UNLV's Fearless Freddie Banks: Inspiring Journey from Player to Coach

We had the incredible opportunity to chat with Coach Freddie Banks, a Las Vegas native who's made a lasting impact as a player and now as a coach at Canyon Springs High School. From his humble beginnings on the blacktop in fifth grade, Coach Banks shares his inspiring journey through high school, college, and his pro career that led him to become the influential mentor he is today.

But Coach Banks' passion for the sport doesn't stop at coaching; he's also dedicated to shining a light on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through the creation of the HBCU High School Basketball Jam. Discover the motivation behind this groundbreaking event and how it's opening doors for young athletes on the West Coast to be recruited by these vital institutions.

Finally, get a taste of college basketball history as we reminisce about UNLV's unforgettable 1987 Final Four run and the powerful lessons learned from that experience. Listen in as Coach Banks provides an insider's look into the growth of Las Vegas as a sports city and shares his ongoing dedication to the game of basketball. Don't miss this enriching conversation with the one and only 'Fearless Freddie' Banks!

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Transcript

Aaron Meyer: Today we've got Coach Freddie Banks today, a native of Las Vegas and a graduate of Valley High School Quite simply one of the smoothest shooters ever to wear the UNLV run and revel uniform. Welcome to the show, freddie. How are you? 

Freddie Banks: Thank you, Aaron. I appreciate it. I'm going well. Thanks for asking. 

Speaker 1: Wonderful. Hey, let's start out where we always do with your basketball origin story, because you're still in the game. So how did you get started and how has it kept you involved all these years later? 

Speaker 2: Well, i got started in the game at an early, early age, around the fifth grade, and one of the guys who looked at me on the black top because everybody had black tops And that's where you got your game from on the black top. So he see me on the black top and he's wondering hey, i'm that kid and that was me. And he went to talk to my parents. My parents say, hey, if you want him, you got to pick him up every day and you got to drop him off every day. Because I'm not doing it. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, we talk about that all the time, so you're in the fifth grade. How old was the other guy? 

Speaker 2: They was around the same age as me 56 graders And so we had a pretty good team When I was playing. I was one of those guys that played like. They took my play like the Boston Celtic. Gottlieb left handed I can't think of his name right now Gottlieb White Jojo. 

Speaker 1: White, Jojo White OK. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, just come up and pull up on a dime and just full speed. just stop and pull up, and I was doing that and then I learned that through high school and from high school to college and college to pro. So now that I'm coaching this game for 20 years at the high school on Medicaid and Springs, i love it, man. I would not turn anything else from this. I love it. 

Speaker 1: And are you guys playing outside in Las Vegas? 

Speaker 2: No, we don't play inside Las Vegas. We do sometime, because you know when, once they reach surface of my floor, they're going to do something to it I'll take them out of my bed and I'm going to say, hey look, this is where I started from. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, the temperature is there. There's a lot of hydrating needed out there. 

Speaker 2: Yes, well, it's not too hot today. I think we're in the 80s or 90s today. It's not that hot today. 

Speaker 1: We'll see you in Indiana. That's, that's plenty hot. We get that like three months a year. That's it. 

Speaker 2: Yes, yes. 

Speaker 1: OK, so I want to stay in the present day and talk a little bit about a tournament that you're getting going, because you sent me some information about it And we did a series for Black History Month on the game of change and talked a lot about Bill Russell at San Francisco, and I think this is just a. There's just more awareness of HBCUs and black history in general with basketball And there's a lot, a lot more stories to tell in there. So what, what got your inaugural HBCU high school basketball jam? Where did the idea come from? And then just tell us a little bit about it. 

Speaker 2: Well, what came about on me is that and I hate to put you on the on the bad side of the whole story, but it is what it is What it is. I mean, i love my university, but the thing is that I've been coaching at Canterbury for 20 years and they haven't came in to recruit any of my children yet, and so that's a lot of folks I tell the story to this. They said it's sad, but now it's time to move to a different way of getting kids looked at, getting them a scholarship somewhere, and I thought about the HBCU. And it came about because, as human beings, no matter what color you are, you need to learn what your where your ancestors came from. And so I came up with this idea one day and said you know, i'm going to go to the HBCU Now, when Dion was doing his part, could? 

Speaker 2: Dion did a great job of getting it started. Yeah, he did, but I just want to, just because they don't recruit on the West Coast at all, yeah, so they always in the Midwest, the East Coast, but never on the West Coast. So I'm sure to start something new here in Las Vegas, on the West Coast, and start getting the HBCU to come in Now. The event that I'm putting together was started. Hopefully, i got a lot of backing up on it. Right now I'm just trying to get some more. The funding part of it is not the easy thing to do, because you have to get sponsorship to get this thing off the ground, and so now I'm thinking that I will get off the ground by December. That's awesome. 

