Jerry Tarkanian had visions of a Final Four run when the 2001-02 season started. Next week, however, he'll likely slip into his second retirement on the heels of a season that never materialized. A season that kept testing his fervor to continue coaching.

"I don't think I can go any longer," said the 71-year-old Tarkanian. "I've gotten lazy recruiting wise. And there has been too much pain and agony. I have had such a difficult season. There has been so much promise. I'm just fed up with it."

	Will Jerry Tarkanian's 31st season be his last?

Before his Fresno State players even started classes, preseason Wooden All-American candidate point guard Tito Maddox was dismissed from the program for accepting extra benefits from an agent. Maddox's backup, point Chris Sandy, was then deemed academically ineligible for the first semester.

But even without Sandy, the Bulldogs reached the Preseason NIT consolation game. The Bulldogs would beat USC, lose to Wake Forest on a buzzer-beater and rebound to beat Michigan State in the consolation game. Without a point guard, the Bulldogs went 2-1 against three teams now headed to the NCAA Tournament.

But Fresno State won't be joining them in the dance -- at least not without the WAC's automatic bid. Why? Well, the season continued to go south when the Bulldogs returned from New York.

Wooden All-American candidate center Melvin Ely was suspended for two games by the school, then reinstated for two and then suspended by the NCAA for four more for an extra benefit. The Bulldogs lost three of the four games Ely missed in his second suspension.

Ely contested that a friend of his accepted the benefit, not him, taking a hotel room from the same agent that provided Maddox with the benefits during a pre-draft workout last spring. Like Maddox, Ely didn't declare for the draft and returned for his senior season.

But while Ely was cleared the play, the news only got worse for the Bulldogs when Chris Jefferies (17.3 ppg) tore cartilage in his knee on Jan. 26. The Bulldogs are 4-5 since losing Jeffries. Sandy's situation then got more muddled when he was deemed ineligible for an extra benefit on paying for a correspondence class. Sandy (5.9 apg) has missed the past five games, with the Bulldogs going 2-3 without him.

Sandy might return for the WAC tournament. Jefferies is doubtful to return and has been rehabilitating in the Bay Area while floating back and forth to Fresno.

"The whole team has been dismantled," Tarkanian said. "This should have been my best team. We beat USC, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, won at SMU, but have lost games at the buzzer to Reno, Boise State, Louisiana Tech, Wake Forest. It's been such a painful season. I was an optimist. I thought we'd have a great season and I could get Danny (Tarkanian) the job (his assistant)." Instead, the Bulldogs will not go to three straight NCAA Tournaments unless Fresno State wins the WAC tournament. And, Tarkanian said, he doesn't expect his son to get the job, saying he would recommend that Danny get out of coaching and go back to Las Vegas into the business community.

"I feel for Sandy and Melvin because I think they were singled out and made ineligible only because they were playing for me," Tarkanian said. "It's difficult to handle. There was no justification for holding them out. The kids are getting screwed for playing for me. Both of them deserve to play. They were punished unfairly."

But why is this different than another year when Tarkanian was frustrated over eligibility issues in the past? Fresno State has dealt with this issue over the years with plenty of high-profile players. When the losing mounted during the middle of a season, or a loss in the WAC tournament, or when there was a point-shaving investigation, Tarkanian thought about walking away but never did. Why now?

"Because I'm older now," Tarkanian said. "I anticipated this season being a great year and this would be a perfect time to step aside. It's just been one thing after another. When Melvin and Tito said they were coming back I was really excited to be back, because I knew Chris Jefferies would be back too. But then all that stuff knocked us on our ass."

	“	I anticipated this season being a great year, and this would be a perfect time to step aside. It's just been one thing after another ... that knocked us on our ass. It's sad that we might not win 20 games because this should have been my best team in Fresno. ”
		— Jerry Tarkanian, Fresno State head coach

Regardless of what anyone's opinion is of Tarkanian, he remains one of the winningest coaches of all time and the most accessible to anyone in the media. Tarkanian, a yearly Hall of Fame candidate, won a national title at UNLV and put that program on the map, essentially getting the Thomas & Mack Center built. He did the same at Fresno State, resurrecting a stagnant program and getting the school national publicity -- for good or bad -- that it never had before he arrived.

The Bulldogs got to the NCAA Tournament two seasons ago for the first time since 1984. They returned in 2001. They were on national television countless times. They were in the postseason every one of his previous six seasons. And the Bulldogs have begun to build the Save Mart Center on campus, which wouldn't have happened without Tarkanian.

