Jerry Tarkanian Amazed That Brown Called SDSU

University of Nevada-Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian said Saturday that he “conferred” with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown about problems he might encounter in landing the head coaching job at San Diego State University.

But the outspoken coach said he was unaware that the powerful politician had actually called SDSU on his behalf to urge that he be hired.

“If he did that, then I’m very flattered,” Tarkanian said in a telephone interview from La Quinta Resort near Palm Springs, where he was attending a friend’s birthday party.

“This really amazes me,” he said. “I have a lot of friends out there, how did you know one of my friends helped me?”

Late Friday, Brown’s press secretary acknowledged that the San Francisco Democrat called SDSU and “recommended they consider the hiring of Tarkanian.” The aide said Brown reminded the school that Tarkanian had been honored by the Legislature and “would be a valuable addition” to the California State University system.

SDSU President Thomas B. Day confirmed that Brown called within the last two weeks, but declined to say that they talked personally. Day added that it was not normal for the Speaker to call the school directly.

Tarkanian on Saturday said that Brown has repeatedly complimented him for his work with young black athletes, “particularly kids that need strong guidance.”

“He has offered to help me on many occasions,” Tarkanian said. “He asked me to let him know if there was anything he could do to help me.”

Asked if he called on Brown to help him get the SDSU job, Tarkanian said: “He and I conversed . . . I told him I had a problem because of some of the articles that had been written about me.”

Tarkanian said that he didn’t recall who initiated the conversation about the SDSU job, or when it took place. “I’m not sure how that came about, but we conferred about it.”

“It was quite a while ago . . . Anything he and I would discuss is personal,” he said. As Speaker, Brown is eligible to vote on the California Sate University Board of Trustees, whose members are supposed to consider broad policy issues affecting the 20 campus system and not get involved in individual hiring decisions.

He is also one of the key lawmakers who shapes the state budget, including allocations for staff salary and construction at SDSU and other schools in the California State University system. The proposed 1991-92 budget calls for huge increases in student fees at all state universities and has triggered student protests.

Brown recently was host to Tarkanian when the University of Nevada-Las Vegas coach was honored by the Assembly, and in 1990, the Speaker sponsored a joint legislative resolution calling on President Bush and Congress to guarantee due process rights of athletes and coaches undergoing investigations by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Brown’s resolution was killed by a bitter legal tug-of-war between Tarkanian and the National College Athletic Assn., which documented 39 violations--10 of them by the coach--at the Las Vegas university’s basketball program in 1977. Tarkanian took the NCAA to court, winning a restraining order against any sanctions, but it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1988. As the final resolution of the probe, the school’s team has been banned from this year’s tournament.

A second investigation began in 1987 and has uncovered another 40 alleged rules violations, lodged against the school in 1990 and 1991. That matter is now tied up in Nevada courts over the questions of due process rights.

Meanwhile, Tarkanian’s future is uncertain. In June, he tendered his resignation at the Las Vegas university and was thought to have coached his last game on Tuesday. But he had a change of heart and announced that he was rescinding his resignation, even while his name surfaced as a candidate to take over the beleaguered SDSU basketball program.

Former coach Jim Brandenburg was fired in February, and the team has posted its worst record in school history. School officials said they expect to name Brandenburg’s replacement shortly, but refused to say whether Tarkanian is a top contender for the job.