Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian has had enough of coaching and this time he said he's serious.

	Tarkanian

Tarkanian, in his 31st season of coaching and seventh at Fresno State, said he plans on walking away from his alma mater at the end of the season and head back to his adopted hometown of Las Vegas or his condo in San Diego.

Tarkanian has groaned about leaving Fresno State before and could still change his mind. He retired after leaving UNLV for a brief NBA coaching stint with the San Antonio Spurs. He returned to the sidelines in the spring of 1995 when he took over and revived the Fresno State program.

"I don't think I can go any longer," said Tarkanian, who is looking forward to just watching games, visiting with friends, possibly doing some NBA scouting and television work. "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."

Tarkanian said leaving the sidelines for good hit him last week in Ruston, La., waiting for the Bulldogs to play Louisiana Tech.

"I woke up in the morning with my stomach in knots," Tarkanian said. "This has been going on since Christmas, when Melvin was out. Every morning. But on that last road trip, I sat in the hotel room and said, 'we're an underdog.' I'm 71 years old and we're an underdog. I was supposed to have a great team. But my players aren't here. It's no fun."

Tarkanian is referring to injuries and suspensions that have kept Fresno State's top players Melvin Ely, Chris Jeffries and Chris Sandy out of several games. As a result, Fresno State has struggled to play up to preseason expectations. The Bulldogs are 18-12 heading into Saturday's regular season finale against Hawaii.

Sources close to Fresno State's administration said the university has been encouraging him to leave, but weren't expected to announce anything until after the WAC tournament next week in Tulsa. Fresno State athletics director Scott Johnson declined to return calls to ESPN.com.

Tarkanian's replacement will be one of the most important hires for Johnson, named athletics 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.