In one week, college basketball loses two greats: Tarkanian and Smith

Retired University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian died today at age 84 after battling health issues. He was hospitalized Monday in Las Vegas with breathing difficulties, according to his son Danny Tarkanian.

“He fought and fought and fought,” Danny Tarkanian said.

Fighting is precisely was Tarkanian was known for, both on and off the court. The coach led the Runnin’ Rebels to four Final Fours in the NCAA tournament and won the national championship in 1990. He spent long years fighting the NCAA, as well.

He was the second of two beloved retired college basketball coaches to die in the past week. Former University of North Carolina (UNC) coach Dean Smith died peacefully Saturday, according to a statement by his family. Tarkanian is almost known more for his near-constant fighting with the NCAA than for his championship season. The organization put California State University, Long Beach on probation after Tarkanian left for UNLV and began zeroing in on the Runnin’ Rebels soon thereafter. Tarkanian eventually ended up beating the NCAA after he sued the organization for trying to run him out of college basketball and collected $2.5 million in settlements. But the coach never forgave the NCAA for its treatment of him during his years of coaching.

“They’ve been my tormentors my whole life,” Tarkanian said at his retirement news conference in 2002. “It will never stop.”

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was a longtime friend of Tarkanian and summed up his fighting spirit by saying he responded to NCAA bullying by “fighting until they cried, ‘uncle.’”

In 2013, Tarkanian was finally elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Fellow coaches said the honor was long overdue, especially considering a 509-105 record in 19 seasons. He was hospitalized at the time for heart and other health problems, but took the stage using a walker at the induction ceremony.

The night before he died, fans attending UNLV’s game draped towels over the statue of Tarkanian on the campus. Tarkanian is depicted the way he could be found during games—chewing on a towel while supporting his team from the sidelines.

Former UNC coach Smith also left a legacy in the basketball world; more than 50 of his players went onto play professionally. Michael Jordan called Smith, “my mentor, my teacher, my second father.” While Jordan might be his most famous player, other basketball luminaries Smith coached include: Phil Ford, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Vince Carter, and Antawn Jamison, along with a line of coaches who made it to the hall of fame.

Smith’s impact was not limited to the game.

“There are so many things I could say about Coach Dean Smith,” Worthy tweeted Sunday, “but simply put, he is the greatest man I’ve ever known.”

Smith became heavily involved in the Civil Rights movement in his teenage years, when he unsuccessfully attempted to desegregate his high-school basketball team in Topeka, Kan. While his first attempt might not have achieved the desired results, his later work left a significant impact. Under Smith’s leadership, Charles Scott became the first black scholarship athlete to play for UNC in 1967. President Barack Obama awarded Smith the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 for his work in the Civil Rights movement.

“He stood on solid footing, whether it was popular or not,” former UNC player Eric Montross said, “because he believed in it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.