What Will Become of Jerry Tarkanian?

The big question facing Jerry Tarkanian all season was whether his Runnin’ Rebels could rewrite the record books by going undefeated and winning a second straight national title.

Those heady days over, the question now is whether Tarkanian still has a future in college basketball. And a figure from one of the sport’s darkest chapters could be involved in the answer.

The coach the NCAA loves to hate is in hot water again, already on probation next year and facing new NCAA sanctions over recruiting violations.

If they are serious enough, Tark’s 18-season, 483-victory tenure at UNLV could be over.

On the heels of UNLV’s shocking loss to Duke in the national semifinals, whispers and rumors have resurfaced that Tarkanian will either be forced out of his job or, at the age of 60, take what may be his last chance at a head coaching job in the NBA.

Those close to the program and the university say the battle lines have already been drawn, with Tarkanian and his allies lined up on one side and UNLV president Robert Maxson, athletic director Dennis Finfrock and a group of prominent community leaders on the other.

And what could be a nasty bloodletting most likely hinges on an expected late-summer verdict on the NCAA’s latest investigation into the UNLV basketball program.

“I’m watching this thing divide the town,” said Sig Rogich, who helped bring Tarkanian to town in 1973 and now serves as an adviser to President Bush. “Jerry has done everything we’ve asked him to do and so has Bob Maxson. Now we need to get our house in order.”

Tarkanian, whose outspoken battles with the NCAA have done nothing to endear him to Maxson, still wields immense power. He is a popular coach who has done little wrong in the eyes of the ardent faithful who fanatically follow the Rebels as the only game in town.

He insists that he will leave only on his terms, and says he has no plans to do so at present.

“My plans are to come back,” he said this week. “If something were to come up at the last minute, sure I’d listen to it. But I’m just being 100 percent honest by saying that. My plans right now are to come back and coach at UNLV.”

The NCAA may decide in July or August on a 28-count letter of inquiry charging the UNLV program with breaking recruiting and other rules.

Many believe Maxson, who has guided the university to unparalleled growth since arriving in 1984, resents Tarkanian’s power and control of the basketball program and will use any major violations as a guise for removing him.

Maxson, though offering qualified support for the coach, pointedly leaves open the possibility of his removal if a major violation were found.

“Coach has enjoyed the support of this university for almost 20 years and he certainly continues to enjoy that support,” Maxson said. “Coach tells me there are no major improprieties and I accept that. But if there happen to be major improprieties, then obviously we have to look at that individual situation.”

The NCAA charged UNLV late last year in a letter of inquiry with a number of violations, many of them stemming from the recruiting of former New York City high school star Lloyd Daniels.

Although most of the violations involve minor incidents, sources close to the university say allegations that show the involvement of convicted point shaver Richard “The Fixer” Perry in the recruitment of Daniels could be enough to spell Tarkanian’s demise.

Perry, who pleaded guilty in 1984 to a conspiracy count stemming from the Boston College point-shaving scheme, was seen at a UNLV game this year and sat next to a Big Eight official adjacent to the UNLV section at the Final Four semifinal game between UNLV and Duke.

“It seems strange that out of 47,000 seats, he ends up six seats away from our seating section,” said a university official, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified.

One of the allegations in the NCAA letter of inquiry was that Perry, who was instrumental in bringing Daniels to Las Vegas, bought three UNLV players lunch at a hotel-casino in 1989.

But university officials are reportedly concerned that the ongoing investigation may link Perry even closer to the program.

“It’s been more involved than most people would like to think,” a source close to the investigation said. “It could taint UNLV in the worst way.”

Perry has an unlisted telephone number and his whereabouts were unknown. A message passed through a personal associate, requesting comment on the case, was not answered.

Finfrock, whose relationship with Tarkanian has been icy since he was appointed last year to replace Brad Rothermel, a Tarkanian crony, has drawn the ire of the basketball boosters, who believe he was hired as a “hatchet man” to get rid of the coach.

Finfrock angered some longtime boosters by cutting back on ticket tradeouts and instituting changes in the way tickets are appropriated. But he denies having been hired with any hidden agenda to ease Tarkanian out.

“There’s no subplot in any direction I receive from the president,” said Finfrock, who was booed last week at a banquet honoring the Rebel basketball team. “Not from the very first day I took the job has Bob Maxson ever said to me that he wanted me to fire Jerry Tarkanian.”

Finfrock, who managed the UNLV campus arena before his appointment, said two sets of private investigators he believes were hired by some of the boosters have tried to dig up dirt on him.

And he confirms he was approached by Perry in what was described as an attempt to intimidate him.

“I’m not going to deny it without going into the details of it,” Finfrock said.

Tarkanian himself is reluctant to discuss his relationship with university officials, other than noting Maxson “says all the right things.”

The coach’s son, Danny, however, wishes Maxson’s words of support were a bit more unqualified.

“The president tells us he supports us, but we’re surprised he hasn’t come out stronger,” said Danny Tarkanian, a point guard for his father in the early 1980s. “Every time he talks to us he tells us how much he likes my dad and how he likes the program.”

Getting rid of Tarkanian may not be an easy task, however, even if the NCAA turns up a major violation.

The coach still has a permanent injunction stemming from the NCAA’s attempt to suspend him in 1977 that stops the university from taking disciplinary action, and a legal battle looms if Tarkanian doesn’t want to go quietly. And it could cost the university several million dollars to buy out his contract out.

UNLV pays Tarkanian $203,976 a year on a rotating three-year contract. In addition, Tarkanian gets 216 season tickets worth an estimated $222,000.

Tarkanian like other coaches, has an NCAA-mandated clause in his contract with UNLV that allows the university to dismiss him if the NCAA finds a major violation in the basketball program.

But his attorney, Chuck Thompson, warned that the coach would be on strong legal ground if the university attempted to enforce that clause.

“That’s the kind of case that could end up in court again,” said Thompson, who represented Tarkanian through much of his 13-year battle with the NCAA over its 1977 attempt to suspend him from coaching. “The clause in the contract is in violation of the constitution and the employee rights under the university code. I think anyone who wants to fight it has a great chance of winning.”

Danny Tarkanian, an attorney who has been helping to fight the NCAA charges, said he sees no allegations that would reflect directly on his father and no major sanctions resulting from the NCAA probe.

“We think we’ll be vindicated,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll walk away from it because there’s going to be some minor violations. But we feel real good about the major ones. Without getting into specifics, we couldn’t be any happier than we are now.”

If nothing else, predictions of Tarkanian’s demise have hurt UNLV’s recruiting efforts, at a time when Tarkanian must rebuild a team that lost four starters from the team that went 34-1.

Tarkanian said several recruits have been scared off because of the NCAA probe and published reports that he won’t be back.

“Because of all the problems we’ve had with the NCAA, recruiting is very difficult for us,” Tarkanian said. “We’re just trying to get the two or three kids that are real close to us. We can’t start even with other schools and get anybody because of the press about all of this.”

The deal Tarkanian cut with the NCAA to allow UNLV to defend its national title this year will also take his high-profile program down a notch.

Tarkanian agreed to a ban on live television next season and no postseason play as the final settlement of his 1977 dispute with the NCAA.

Still, Danny Tarkanian, said, his father is bullish on his future in this gambling mecca.

“His perspective now is that we can take this penalty and go on and still keep the program where it’s at,” Tarkanian said. “I’m 99 percent sure my dad will be back, and I think he feels good about next year’s team. It’s going to be a lot better than most people think.”