DESPITE THE EXCITEMENT, TARK IS HAVING PROBLEMS\Off-court troubles plague embattled coach.

Byline: Rob Gloster Associated Press 

Success on the court. Trouble off it.

Those elements have been constants in the coaching career of Jerry Tarkanian, and his first year at Fresno State has been no exception.

The coach with the best winning percentage in college basketball history, Tarkanian has turned around a team that has had just two winning seasons in the past decade.

Now, the Bulldogs are battling for the Western Athletic Conference lead after knocking off ranked teams New Mexico and Utah. They're threatening to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1984.

And this city has gone wild over Tarkanian, who graduated from Fresno State in 1955 after playing for the Bulldogs for two seasons.

"Before, the whole community was waiting for us to fail," senior guard Brendon Bakke said. "They look up to us a lot more now."

The players' biggest problems have come off the court - including the trashing of a local hotel room rented by point guard Dominick Young for a New Year's Eve party.

There were six basketball players at the party and about two dozen other people. Young, who said he left the party before the room was vandalized and stripped of furnishings, has agreed to pay the hotel $1,500.

A hotel security guard also has accused forward Darnell McCulloch of punching him that night. No criminal charges have been filed against Young or McCulloch.

Tarkanian had warned his players to stay out of trouble on New Year's Eve, and several players said the coach has talked at length about life off the court.

"He doesn't lecture about the game of basketball," McCulloch said, "he lectures about life."

Bakke added that Tarkanian has talked from the first day of practice about how thankful the players should be to get a free education, and said the coach has been a father figure for some players.

"I'm pretty disappointed in how our team has responded to it," Bakke said. "We have guys with great hearts on this team, but they make some bad decisions."

Young and McCulloch both were recruited by former coach Gary Colson and inherited by Tarkanian. While at UNLV, where he won a national championship in 1990, Tarkanian was renowned for recruiting players with questionable backgrounds.

Young epitomizes the two faces of Fresno State basketball.

He was suspended for the first four games this season after failing to reimburse people who contributed toward his participation in a basketball tour he did not attend. Since his return, he has scored the winning points in three games the Bulldogs won by a point.

Eight days after the New Year's Eve incident, Young hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left as the Bulldogs defeated No. 13 Utah - Fresno State's first road win over a ranked opponent since 1982.

As that game ended, Young ran toward Tarkanian for a hug and knocked the coach to the floor. They rolled around in celebration for several seconds.

"I wanted to show him my appreciation," Young said. "He just kept saying, 'Way to go! Way to go!' "

Tarkanian, who came to Fresno State after three years away from college basketball, needs 17 victories this season to maintain his record winning percentage of more than 83 percent. Clair Bee is second at 82.6 percent.

The 65-year-old Tarkanian was nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame in November. Inductees will be announced early next month.

He still chews on white towels and drives himself crazy during games. Despite a vow to take it easier this time around and enjoy himself more, "Tark the Shark" is as intense as ever.

"I haven't enjoyed the games, they haven't been easy on me," he said. "We played so bad early in the year that it got to me. We were so bad I didn't even want to look at the tape."

Tarkanian has channeled that intensity into his practices, which last about three hours nearly every day. He even has had his team practice for two hours on game days, when most coaches opt for a light shootaround.

During a recent afternoon practice, Tarkanian became infuriated when a player cut through the defense for a layup. He then pleaded for 10 minutes of defensive intensity, and turned those 10 minutes into an hour.

The message has been clear to his players.

"It's simple. Either you play hard or you don't play at all. That'll wake anybody up," McCulloch said. "He's Tark. You can't help but listen to him."

Tarkanian does seem to have mellowed in some ways.

Two of his prized recruits are sitting out this season because of academic problems that some Fresno State officials attribute to unfair rules. But he has avoided public criticism of his long-time nemesis, the NCAA - which twice placed Tarkanian teams on probation and unsuccessfully tried to suspend him.

Tarkanian already is looking forward to next season, when those recruits will be available and he believes the Bulldogs will be much stronger.

Bakke said the real test of Tarkanian's success at Fresno State will come much later, though. That's when it will become clear whether Tarkanian was able to guide players such as Young toward maturity.

"I think the answer to that question will be in 10 years, and seeing where the guy is then," Bakke said.