Fresno State coaching milestones
Stories by Shirley Melikian Armbruster
Coaching careers don't get much better than this: 38 seasons, 778 Division 1 wins, top five career winning percentage.
Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian retires as one of the truly legendary coaches in college basketball.
He guided Fresno State to its first NCAA basketball appearance in 16 years, logged six consecutive 20-win seasons and a post-season bid each of his seven years as men's basketball coach. Along the way, Fresno State achieved a new level of national prominence.
"I greatly appreciate having had the opportunity to complete my coaching career at Fresno State," Tarkanian said. "It has been an honor to represent my alma mater and the Fresno community I love. I am extremely grateful to all those who made it possible.
"Most of the goals that I originally set when accepting the coaching position at Fresno State have been met," he said. "The completion of the Save Mart Center is a lasting legacy for all of us and I am pleased to continue as a consultant in its final development."
In his new role as senior development consultant with the Save Mart Center, Tarkanian will work with the University Advancement office to make contacts with prospective major gift donors, develop plans and strategies regarding key major gifts and assist the Save Mart Center staff in the sale of luxury suites and Personal Seat Licenses.
Tarkanian, who won the 2001 Don Haskins Award for WAC Coach of the Year, said he wishes he could have done more, but believes the foundation for a very strong basketball program has been established.
"We have upgraded our schedule to include schools among the best in the country. We have been in post-season playoffs all the years I've been at Fresno State," he said.
And Tarkanian is especially proud of his players' academic achievements.
"According to our Academic Services office, 67 percent of men's basketball scholarship athletes are now graduating, compared to 25 percent in the years 1991 to 1994 and our overall graduation rate is 48 percent, compared to 9 percent," he said.
Tarkanian's influence also has reached the university library. He and his wife, Lois, also a Fresno State graduate, donated $100,000 to the Madden Library in the spring of 1998 and initiated the "Baskets for Books" program.
Tarkanian, a native of Euclid, Ohio, attended Pasadena City College before transferring to Fresno State, where he played for the Bulldogs basketball team in 1954 and 1955. Following his graduation from Fresno State in 1955, he accepted his first coaching job in 1956 at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno. He also coached at two other California high schools, Antelope Valley in Lancaster and Redlands, prior to moving to Riverside City College.
He entered Division 1 coaching ranks at Long Beach State and then the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He guided both programs to the NCAA tournament and his 1990 UNLV team won the National Championship.
Tarkanian also holds a master's degree with honors in educational management from University of Redlands.
Margie Wright has reached the mountaintop and proclaims the view is, "Awesome."
The peak, for Fresno State's head softball coach, is 1,000 wins in NCAA Division 1 games. And not only is she there, Wright is the first 1,000-game softball coach in the country. She joins an elite group of 23 baseball coaches, including Fresno State's Bob Bennett, who have reached the milestone.
The Bulldogs' March 12 win against Tennessee Tech boosted Wright's 23-year record as a head coach to 1,000-329-3. Among those wins is the 1998 national title, the first of any Fresno State team.
As she typically does when asked about her many accomplishments, Wright turns the attention from herself to her players and staff.
"I am grateful to the players who made this a reality," she said. "A person can't accomplish something like this without great players, great assistants and a great support staff. I've been very fortunate to have them surround me."
Wright also credits her upbringing. She is from a family of 18 children where hard work and motivation were stressed.
"I'm very grateful for how I was brought up because that allowed me to persevere in the tough times and the good times - to never give up. I realize that this carried over into my profession because I can give direction to girls and young women, and they'll know that they have someone in their corner - not to give up on themselves. You work hard at everything you do. You do it the right way. You do it honestly. That's what 1,000 wins has been a result of."
Wright is a 1974 graduate of Illinois State University, where she was a four-year letter winner in softball and basketball, as well as a three-year letter winner in field hockey. As a junior, she guided the Redbirds to a second-place finish at the softball nationals, and that team was inducted into Illinois State's Athletic Hall of Fame in September 1998. She was head coach at Illinois State from 1980-86, when she came to Fresno State.
Wright says her newest accomplishment is very positive for the Bulldog program.
"From my early coaching days at Illinois State to the present, I feel that I have brought a sense of pride to both programs. To be the first to reach this plateau I can share my joy with all those involved."
Looking at her career, Wright said coaching at Fresno State has allowed her to reach several of her goals: "Build a stadium, win a national title, receive great community support and a special sense of loyalty that the community has toward me."
And she's not through. She looks forward to more games and more wins.
"I love softball, I love competition and I love my players. They are the ones who keep me going," she said.
Though Wright admits, "I eat, drink and sleep softball," she does have interests away from the softball diamond. She likes to read, walk, ride bicycles and watch old detective stories. Her favorites? "Matlock," "Perry Mason" and "Law and Order."
She's also written three books on coaching softball, has done dozens of videotapes on coaching and speaks to a variety of groups of all ages, on topics ranging from motivation to women's issues.
Back to University Journal, 4/02/02 Issue
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