On this Date February 11, 2015 Jerry Esther Tarkanian passed away. (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015). Jerry Tarkanian was a basketball coach known as one of the most successful college basketball coaches in history. He is also well known for his colorful behavior, and for his public criticisms of and clashes with the NCAA.
Tarkanian coached at Long Beach State, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), and Fresno State University in his college career. He also coached the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association for twenty games during the 1992-93 NBA season.
Tarkanian had a 729–201 career coaching record (78.4%) across all college divisions, and is in the top 21 for collegiate wins among all men’s coaches.
Tarkanian died on Feb. 11, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he had been hospitalized a short time before with difficulty breathing.