Speaker 1: That's awesome. Well, i will put links to both those documents that you shared out to So, if anyone's interested. You had even, like, individual scholarships in there, so a lot, of, a lot of good opportunities there for people to get involved or even, if you're in the area, to go to it. I know we every once in a while out to Las Vegas for a trade show or something like that, so if it lines up, i'd love to come see it too, because absolutely, absolutely. 

Speaker 2: When you're in town and I'm still here, please, please, feel free to give me a call. I'm, my door is always open. 

Speaker 1: Basketball in Las Vegas, in Las Vegas in general, it's just really like exploding right now, feels like in the kind of cultural consciousness, with all the post sports that have moved there, it just seems like a different city than it was a couple of decades ago. Imagine you're feeling that too. 

Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. You know, i was just telling a couple of friends of mine that you know, now they get rid of the brain is a baseball team and tearing down a hotel, a hotel. How can you tear down a hotel that's been up for so many years, that got a capacity of people coming in and love the hotel, and then you're going to tear down and build a baseball field? Man, that's on serve, yeah. And so I was like you know, now you got a baseball, you got a hockey, excuse me. And then you got the WNBA. Next would be a NBA team. So Las Vegas is growing. 

Speaker 2: And it's a 24 city. People don't sleep. If you don't sleep, that's on you, but they don't sleep. They don't sleep So. But it is growing And I've seen a lot of different things that came up in Las Vegas so far that I still wait for my stay away from the university because there's a lot of stuff over there Change. I stay away from the strips because that's changing, but I just try to stay in my my you know my own area to know why I'm going and coming. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, I hear that You know, and when you're a local you know where, you know your spots and you can then, you don't. You don't need to be wandering around to where all the tourists are. 

Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely. 

Speaker 1: Let's go back in time, So talk a little bit about you and the program in the 80s. How did you end up there to begin with? I know you grew up in Vegas, but how did you get connected with the university there and why did you end up picking it out of the school? because I'm sure you had a bunch that were looking at you. 

Speaker 2: Well, wow, i had a lot of schools back in those days in the early 80s. The reason why I chose to stay home because my mother and father are still living. That's awesome, you know. For them they've been married 68 years, 16 years, incredible. So I just wanted them to see me for the last four years of my college career. And I said you know what? every school Iowa, nebraska just named a few, you know was after me And I said you know what? I'm going to stay home, let my family see me for another four years and I'm going to just do what I have to do to make them proud. And I stayed home. 

Speaker 2: Coach Clark came in to recruit me in my front door, told my mom and dad what he was going to do and he kept his word and I thank him for that. That's amazing. It was really a treat to play in your hometown. People in the Thomas Mac were just being built. I was the first freshman to play in the Thomas Mac Awesome. And every single game it was sold out, every game Amazing. And I was getting people to call me and say, coach, you got a ticket. You got a ticket. You got a ticket. Man, i don't have any tickets? I don't have any, so it was amazing. But I really enjoyed what Coach Clark did, even my high school coach, because my high school coach was a excuse. My friends was a rooster some of them where he did not cook up with any of my men, he didn't care who I was, he just wanted the best of me and I thank him for that too. But it was a great year and everything for me and your nephew. 

Speaker 1: So the nickname the fearless Freddie, because I saw that on the HBC, where, where, where? because we met often, like the era of nicknames seems to have. You know, everybody's just Katie, or you know just a couple of initials, but fearless Freddie, that's one you want to hang on to. So where'd you get that? Did you get that on the playground or somewhere else? 

Speaker 2: No, i got that from Coach Clark, actually, coach Clark. Basically we was in Utah State and I think I was a sophomore No, i was a freshman. I was a freshman at the time And we was playing. We went to triple overtime and they kept following me and kept following me And I go to the line, i make my free throws and we kept staying ahead and staying ahead And then when the game was over, he was so excited he started calling me fearless Freddie, fearless Freddie. So that stuck with me from this day on. I even had that on my license plate I'm carrying on from today. It's a beautiful thing to you know for someone to give you a name that you looked up to as a coach and give you a fearless Freddie, yeah that's definitely a mentality thing too, that a coach, every coach, appreciates. 

Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely. 

Speaker 1: So, all right, let's talk a little bit about Tark. What did you know about him before he started recruiting you, and how did that kind of perception match up with the reality when you got to know him on a regular basis or interacted with him regularly? 

Speaker 2: Well, when I first came in counter with Coach Tark, he came to Valley to watch me play a couple of times and I liked what they was doing. They was running the gun and they was playing defense And that would make me say, you know, I can fit into this kind of system. Here I'm going to stay home. And so when I seen one of my idols who's a local talent guy too Matter of fact, it was Fulham local talents older than me, Sutton Sam Smith was 1970s, 77. Michael Spiderman Burns was also in that category When I seen them play and how they was run up down the court, I said, man, I'm going to be one of them. 

