Columnist Ron Kantowski: Tark Departure II brings unrest — again

Tuesday, March 19, 2002 | 8:45 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

According to reports out of Fresno, Jerry Tarkanian's resignation as Bulldogs basketball coach last Friday left FSU with a house divided.

The anti-Tark faction is quietly celebrating. The pro-Tark brigade is loudly complaining.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it Rebels fans?

Though Tark bowed out gracefully, there was more than a subtle implication that stepping down wasn't entirely his idea. In a way, this was 1992 all over again, minus the lawsuits, mud-slinging and secret videotapes.

"It's going to take some time," Tark supporter Walter Lauritzen told the Fresno Bee. "I'm not angry he's retiring. I'm angry about the way it happened.

"The storm has not ended. I think there will be a lot of turmoil over the next six months."

Walter, you'll get off easy if in six months the Bulldog basketball program is back to normal.

It's taken an entire decade for UNLV basketball to recover from Tark's forced departure, and in that the Rebels haven't had a sellout since he left, some would argue that the wounds still haven't totally healed.

"I can't nail a board, I can't screw a light bulb," he said discussing his future. "Other than coaching basketball, I don't know how to do anything.

"Maybe I'll become a sportswriter."

Davis, the MWC preseason player of the year, left his game on the prairie during much of 2001-02. But when the bell rang for the NCAA tourney, he served notice he was through digging fence posts.

The senior from Salem, Ore., had a Bill Russell-like outing in leading Wyoming to a stunning 73-66 first-round upset of sixth-rated Gonzaga with 11 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. He had another huge game in Saturday's competitive 68-60 loss to Arizona, scoring 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and snaring 11 rebounds.

Davis' two-round rebound total of 25 was tops for the tournament.

Police there have arrested 81 bookies offering wagers on the likelihood of religious riots breaking out in a state bordering Gujarat, where more than 670 people were killed in Hindu-Muslim violence.

Two books were offering odds of 1-to-4 and 1-to-6 in favor of the riots. They also offered odds on a curfew being established and, if you can believe it, an over-under on the number of casualties.

Kind of makes a backdoor cover on a late free throw seem pretty irrelevant, doesn't it?