Fans roar long and loud for Tark

Tim Graham

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

TURNING onto Tarkanian Way and heading toward the Thomas & Mack Center Monday night, cars filed past a group of rowdies.

"We love ya, Tark!" screamed one, not caring that his words would never reach Jerry Tarkanian hundreds of yards away, somewhere deep within the bowels of the arena he helped build years ago.

But for one night anyway, the Thomas & Mack was about to become the Shark Tank again. Tarkanian, in his second season as the head coach at Fresno State, had returned to the site of his greatest days to play the team he virtually created.

With a national television audience and postseason implications on the line, the man who guided UNLV's basketball program from 1973-92 -- 12 NCAA tournaments, four Final Four appearances, the 1990 national title -- was an emotional mess before the game.

And his return was not triumphant. UNLV beat Fresno State, 78-64, leaving Tark's mental tank empty.

"I'm very drained. I really am," Tarkanian said outside the visitors' locker room. "I'm emotionally drained."

And rightfully so. Ever since Fresno State's 1996-97 schedule was announced, Tarkanian rued Monday night.

Prior to tipoff he was frazzled, even though he somewhat was able to prepare for the event. In December, Fresno State played a neutral-site game against Texas Tech at the T&M, and on Jan. 20, he led his Bulldogs to a victory over the Rebels in Fresno.

But as the 66-year-old legend made his way out of the tunnel and onto the court, it all converged.

The moment was temporarily lost on the crowd of 18,024, a few hundred shy of a sellout but still the largest T&M gathering in three years. As Tarkanian emerged few noticed, as a local disc jockey hollered over the public address system, trying to give away T-shirts.

The instant much of the basketball world waited months for seemed ruined -- until the starting lineups were announced.

One by one, the Bulldog five was shot down in a chorus of boos, possibly causing a fan or two to rethink Tarkanian's automatic acceptance.

Then came the climax: "The Bulldogs are led by head coach Jerry Tarkanian."

The place shook for so long, yet it didn't seem long enough. It was a powerful standing ovation to send a shiver through the body of the most casual observer. The expression on Tarkanian's face was helplessness.

"I choked up," Tarkanian said. "That brought tears to my eyes."

As the crowd roared on, UNLV head coach Bill Bayno humbly walked the length of the court to welcome Tarkanian back.

"I don't know how to describe it," said Tarkanian's wife, Lois, who tried hard to hold back tears long after the final horn. "Your whole heart, whole soul hurt very much. He loves UNLV. He loves Las Vegas. But that moment was very painful.

"It was overwhelming. It was a great show of love for Jerry."

Also on the floor was Danny Tarkanian. Now a Fresno State assistant coach, he played for his dad at UNLV in the '80s.

"It's the nicest thing I've ever seen," Danny said, tears welling up. "I thought there would be an ovation, but it was much more than I hoped.

"It's hard to come to this court and sit here, listening to the UNLV chant, hearing the UNLV fight song, seeing the UNLV signs waving. Yet it's a special feeling."

Those polar sentiments took their toll during the game as Fresno State struggled with the basketball as much as Tarkanian struggled with his heart. There were points in the game when old friend Freddie Glusman, seated behind the Bulldog bench, got concerned.

"I thought he got lightheaded," said Glusman, who owns Piero's, Tarkanian's favorite Las Vegas restaurant and hangout. "The stress and everything caught up to him. He had trouble standing on his own. There was a lot of pressure out there."

UNLV sports information director Jim Gemma is one of the few still around from Tarkanian's tumultuous final days, when the coach was forced out by former university President Bob Maxson in 1992. While he is an ardent Bayno supporter, Gemma is sensitive to Monday night's significance.

"I'm a born-and-raised Las Vegan. I grew up on Rebel basketball," Gemma said. "My dad used to take me to see the Rebels when they played at the Convention Center, so I know what Tark means to this city.

"It was nice to see the place packed again, the electricity."

Just like the road that leads to the Thomas & Mack, for one more night it was the Tarkanian Way.