Report Says NCAA Has Agreed to Settlement With Tarkanian

A 13-year legal battle between Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian and the NCAA, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, may be nearing an end.

A published report said that the NCAA has agreed to a settlement that would call for Tarkanian paying a judgment of $21,000 and assuming his own legal fees--estimated at $340,000.

Jack Kitchin, a Kansas City lawyer who represents the NCAA, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that an agreement may be near that would resolve the issue with the association, Tarkanian and UNLV.

The resolution would involve only the legal battles dating back to 1977, and would not involve any future actions the NCAA might take, Kitchin said.

The NCAA placed UNLV on two years probation in 1977 for alleged recruiting violations and ordered Tarkanian suspended from coaching for two years.

UNLV served the probation, but Tarkanian obtained a court order and continued coaching, compiling the winningest record among the nation’s active coaches.

The issue of his suspension went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in December 1988 that the NCAA had the right to order a coach suspended without due process. The same ruling said a university could not suspend a coach, however, without providing that due process.

Since that ruling, the NCAA has been trying to decide what action, if any, to take against Tarkanian.

Under the possible agreement with the NCAA, Tarkanian would have to accept the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of legal fees--approximately $340,000.

Tarkanian was awarded those fees in state District Court, but lost the issue in the U.S. Supreme Court.