Shark Attack: Jerry Tarkanian and His Battle with the NCAA and UNLV

Jerry Tarkanian is the winningest coach in college basketball history–but this was not enough to save his job. The political waters at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas were too deep and too infested with human sharks for him to survive. Given no choice, Jerry Tarkanian resigned, effective at the end of the 1991-1992 season. But all the questions surrounding Tarkanian’s departure were never answered–some were never even asked. Until now. Why did UNLV’s president, Robert Maxson, and athletic director, Dennis Finfrock, seek to drive Tarkanian from UNLV? Why did the NCAA target Tarkanian for a nonstop witchhunt? Who was responsible for secretly feeding information–all crushing to Tarkanian, much of it untrue or slanted–to the media? And why didn’t Tarkanian see any of it coming? Don Yaeger’s Shark Attack tells the shocking story of the scandal that dominated national headlines and of the well-orchestrated multimedia effort, marked by greed, betrayal, and dirty tricks, that eventually toppled Tarkanian. It is the tale of one man’s love and dedication to basketball–and the tale of his enemies, respected members of the college community, who could not stoop too low to destroy him. Finally, Shark Attack is the story of the Runnin’ Rebels, who played the game at a level above them all, and who lived on the cutting edge.