{"id":432072,"date":"2015-02-11T17:03:48","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T22:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=432072"},"modified":"2022-10-04T14:08:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T19:08:19","slug":"jerry-tarkanians-swagger-second-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jerry-tarkanians-swagger-second-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"Jerry Tarkanian’s Swagger of the Second Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Coach Comes to Fresno.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Boys, look over there. \u00a0It’s Coach!” said my mom. \u00a0“Matthew, Mark. \u00a0Go introduce yourselves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just the evening before the headlining story on KMPH Fox 26 news was that a new coach was in town for the Fresno State Bulldogs. \u00a0Growing up in the mid-90s in “The Best\u00a0Little\u00a0City\u00a0in the U.S.A.”, the mention of our town or our beloved Bulldogs rarely happened outside of the San Joaquin\u00a0Valley, but that all changed with the return of Jerry Tarkanian to Fresno in 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I grew up a Bulldog in many ways that few can relate to. \u00a0Born to two business professors at Fresno State, some of my earliest memories come from playing in the offices of my parents or the “hand-off” between my parents as one would finish teaching and the other would begin. \u00a0My godparents\u00a0taught at Fresno State, my brother’s godparents too, and all of our closest family friends all had ties to the school in one way or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social gatherings often centered around Fresno State athletics. More than just cheering for the home team or the school you taught at, with the field of study that my parents and their friends taught, classes were filled with student-athletes including many players on the basketball roster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Excuse me, sir. Are you ‘Tark the Shark’?” asked my younger brother, Mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Why, yes! \u00a0YES, I AM,” said Coach Jerry Tarkanian with a smile that stretched across his face. \u00a0“And what are both of your names?” \u00a0He insisted to know. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lucky for us, we both had some Fresno State fanny packs which he\u00a0offered to sign for us. \u00a0In addition, he had a special surprise for both my brother and me when he handed us a special edition “Tark Towel” that was left over from a corporate banquet held the night before sponsored by a local credit union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we go further into what was to come for the city of Fresno and Bulldog fans, let us look back at the years leading up to Coach Tarkanian’s return to Fresno in 1995 – his second chance after being forced out of college hoops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n