Last-second scramble to get to Motown

Jerry Tarkanian

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | 11:03 a.m.

So here I said so much about not going to Detroit for the Final Four, and now I am looking into making last-second plans to find a flight and a hotel room.

I have an opportunity to make some money if I host a party on Saturday before the two national semifinal games, and I’m thinking I might go. I was going to room with Lefty Driesell, but now his son is going with him.

So I have to get a bunch of things together.

And I am excited about the games. Connecticut will have some problems with Michigan State in the Spartans’ own backyard, and as much as I like Jay Wright and Villanova I think they’ll have a difficult time with North Carolina.

But more on the games later.

I did that show at the Wynn on Sunday with Billy Packer, Bobby Knight and George Raveling, and Christian Laettner was there. God, he was super to me. We talked about how great our team was in 1990.

He told me what good guys we had. He gave me his card when I told him I have a radio show in Fresno, and he said he’d do it anytime. He had his wife with him and they live in Jacksonville. He goes up to Durham all the time.

He sure looked good. We had a very good time talking.

He talked to Packer on the air about that shot against Kentucky and that one he hit against UConn the year before, and he was so complimentary about our team and players.

He said that championship game, in which we beat them 103-73, wouldn’t have been so bad but Bobby Hurley was scared to death. He said he had never seen Hurley so scared before a game. That affected his play.

Bobby Knight always is great. We’ve been friends for such a long time. He dislikes Lute Olson as much as I do, maybe more. Maybe I shouldn’t say that. But he dislikes Arizona and was glad they got beat.

When we beat the Wildcats in the Preseason NIT in 1986, it was about 6 or 7 the next morning when I get a phone call in the hotel room. It was Bobby. “I’m sure glad you beat that son … “ he told me.

Bobby is having a good time in Vegas. He raved about that “Ice” show at the Riviera, and they also saw Bette Midler. He was bragging about those two shows.

It is always great to see George Raveling, who coached at Iowa, Washington State and USC. He’s with Nike now but still lives in L.A. He drives up to the Portland area a lot.

He brought Washignton State down in December 1973 and we beat them, 58-47. We only scored fewer points, 56, once that season, and that was in a loss at Santa Clara.

I took him out to dinner the night before that game, and George is such a good PR guy. As soon as I introduced them, he made friends and sent those people Washington State shirts.

Packer is the best. He and Pete Newell tried so hard to get me into the Hall of Fame. They were pushing me all the way. He brought it up on the air, it was one of the first things he asked me.

He said there were three coaches I faced or beat who are all in the Hall; Knight, Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski. He wanted me to comment on that, but I let that go. I didn’t bite. I let it go.

It doesn’t do any good for me to talk about that.

I see where John Calipari is poised to take the Kentucky job, and I think he’s a perfect fit for the Wildcats. John is a great recruiter and he loves the media. He will do a great job.

He loves the PR aspect of the game and he’s a great motivator. I can’t believe the salary they’re talking about, more than $4 million a season?

It’s been 31 years since we played them back there on their Senior Night when nobody else would. Before that game I had dinner with Joe B. Hall, their coach who was having a fine season, but the heat was on him all year long.

Win the national championship, or else. They were all over his case. He’s the one who built Wildcat Lodge, which initially housed the basketball players and was so luxurious.

It had big beds, the best food … then the NCAA changed its rules so athletes couldn’t get such better treatment than the average student. Joe raised all the money, but they weren’t going to call it Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge.

Joe was hurt. He felt like they were after him. He knew he had to win to keep his job. At dinner, I told him, Joe B., you know what I’d like to see you do?

I’d love to see you take the Tennessee job – it was open at the time – and tell them to shove it up their (bleeps). He went on to win the national championship that season for Kentucky, so they treated him well.

And the dorm is called Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge.

Next time I’ll address the games this weekend.