Tarkanian Boosters Pump Up Volume at SDSU : College basketball: Vocal, financial support for the hiring of Nevada Las Vegas coach is loud and clear.

Money talks, and right now it seems to be saying “Tarkanian” to San Diego State.

The people who might have a bigger say in the matter of SDSU’s new men’s basketball coach than many realize--SDSU’s athletic corporate sponsors and other athletic boosters--appear to be mostly supportive of hiring Jerry Tarkanian.

Sources said that Fred Miller, SDSU athletic director, is actively lobbying the university’s big-money boosters and asking them to express their support for Tarkanian to school President Tom Day, who will make the final decision.

In addition, Miller’s Tarkanian campaign continues today: Non-university sources said that the athletic director; Jim Malik, the university’s NCAA faculty representative; and Bill Erickson, SDSU’s vice president of finance, among others, will meet with Day today and will attempt to persuade him to hire Tarkanian.

The sources said that, among other things, the trio will tell Day at the meeting that hiring Tarkanian would help guarantee financial success for a school traditionally plagued with budget problems. For one thing, sources said, at least two dozen boosters have pledged to purchase basketball season tickets--but only if Tarkanian is hired.

Although Miller will not comment on personnel matters, the sources said that he has been in touch with several boosters and has asked them to write to Day in support of Tarkanian.

Meanwhile, Rick Taylor, an SDSU assistant athletic director responsible for working with SDSU’s corporate sponsors, said this week that he has not received any negative reaction toward Tarkanian from any SDSU boosters.

“In my conversations, nobody has given us any flak at all,” Taylor said. “I haven’t had anybody say they would pull out (if Tarkanian were hired). That remains to be seen. But I’m sure they would have said something.”

Not only would they not pull out; there apparently will be some additional money coming into the program if Tarkanian were hired.

“I’ve got a buddy, who will remain nameless, who will send $2,500 a year to (SDSU Athletic Director Fred) Miller if Tark comes,” said Bill Cowling, president of Dixieline Lumber--a longtime sponsor of the athletic program. “And (Cowling’s friend) has stopped going to (basketball) games.

“He said he would contribute that money to Tark’s salary--and he will, because he’s a doer.”

Taylor said that, although nothing is official, he is certain that hiring Tarkanian would increase donations.

“Yes,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of people hint that there might be some new money involved with the university if (Tarkanian) did come. But until somebody actually signs these contracts we have here. . . . “

Cowling said he called Miller to inform him that he is interested in Tarkanian and that Miller asked him to send letters to the SDSU athletic department and to Day. Cowling said he sent the letters the same day of his conversation with Miller.

“When I do walk-arounds (to the various Dixieline stores) once a month, I’ve never had so many employees say to me, ‘Hey, Cowling, if you have any influence with Miller, let him know how we feel.’

“I asked them, ‘How do you feel?’, and it’s 200% in support of Tarkanian.”

Cowling, who said his company contributes $50,000 annually to Aztec athletics, said he is also personally in favor of hiring Tarkanian.

“I think it would be a damn good move,” he said. “I’d like to see it happen.

At least two of the four major corporate sponsors of SDSU basketball--Pat Flynn, district manager of Avis, and Bill Hicks, area manager of Texaco--also favor hiring Tarkanian.

The other two--Jack Goodall, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Foodmaker Inc. (the parent company of Jack in the Box), and Nick Frazee, former president of Frazee Paint and Wallcovering--declined to be interviewed for this story.

Avis’ Flynn said that if Tarkanian is hired, the terms of his contract need to be specific.

“If it is approved by Dr. Day, and Tark had to report to someone--Fred Miller or Dr. Day--and they were responsible for his actions, then I think it would be a good thing,” Flynn said. “He definitely would bring basketball to this town that we have never had.”

Hicks, like Flynn, said that his company would still continue to support the SDSU program in whatever decision the Aztecs make. Texaco is the sponsor of SDSU’s annual December tournament.

“I was originally for it, then I thought the baggage got heavy, but now I’m waffling the other way again,” Hicks said. “If Day is able to contractually keep him straight, it might not be a bad situation.

“The program definitely needs a shot in the arm. I really don’t think the guy will screw up. I think he will concentrate on keeping his nose clean. He’s 61, and I don’t think he wants to go out as a shade-tree mechanic kind of thing.”

Tom Stickel, chairman of the board of TCS Enterprises and a former member of the California State University Board of Trustees, agreed. Stickel, a 1972 SDSU graduate, served on the Board of Trustees from 1985-1989.

TCS Mortgage, a wholly owned subsidiary of TCS Enterprises, is a member of SDSU’s Golden Aztec Ring--boosters who donate at least $10,000 per year to the SDSU program.

“Given the right definition of what he should do and what the university expects, if he accepts it, I absolutely would love to see him here,” Stickel said.

The definition, Stickel said, should be strict contractual guidelines stipulating NCAA compliance and graduation requirements.

“There are ways to build performance into a contract so that Tarkanian may have a chance to prove himself (as something) other than what the NCAA projected him to be, and San Diego State can protect its academic reputation by demanding certain qualifications,” Stickel said. “I would hope a very strict and demanding contract with a clear identification of his coaching and teaching obligations would be designed to give Tarkanian a chance to prove his critics wrong and give San Diego State the chance to have an outstanding basketball program.

“I don’t see it as a lose-lose situation, I see it as win-win. . . . My support is predicated on what I believe Tarkanian would be willing to accept. Very strict guidelines.”

Stickel said he doesn’t bother to go to basketball games anymore but, when asked if he would attend games if Tarkanian were hired, quickly said yes.

“Me and a lot of others,” he said.

Miller has said he would like to do make a hire by mid-March.

The Aztecs have interviewed Yale’s Dick Kuchen and UCLA’s Tony Fuller, and sources said each interview went well. Pepperdine’s Tom Asbury is also on SDSU’s short list, sources say, as is Cal State Bakersfield’s Pat Douglass.

But Tarkanian’s is the name that continues to surface. Last month, Miller gathered documents and reports pertaining to Tarkanian’s NCAA woes from both UNLV and the NCAA for further study. Although Day was said to be highly skeptical of the idea last month, the door obviously is still open for Tarkanian.

And as the Aztecs get set to close their worst season in school history tonight at Hawaii, the movement to hire Tarkanian seems to be gaining momentum.

“Yeah, I’m disappointed (in SDSU’s season),” Hicks said. “The only people probably more disappointed than us are the people from Prairie View (which set an NCAA Division I record by finishing 0-28).”