Speaker 2: And so back in the 70s, 77, they didn't have three point shooting back then when they was playing and they was averaging over 100 some points. And I said, wow, I know I can shoot long range too. And so I said I'm going to stay home because I know, Tark, that you shoot. So I didn't understand home and playing under Danny Tarkin in the first year and in the second year. And he said I'm going to get a host team to you, Freddie, and you just run it. And that's what he did, Not thinking for it. 

Speaker 1: That's awesome. 

Speaker 2: Yes. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, so stick with the three point shot. How did that impact things at UNLV and fit into like the style, because I think that I mean watching the games, i don't know. It becomes a little hyperbole to think like modern basketball was invented. We'll talk a little bit about that final four game, but man, that looks still so modern to this day, like just the way that you guys are playing the speed, the pace, just kind of letting it fly, like you said. 

Speaker 2: First of all, you have to have a good point guard, and the point guard is the one that can find you in every spot that you go to. My point guard and I still talk to him today Mark Wade. Mark Wade came in when I was a junior and me and him are the best, best friends, so we were roommates. We played in high school against each other And he just knew I was at all times. And then just coming down fast pace, pulling up a three. He just just something that Tark always wanted us to do. He never told me to stop shooting. He always told me you keep shooting. No matter how many you miss, keep shooting, and I loved him for that too. But if you don't have a point guard that can find you behind that three point line, it's not going to work. But if you can create your own, that's a plus. But I also created my own also, but if you didn't get close to me, it was going up quickly and fast. 

Speaker 1: You're that neon green light from talking. 

Speaker 2: That's nice. 

Speaker 1: That is a that does help a shooter. I think the mentality I often see like the best shooting teams have a coach that has that understands that shooters can get hot and cold And if you're, you know they've seen you enough in practice to know like, okay, this guy, if he misses a couple, the next one's going in. And just to foster that mentality Yes. 

Speaker 2: Well, it's a lot of work too, also because you know you got to stay in the gym and I was always in the gym early in the morning. then come in to practice, shoot some more. You got to put up in and Kobe Bryant said the best. you put enough. 500s of a thousand shots. That's a lot of shots putting up, but you're getting your work in And I encourage all the young people out there stay in the gym, be a gym rat, because there's nothing better to be in a gym rat putting up shots, getting your focus, learning how to use your legs, because a lot of folks don't use their legs. They use their arms more than their legs, and my sister, coach Tim Gerridge, told me use your legs, use your legs. Your arm has come. just use your legs. And that's how all my shots was falling, because I was using my legs and my arms. I love that. I love that. 

Speaker 1: You know, i think one of the most underrated things in basketball is like the how teammates fit on and off the court. You mentioned Wade, but how did the? what was the vibe like with the rest of the team? Were you guys close? or especially that 87, that 86, 87 campaign. 

Speaker 2: Wow. And you know, we, we was like brothers. We basically didn't know what we was doing in the 87 year And that was our senior year We didn't know what we'd known. We just all said we just want to make to the final four. And once we got there, we didn't know what we was doing. But we did get there, but we was all brothers. We, we spent time together, we ate together, we played together. Anything at the university we've done, we did. And from this day I keep up with Eldridge Hudson, jarvis Bass Knight, gary Graham, armand Gielin Rest in Peace because he passed away Mark Wade, jero Patio. I keep in contact with every one of my teammates as of today. That's cool. 

Speaker 1: I think that's such a special thing. You know you, you, you see, in modern basketball a lot of teams put together, even like in the AAU circuit, a lot of guys just are pulled together And you know you, you see the talent and obviously that wins out in a lot of situations. But the NCAA tournament is a weird thing And I think even in like the NBA, where you see these teams that have been together for a few years, there's a cohesion. No, like I think you hit on it with Wade Like he knew where you were. That comes from playing together too, like not just from being a good point guard. 

Speaker 1: But that's like I know where you're, you like the ball, i know where you like to shoot from and that you're going to go to. Even unconsciously, you know, and I think that's so important for basketball players. 

Speaker 2: Yes, it is, and, like I said, he he knows when I'm coming because he's always look back and you know I was coming and he just handed it off to me or he just do it to me one, two, so he knows me very well. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, Did you? so you said you had the goal of the final four. Was that a team goal that you guys put together or coaches? 

Speaker 2: No, it wasn't. Yeah, it wasn't a goal at all. I mean, we just played hard because you know, we was undefeated until we played Oklahoma and Indiana. 37-2 was a very good record. We could have went 40-0, but you know, unfortunately we didn't come up, came up short. But the thing is that the guys that we played, we just practiced hard, we beat up on each other, we fought each other and we made each other better, and that's what we did. But when we got to the final four we were so happy that we'd beat Iowa because we were down by almost 20. And once we beat Iowa we said oh man, we're here. So you know, going a little early to the final four in 1987, i think it kind of opened our eyes a little bit, because you know you're on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, man, you don't go out and have your good time, and I think we kind of party too much. 

