SDSU’s Day: No Comment on Tarkanian

Thomas B. Day, San Diego State president, refused to say whether Jerry Tarkanian’s potential candidacy for the school’s vacant basketball coaching position was discussed Friday in a meeting with Athletic Director Fred Miller and other university officials.

“I have no comment,” Day said. “We had a meeting today about the budget.”

Sources said Day was to meet Friday with Miller; Jim Malik, the school’s NCAA faculty representative; and Bill Erickson, SDSU’s vice president of finance, among others, and that the trio was to attempt to persuade Day to hire Tarkanian.

In addition to Day, neither Miller nor Malik would comment on the meeting and Erickson was unavailable.

When asked about the Tarkanian situation, Day replied: “We don’t have a Tarkanian situation.”

When asked if Tarkanian remains a candidate to succeed Jim Brandenburg, Day replied: “I’m not going to discuss who is in the running.”

Day said the Aztecs would like to hire a basketball coach “as soon as possible.” Miller has said he would like to have someone in place by mid-March.

Asked to react to reports that most key SDSU boosters favor hiring Tarkanian, Day bristled.

“That’s between you sportswriters and the boosters,” he said. “You feed them the story and then get their reactions.

“I find it interesting to read the sports pages every day and see fantasy land.”