Tarkanian, NCAA Reach an Agreement

Jerry Tarkanian’s 13-year court battle with the NCAA officially ended Wednesday with an agreement preventing the organization from seeking a two-year suspension of the Nevada Las Vegas basketball coach.

The agreement provides for Tarkanian to pay the NCAA $21,004.33 in attorney fees accrued at the Supreme Court level and to assume his own legal fees of nearly $350,000 stemming from the lengthy court battle.

In turn, the NCAA will not seek Tarkanian’s suspension, originally asked for by the organization in 1977.

“I’m really pleased that this is over and my original injunction still stands,” Tarkanian said in a prepared statement. “It has been a tough 13 years for me and my family. It’s time to look ahead now.”

The lawsuit began more than a decade ago when the NCAA ordered Nevada Las Vegas to suspend Tarkanian for two years because of alleged recruiting violations.

When the university served the suspension, Tarkanian went to court and received an injunction against the university, claiming his right to due process of law was denied.

The case was fought in the state courts before moving to the Supreme Court. On Dec. 12, 1988, the high court justices ruled in a 5-4 decision that the NCAA is a private organization and, therefore, does not have to provide its members due process.

However, the ruling also said the university does have to provide tenured employees the due process rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.