Tarkanian looking forward to reunion

All the stories from Jerry Tarkanian flow as if there is no end. His memories are not faded.

"It doesn't seem like 20 years," said Tarkanian, the author of the greatest chapter in UNLV basketball history, recalling the Rebels' 1990 national championship team.

Spend a few minutes with Tarkanian and it seems like yesterday when he was chewing on a towel and his Rebels were running opponents ragged and putting on the biggest show in Las Vegas.

"I walk through airports and I get people stop me to talk about those Rebels teams," he said. "People still say that was their favorite team ever. I hear it all the time.

"As good as that team was, the popularity nationally was mind-boggling. That's the amazing thing. The networks had us on TV all the time. It was a great defensive team, and it was a great team because it fit together well. It was such a close-knit group of guys."

The guys from the 1989-90 team are getting back together this week for a 20-year reunion celebration.

Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, David Butler and Anderson Hunt, four of the five starters from UNLV's title team, are committed to attend. Stacey Augmon might also make an appearance.

An anniversary gala at 6 p.m. Monday at Green Valley Ranch tips off two days of events. The Legends & Friends Golf Classic starts at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Dragon Ridge Country Club.

Tarkanian and the team will be honored Tuesday night at halftime of the Rebels' exhibition game against Washburn (Kan.) at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"It means a lot to the players because when you have such a positive experience and win the national championship and have great memories from that, you always look forward to getting back and rekindling those memories and retelling those stories," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said.

"I think it's important for the fans, because the fans had a great time during the late '80s and '90s. The fans want to say thanks and relive those memories, too."

The Rebels finished the 1989-90 season with a 35-5 record and routed Duke 103-73 in the NCAA Tournament championship game. UNLV returned to the Final Four in 1991 and went 34-1, capping a two-year run that ranks among the greatest in college basketball history.

Tarkanian coached the Rebels from 1973 to 1992, compiling a 509-105 record in 19 years. But he was forced out after the 1991-92 season, and UNLV did not win another NCAA Tournament game until Kruger led the 2006-07 team to the Sweet 16.

Kruger has been behind the effort to reconnect the Rebels' storied past and present.

"I think Lon's doing a great job. I like the way he's brought the old players back," Tarkanian said.

Robert Smith, the point guard on UNLV's first Final Four team in 1976-77, said the future of the program will be enhanced by bringing back Johnson and other former greats.

"I think it's very important, and especially for the young kids coming in, it helps them to understand the history," said Smith, who debuts as the Rebels' radio analyst this season. "When you know this has been a great program, I think that will make guys really push themselves and step up, knowing that Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon were a part of that.

"It gives you a little more pride in what you're doing to know that there were winning teams here before you, so you want to keep that going. Back in the '70s and '80s and the '90s, these guys made that history and you want to keep that going.

"(Kruger) always has had the doors open for the alumni and the guys who have been here before, and I think that's what sets him apart from some of the other (coaches) who were here. I think he understands it's going to help the program along the way."

Whatever old wounds existed from Tarkanian's departure and the lean years that followed, many of them are healed.

Tarkanian, who turned 79 on Aug. 8, said he is recovering well from health problems that forced him into a lengthy hospital stay over the summer. And he's looking forward to the reunion.

"We had great guys and great players," he said. "I'm proud of all the guys. Everybody loves 'em."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0353.