Speaker 1: Amazing, amazing. Yeah, i talked to Hillman and that was one of the things that he said that Coach Knight did was that he wouldn't take them down there. He like took them down there at the last, very last minute And then they stayed outside of the city too on the prior to the final four games. That's interesting. It sure didn't look like it slowed you guys down in that game. I have to say, if you were going to go even faster than that, you guys were moving pretty well. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, we were. We did move pretty fast, but again, we usually have at least two to three people score as many as 10 points And we didn't have that at all. All the guys scored below 10. We looked at them to get over 10 because we ain't losing to Indiana by four, because right now I hold the record as most threes And Mark Ray record just got beat the other week And Armand and I both try to hold the team together because I finished with 38 and he finished with 34. And so we just didn't come up. We came on short because the guys that we did see to score points was drill patio or Elger Huston or George Bassnate, and they all came on short. That's on the Yeah, all right. 

Speaker 1: Give me a, give me a Tark story from that that 86, 87, because I'm always curious how he pushes. You know, great coaches like him push players after wins and losses And you never, you guys never lost. So I'm curious like just a general story about him or one where he, how he kept you guys motivated Cause you, you know, as a coach like you guys, you know win streak. It's kind of like guys get a little bit, just start to assume they're going to win almost. 

Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't more of, so we thought we was going to win. We just knew that once we get on the court it's time to play basketball. It was like almost a business to all of us because the next level was someone to make it to the pro level. But when we got on the court and listen to Tark Tark, he let us be ourself. But we always would tip my head off to Tim Gerrach, who was assistant coach, and he always went to coach Gerrach on everything that you know supposed to do on the court or off the court. He always went to coach Gerrach. But Tark kind of served us in and out, so we did a good job. 

Speaker 2: When he came in and out of the game It was each one of us, but his stories is it's unbelievable. I mean, he just go out to get the inner city kids. He didn't go out and get the diaper Dan kind of kids, he went out to get the inner city kids to play for him And those inner city kids didn't have a chance to make it to anyone else, so he gave all of them a chance to play. I didn't have too many inner city kids with me playing when the years I was playing, but I had a great group of kids that played with me, like Gary Graham for playing for Dunbar, george Bassnate was in California playing I forgot the name of his school and Mark Wade So it's a number of those guys. Elgin Hudson, you know, he was the next Magic Johnson until he chose ACL up. So I played with some good guys, but not no, no, no, no, no those kids that he really really gave everybody the opportunity to play. That's interesting, yeah. 

Speaker 1: So what was a day in the life of a UNLV running revel then Like what was your guys day like now? Because it seems like it's changed so much. You know they have like our rules in for college players, But what was it like for you guys at that time? 

Speaker 2: Well, you know, the NCAA was so tight on everything and we couldn't do too much of anything. But as a young man coming in from miles and miles away, it was kind of hard for them to survive. We all got our scholarship checks and different things like that. But nowadays, they giving them scholarship check, they giving them a tuition kind of money, they give them so much money They don't even have to go to pro because they can pay them, and so we didn't get that. If you got paid any type of money, it was under the table and no one knew. And so now you got to do all that, they just giving it to you, and nothing happened. 

Speaker 2: But the NCAA was really, really bad in those days because of a Coast Guard He'd been fighting for the against the NCAA for a Christ in time and won his case. But now you know it was bad. But the kids are different kids. Now I see it and they fight me, as you know, as a coach that's been there And I'm like I would not and I would not put my name on you if you don't do what I tell you to do. 

Speaker 1: So that's all. That's all the school approach. But they need it. They still kids still need it. You know, yeah, real. Then All right. So you guys start out 15 and 0, you're ranked number one in the country and you go into that Oklahoma game. What sticks out to you about that first loss of the season? How did that play out inside the locker room? 

Speaker 2: You know what, to be honest with you, all we did was we went into the locker room. We all digitalized what had happened. Gary Graham shot the three. It was actually a three, they called it a two. And then, if we would, because I think we ended up losing by two that Oklahoma, and so we didn't hold our heads down. We knew we that loss kind of helped us, because when you lose a game it just brings the commodity of your team together, yeah, closer, and that's what it did to us, because that's the day we didn't lose any more games. We went straight through the tournaments and different things in our bracket and then we went to the final four And we just stayed together because we should have had not made it to the final four with Iowa. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. 

Speaker 2: Go there. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, so you go, you get to that Iowa team. Seven eventual pros on that Iowa team. I think people might not hear Iowa and pro teams, but they had BJ Armstrong who played with Jordan. You guys are down 16 at half. Yes, what in the world? How'd you guys come out on top? 

