Nevada’s Supreme Court Upholds Tarkanian’s Victory Over NCAA

Jerry Tarkanian, University of Nevada Las Vegas basketball coach, Thursday won his Nevada Supreme Court battle with the National Collegiate Athletic Assn., which had been seeking his suspension for alleged infractions.

The state’s high court upheld most of a Clark County district judge’s ruling that the NCAA had violated Tarkanian’s due process rights in 1977 when it ordered UNLV to suspend the coach.

The Supreme Court reversed part of the lower court ruling relating to legal fees and remanded that matter so fees in the longstanding case could be recomputed.

The NCAA had placed the basketball program on two years’ probation in 1977, citing 38 recruiting violations. It also ordered that Tarkanian be suspended from coaching for two years. But Tarkanian obtained a court injunction and continued coaching.

The NCAA had contended that its efforts to penalize Tarkanian didn’t constitute a state action, in which due process guarantees would apply.

However, the Supreme Court said there was state action, since the NCAA, as a private, voluntary association, gets its authority from a state university.

The Supreme Court also disagreed with the NCAA contention that Tarkanian didn’t have a constitutionally protected property interest, saying the coach’s annual contract with UNLV, which began in 1973, establishes such a property interest.