Fresno State Coach Jerry Tarkanian example essay topic

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Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian will announce his retirement from coaching Friday after a 31-coaching career, the past seven seasons at Fresno State, a source close to Tarkanian told ESPN. com on Thursday. Tarkanian's attorney met with Fresno State president John Welty Thursday and the three are expected to meet again later Thursday to finalize the details of his retirement. A source close to the 71-year old Tarkanian said he would be retained as a consultant at Fresno State -- his alma mater -- at an estimated salary over $100,000 for two years. A source also said the floor at the Save Mart Center, set to be finished in 2003, would also be named for Tarkanian.

A source close to Tarkanian said he was worn down after Wednesday night's first-round postseason NIT loss to Temple at Sell and Arena. Tarkanian will end his career with 778 wins and 202 losses in 31 seasons. He entered the season as the fourth active winning est coach in Division I and he entered the season as the top active winning est coach by percentage at. 802, but that dropped to. 794 after the 19-15 season. The 19 wins prevented him from getting his 30th 20-win season.

Tarkanian took three different teams at Long Beach State, UNLV and Fresno State to 18 NCAA Tournaments. He went to four Final Fours, including one national championship with UNLV in 1990. He took Fresno State to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2000 and '01, the first time the Bulldogs had been to the NCAAs since 1984. The program had only been to the NCAAs three times prior to Tarkanian's arrival. He also raised the first $1 million for the Save Mart Center. Fresno State ended its season Wednesday night with an 81-75 loss to Temple in the NIT.

The Bulldogs finished 19-15, only the second time in Tarkanian's 31 years in Division I that his team failed to win 20 games. After the game, Temple coach John Chaney grabbed a microphone and praised Tarkanian. 'I'm saddened to see him leave,' Chaney said. 'Talk, I love you!' Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN. com. The Associated Press contributed to this report..