Speaker 2: Well, well, we went into the locker room. You know normally Coach Tucker coming to the locker room, he has a scream here, he has his boots on here, kicked the wall, he stole the chalk. He didn't say anything, he said. He said, gentlemen, he said this is on your court. You know what you got to do to come back. So before that, before that even happened, i spoke to Roy Marble I think it was Roy Marble or Kevin Gammon, one of them, and I was shooting, well, and I told him in a half time I said you know what? I'll be back, like Ornus Washington. They said I'll be back. So once Juro Patel hit his first three, that opened the door for me to hit mines. And we just fought our way back and you know, beating them by. I can't remember what we beat, i would buy, but we ended up cutting back and beating them down by 20. And that was the first big comeback we had since I've been playing at YunaV Amazing. 

Speaker 1: Well, what was the prep for? let's go back a little bit. What was the prep for the NCAA tournament? like the you know going into it, cause you've had this amazing season now, so you might not have been thinking championship or final four at the beginning of the season, but surely you know, going into that you had to at least have some, some aspirations for it. 

Speaker 2: Well, we did. We all had aspirations for getting to the final four, but once we got there, we were like, wow, we're here now. So what are we going to do? The Jarvis Batten I brought it to our attention He said he said, fred, i didn't know what to do cause it was all the lights and the cameras and the people and all the people. You see it. Just, you know, even though we're in Vegas, we don't get out like that, yeah, in the city of Las Vegas to see all the lights. But when you see all that, you like, wow, this is really the final four. And so all the guys was, you know, not paranoid, but they was excited, they was, they was on their own, we were doing what we like to do And that's party together, enjoy our life and just play basketball. 

Speaker 1: Interesting. That's crazy, yeah, okay, okay. The week, the week leading up to the final four in New Orleans, what? when you know, get, walk me through it. When did you guys get there? What was the prep like for it? Like, what was, what was coach Tark talking about? about this Hoosiers team? Like what, what did you guys think about them before, before the game? 

Speaker 2: Well, we he didn't really talk about the Hoosiers team at all. We just know that they have Steve Arthur, which is a good player, And we just concentrate on what he does on the court and how he gets his shots off and then different things like that. We just prepare for them for a whole week or two And then we just get on a plane and flew up to Orleans and just did our game plan. The game plan was to stop him and and hold everybody else to whatever we can hold them to, But the plan was didn't happen as much as that we wanted to. He still got his 30, some points, but the rest of them just made freak those down the line. So when you file someone, you go to the line and make it freak those. That's a good thing. You mentioned two of the guys. Can't think of his name now. You just mentioned Tumi Myers Adamon. 

Speaker 1: Is that his name? 

Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah yeah, he was Joe. That was his first name, joe. 

Speaker 1: Oh, joe Hillman, Joe Hillman, yeah Joe. 

Speaker 2: Hillman. He came in and played well. Can't think of another guy named He's a 69, power forward to. He came in and played well And there was a boost right there. Those two guys really came in and played well for them And we had no answer to those two Because I think Joe was guarding me And that was a mistake. Because Keith Bart was a mistake too, because I think Bobby Knight was getting kind of frustrated because there was no answer to how to stop me in the game, not saying that I was better than anyone else on the court. 

Speaker 1: I mean that night. That night you were, i would say that. 

Speaker 2: I was just trying to make sure I stayed one more night to finish up my college career And it was wonderful. I mean, they played well. They ended up beating us by four. But you know, and then what makes it even special is losing the game And they went on to win the next championship. That makes it a special thing, because they beat us and then went to winning the whole thing. 

Speaker 1: From the Indiana side. They kind of tell the story. Like you know, indiana isn't traditionally like a run and gun team And they had decided to like adopt that style to kind of surprise you guys. Were you surprised by them coming out with that Like kind of matching your pace. 

Speaker 2: Well, they tried to match the pace but they kind of slowed it down because Bobby Knight knows that all we like to do is to get up and down the court fast and then shoot the first open shot. So they did run a couple of times when the opportunity was there for them to run. But they also slowed it down because if they slow it down that makes us staggered where we don't know to stay in our stands or pressure the ball and things like that. So it made a big difference when we played them because they slowed us down a little bit. 

Speaker 1: All right, tell me about like what it was like to be that hot in a Final Four game, Because you ended up with what? 10-3s in that game Something ridiculous. 

Speaker 2: Well, it was fun. I mean, like I said, mark Gray found me a lot on the court And once I got my first shot off, i said oh, this is going to be a very good night for me, because when you have your family in the stands and you don't know where they sit there, but they there And you want to perform well because this is your senior and you have all the scouts that they're watching and things, so you want to make sure you put on a good performance. So a lot of those points that I did shoot the three I created on my own because I floated to the baseline, i fall away from the baseline. I wide open shot, or you just had your hand down, like Mark Jackson used to tell you, hand down, man down. So a lot of them put their hands up. So once I'd lift up and let my shot go, it was. I consider it's going in. 