"Everybody in town says I saved the program when I came here," Tarkanian said. "We raised millions for the program, sold out the arena and I raised the first million for the new arena. We even donated $100,000 to the library (from Tarkanian's $2.5 million settlement with the NCAA). Everyone tells me the arena wouldn't have happened without me.

"I'm happy with all of that," Tarkanian said. "But I just wish we would have been to the final eight once or the Final Four. It's sad that we might not win 20 games (the Bulldogs are 18-12 with a game against Hawaii, the WAC tournament and possibly the NIT) because this should have been my best team in Fresno."

But Tarkanian said he has renewed a number of friendships in Fresno and knows that he has left the Bulldogs a better job than when he arrived. The men's and women's basketball and volleyball team are the only high-profile teams at the school without state-of-the-art facilities. That will change with the Save Mart Center.

"The new arena will make this a good job with great offices and facilities," Tarkanian said. "I'm ready for the pasture, just send me out. I'll go watch some college football games. That's what I really want to do."

Tarkanian's replacement will be one of the most important hires for athletic director Scott Johnson, named athletic director last month. The favorite is UC Irvine's Pat Douglass with San Francisco's Phil Mathews, Cal State-Northridge's Bobby Braswell all expected to be in the hunt. The top assistant on Johnson's list will likely be UCLA's Jim Saia, a former Fresno State assistant who has coveted the job for years, like football coach Pat Hill did when he left as an assistant and returned as the head coach.

Tarkanian ranks fourth all-time with 777 career victories, 152 of those coming at Fresno State, where he's guided the Bulldogs to the the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. His greatest seasons, however, came during 19 seasons at UNLV. His teams won 509 games, the 1990 national championship, and advanced to the Final Four four times in 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Arkansas' hope for the future
Whatever the coaching situation is next season, Arkansas will be in transition.

The Hogs lose leading scorers Jannero Pargo and Brandon Dean off this season's team. But Arkansas has a five-player newcomer class that could make the Hogs a contender in the SEC West in the coming years. Andre Iguodala (Springfield, Ill.) is a 6-foot-6 wing who can deliver the mid-range game, the stick backs that Arkansas misses this season from Joe Johnson, the sophomore wing who was drafted by the Boston Celtics last June before being traded to Phoenix last week.

"He's got a chance to play right away," Arkansas assistant Mike Anderson said. "Andre is multi-dimensional. He's similar to Joe Johnson but he's a better athlete than Joe and he can play any of the five positions on the floor."

Iguodala has the in-between game, too, that is missing on the Hogs. Pargo and Dean are perimeter threats but don't get the stick backs that Johnson got nor are as good a defender.

The Razorbacks also brought in a trio of players from South Florida in 6-5 Wenbos Mukubu, a defensive pest, 6-9 Rashard Sullivan, who can give the Hogs an inside presence, and power forward Brandon Tobias, who is a board man and could provide the offensive stick backs. Jonathan Modica, a 6-5 wing from Smackover, Ark., is a scorer and was the best player in the state.

Committee studying lower-profile bubble teams
The selection committee members are bringing to Indianapolis a list of their favorites, but there are a few teams that sources within the committee say will have a hard time winning over the 10-member staff if they don't win their tournament.

Tulsa is 0-4 against the top 50 and doesn't own a "marquee win." BYU has the high RPI in the top 40 and the Cougars are 3-4 against the top 50, but losing to Wyoming Thursday meant they've got six Mountain West losses. Southern Illinois could feel the sting of winning 24 games and not making the tournament if the committee isn't sold on the win over Indiana and a sweep of Creighton. The Salukis have an RPI closer to 60 than 40. Ball State's loss to Northern Illinois at home Wednesday might have kissed off the Cardinals' at-large chances.

The same is true of Utah State losing to Pacific. The Aggies beat BYU and Utah, but Utah State will get knocked for not going out and scheduling games like Pepperdine and Gonzaga. The committee wants to see the Aggies make those choices. Playing the two in-state schools are essentially mandated and don't really count. They've got to go on the road like Butler, Ball State and Western Kentucky and play some teams to get recognition. One comment from was that the Aggies did nothing to enhance their schedule in the games they had a choice.

The untouchable mid-major teams seem to be Kent State, Pepperdine, Gonzaga, Western Kentucky and likely Butler.

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