Speaker 1: I agree. As an Indiana fan, even now watching it, i can almost still believe that you guys might beat Indiana. just the way, how hot you were, because it seemed like every time you put the ball up, no matter if you're drifting or set, it seemed like the ball was just pure, leaving your hand. Really amazing performance. 

Speaker 2: Yes, it was Thank you, But I think at nine time out of 10, I think if we played them again it'll be something different. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, i don't think you're wrong. Like those two teams are evenly matched in different ways And, like you said, armand was incredible in that game too. Like there were definitely like there were guys that were gamers And both those teams, like we had hit on, alluded to earlier, were teams Like you could tell, like both of those teams liked each other, liked playing together, like the guys off the bench understood their role. When they came in They were ready. I mean it is like an absolutely incredible basketball game to watch. Like both of those teams are at an elite level of basketball that you, i mean, you can't see except in like the best situations. Both of those teams could have played anybody else, i think, and beat them on any night, right. 

Speaker 2: Well, there was a lot of red in the gym. 

Speaker 1: There was a lot, a lot, a lot of red in there. Yes, ok, oh, i had to ask you what. There's a scene that they always show that you guys come out at halftime late from the locker rooms. You see Tark running across, you know, because you're in the Superdome, this giant stadium, and he's like running from the locker room And the like. The announcers say that Bobby Knight's like trying to get the game started because you guys are late getting out. So what in the world happened? 

Speaker 2: Well, normally they come in and they'll tell us hey, you got so much time left on the clock and you need to get out, And so no one did that, And that the Orleans is a huge, huge place And that's half what you're seeing out there. That was just half of the room. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. 

Speaker 2: Well, we had to. you know, everybody say, hey, you need to have. the clock is about to start and game's about to start, so Tark had to run. I'm running to get to this. I'm getting some, you know, get my legs back on me because I've been sitting so long, and that's basically what happened. No one came to say anything about us, about the clock and what time to get back to the court. 

Speaker 1: Crazy, that just never happened anymore. Just amazing, no no. That happened Just like a fun little little fact. Watching the game too, i'm just like watching Tark jog out there, yeah. Doesn't look like he did a lot running. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, he did. I think when he got back I was thinking about his towel too. He started, you know, chopping on his towel. I bet A lot of folks always ask me what, what is? why are you always sucking on the towel? 

Speaker 1: Yeah. 

Speaker 2: And the reason is that the story he told me is because when he's yelling, his mouth gets dry, and when he's he's watering in one towel and the other towel is really dry, and so all he does is suck the water out of the keepers. Don't force. So that's what's in. That's why he killed that towel. 

Speaker 1: That's amazing. I don't think I've ever heard that before. That's great. 

Speaker 2: No, no, no. no one knows the story. But I know the story cause he told me That's amazing. 

Speaker 1: Okay, so take, unfortunately, of course, indiana. for you guys, indiana wins. Take me into the locker room afterwards. What was the? what was the mood or feeling? Did you guys kind of feel like you know, let down or you mentioned, after the first loss of the season? you're holding your heads high? Certainly had a lot to celebrate, but those are tough losses too. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, It was a tough loss. After the games, though, where we all went to the locker room and just, you know, just hold our heads down a little bit, because you know, you're a young man, you don't, you don't like losing, especially the caliber team that we had, We didn't want to lose. So most of us had a head up, Most of us had our heads down. I think I had my head down because it was a performance that I never did before And it helped me out as far as my draft pick in the NBA. But I told them they asked me what are you going to do? Are you going to stay here for the championship game or are you going home? I said no, y'all give me a playing ticket The first time out. I'm going home. So I ended up going home early. My family was left behind. So I got home and I just thought about all the good things and I thought about the bad things in my Univ career, But most of it was mostly good things since I've been at Univ. That's great. 

Speaker 1: Who are you cheering for in the? if I gave you true serum in the championship game? 

Speaker 2: Syracuse or I was cheering for Syracuse. You know I was Cause they just beat me. 

Speaker 1: I would have done the same, okay. So what's a takeaway from that Cause? it's really, it's a magical season. I mean you guys are putting. I think this is such a unique opportunity to put a university on the map. I know you're in the 70s, but that you know they had some good teams too, and you mentioned some of the players from those teams. But really, like, the NCAA has come into its own. You know you already had magic and bird. The games are now at the soup. You know held in football stadiums. So the, the national spotlight is just so much bigger now. And to put UNLV in that spotlight and kind of on the trajectory that ended up in a national championship Well, it was. 

Speaker 2: it was a lot, i mean at the Superdome, i think they. the record was 61,000 people, i think it was Yeah something like that. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a lot. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a lot, and so we we are used to playing at 20 to 30 and sometimes in Mac If they crap him in. But it was, it was fun. I mean, i have no bad feelings from the time we was at the Superdome or anything like that, but it was just a long, long way to the locker room. We really got two of all of us, yeah, but it was, it was fun. It was really fun, amazing. 

Speaker 1: Yes, well, take me then, after your UNLV career, talk a little about your pro career. and then, how? how'd you get into coaching and and what made you stick with coaching? 

Speaker 2: Well, after, after I finished with UNLV I, i was going to go to the lottery choices, but my agent and I decided not to I had. my agent was reticulio. 

Speaker 1: That's an agent. That's an agent name right there. 

Speaker 2: Yes, yes, And so me and him decided to stay home and I do it in the front of the living room of my mother and father house. So I didn't get a call anytime soon. So I became the number 30 pick in 1987 to Detroit Piston. Now these days in number 30 pick is a number one pick. Yeah, but I was the second pick first round, first second round, and I get picked by Detroit. So when they picked me they was on the contract with Vinnie Johnson. Vinnie Johnson was on the contract. So they they grabbed me because they didn't know if they were going to resign Vinnie I. 

Speaker 2: What I should have did, aaron, was to just don't even go to the camp, don't even go to the team, just sit out a year and just go to someone else. Because, as you knew, detroit had three guards, as it is with Vinnie, joe and Isaiah, and so I would make that fourth one and they didn't. They didn't need a fourth one And even though Vinnie was on the contract, it kind of like made it a little harder for me, even though we all was the same size and they had the contract as it is And I was trying to get one. You always look at it where, if you have a contract and so on draft you, you should get a contract too, a guaranteed contract, and you should be able to make the program. Yeah, that didn't work out for me. I was the last one cut from the organization Chuck Daly and Jack McCloskey and all those guys was great. 

Speaker 2: I learned a lot from there. I would not never change it for anything in the world, but just try to find another team to go to that needs a point guard or should a guard, like me. But I would not change it for the world. I learned a lot, like I said, and then, after that came about, i went to the CBA, biloxi, mississippi, played there for a couple of days and then I it was so bad out there I couldn't stand it. I ended up leaving and then went overseas. No, i didn't go overseas. I played in the what they call it, what they call it pro-annia, and then I went to play for a guy in a Lakers was looking at me really hard. And then I ended up going to Denver. If I would stay with Denver with Doug Mow, that Lira. 

Speaker 1: Alex, he likes putting up shots there. 

Speaker 2: Yes, yes, i would have made it. The only thing that would. Denver Nuggets is that the altitude when they say the air up there is bad, is bad. I was having nosebleeds and headaches every day And so I ended up telling the trainer I can't think what the trainer name was end up leaving that organization and coming back home. And then I went overseas for a year, started my family And I said you know what family got to eat, family got to have a place to sleep? And I ended up just coming back home and start my coaching career. All right. 

Speaker 1: So tell, take us into that Cause. That's a amazing, you know pathway, pathway through that. Had lots of experiences there. But why, why? why? 

Speaker 2: coaching then after, after all that, Well, i felt that you know, someone gave me an opportunity and someone trained me and became a coach. So I said you know what my next step in life is? to be a coach, and a head coach at that. I came back in 95 and coached at my uh out of modern school, my school. I graduated from Valley High School. I was there for about eight years And then, all of a sudden, the, the head coach that left, went to Canyon Springs, where I'm at now. We won the state championship in 2011. And he stepped down and I stayed because he had a family and my family was already grown, my boys was grown, my daughter was grown And I say I'm not going anywhere, i'm going to put my name in it. And so I've been the head coach since 2011. 

Speaker 2: Uh, it came to Springs now And I'm really, really enjoyed myself And that's why I got into it, because, again, someone helped me. Yeah, someone took the time out for me. Someone showed me the ropes on how to play the game. Someone showed me how to shoot the game, so I want to show me how to be a boss. Someone showed me a lot of things in life, and so I'm just trying to teach the young man's now on how to be a coach, how to be a player, how to teach them how to shoot, dribble, the next step in life. And ever since then I've I have sent maybe three or four coaches from my program to head coaching jobs here in Canyon in Las Vegas, now Nice. 

Speaker 1: What's? what's your favorite? uh, coachism or coach coach saying the other one that you like? uh, telling your your kids. 

Speaker 2: Well, it's a lot, but the one that I can stand out to me is if you don't shoot the ball, son, you come to sit next to him. 

Speaker 1: I love that stuff because it's sticky. as a coach, you always get your thing that you like to say to him, but that's a good one That fits right in with your mentality too, that you have. I love it. Well, before we get you out of here, let's get up and down the court like the rebels used to back in the day. I've got some running gun questions for you. Are you ready? All right, here we go. Coolest arena that you and LV you ever played in outside Thomas and Mack, of course. 

Speaker 2: Say the question. 

Speaker 1: Like the favorite arena that you played in besides Thomas and Mack. 

Speaker 2: My favorite arena is always the Orleans. 

Speaker 1: Okay, super no. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, nice Yeah. 

Speaker 1: The craziest opposing fans. 

Speaker 2: Oh, wow, that's Utah State. Utah State, utah State I mean they right on the floor and them in Fullerton was right on the floor and they talk about from your mother to your sister, to your brother and they scream at you and you can't say anything back to them. 

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's always amazing. People don't realize, like, how much athletes take from the fans sometimes. It really is amazing, for sure. 

Speaker 2: Yes, they're talking about me and say you know, but they don't mean you know bad things. Yeah, just trying to get you out of your game, playing and everything. Yeah, for sure. So Utah State was really bad, they was really bad. 

Speaker 1: The team your Rebels least like to play. 

Speaker 2: The team that your Rebels least like to play, georgetown. 

Speaker 1: Georgetown Okay. 

Speaker 2: Georgetown, We played Georgetown and every year we played Georgetown Boy. they beat up on us really bad. 

Speaker 1: Who is on the team with that? Is that those Dunbar guys again? 

Speaker 2: That was Patrick, you know what I mean? Okay, and that was David. 

Speaker 1: Wingate. Yeah, dunbar guys. 

Speaker 2: Reggie, Reggie. 

Speaker 1: Williams. 

Speaker 2: Williams Yeah, they had a good team back there. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, they did, yes, they did, so that was a nice teaming because they played us my freshman year and we ended up losing back to, and I was hot that day and and Tart told me he said, when you get the ball, if you get the ball, you pass it. I said, man, if I get that ball, I'm shooting it, I'm going to win this game. But we ended up giving the ball to Frank Spoon James and he ended up missing the shot that day and and so he was hurt that night. But but again, that was the one that I really, really desired to play is Georgetown. 

Speaker 1: Yeah Well, who was the most impressive opponent? 

Speaker 2: so a specific player who just really impressed you If I would say somebody in my division, i would say probably not just talked about him last night and he was at Fullerton and he was Richard Morton that played at Fullerton. I like him, it's more. it's more because I played against Lin, bias against him and me, and Lynn had a good talk because he didn't like Armin, because Armin hit him with elbows and he didn't like that. So he said, well, i hate playing you guys, because Armin just tears me up. 

Speaker 1: He had elbows. That guy had some elbows. 

Speaker 2: And then you can say Steve Alfred, you can see a lot of people, but those three sticks out in my mind right now. 

Speaker 1: How would you describe basketball the second half of the 1980s? 

Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness, the second half of the basketball now. Because it got more vicious then because, you know, in the 90s and it got more competitive and more stronger Not saying that it was stronger when we was playing, but in the 90s you get real vicious and Larry Johnson was a man of well man, you know, he just, he just powered you and that was a good thing, because they say Armin was my roommate and he's just alone. You know, so it was. It's that years back in those years was really, really tough. 

Speaker 1: All right, you got one more, one more Tark story for us before we get out of here. 

Speaker 2: Um, yeah, the one that, um, he always get on all the players about and that's by going to school to their end, going to class, and then he always say go. He came to me one time because you know, i didn't, i didn't go to class. One day. He said why? why in class? And I said, coach, i was in class, so he had them as squeaky type boards. But he means well, because in order for you to be an athlete, you have to go to school. And for all you young men out there now and young women, please, please, get your education first, because they cannot take your, your, your diploma, your scholarship, anything away from you If you take school seriously first, because you are a student before your athlete And I try to stress that to my high school players now you're a student before your athlete And I will not I promised him I will not put my name out there If you're not going to school and getting grades. 

Speaker 1: You just got to get break out that squeaky voice on them then. 

Speaker 2: Yes, no way, they don't want that squeaky voice. 

Speaker 1: It would be hard for you. 

Speaker 2: Yes, They get more than a squeaky voice. 

Speaker 1: Well, let's, let's end it there and let you get on with your day. I so appreciate you joining us today and I can't wait for people to hear, hear these stories and hopefully to check out that that tournament, that you, that you're going to get up off the ground there and hopefully it's the first of many. 

Speaker 2: Absolutely. I just want to remind you whatever you can do to help me to, to get some Indiana coaches to to look at this event and come down to a city that never sleeps. That's right And I always want to come to Vegas. That'd be a good tournament to you know. Come in and present yourself and your team. 

Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the 19 nine podcast. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, make sure you do. And while you're at it, leave us a rating or a view. Five stars only, like the basketball camp. We also have links to all of 19 nine social media, so you never miss a release. until next time.