Richard Joseph Tarrant Jr. (born September 15, 1928) was the head men's basketball coach at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

from 1981 through 1993. Tarrant, led the Spiders to five NCAA tournament and four NIT berths in his twelve seasons as head coach—the first postseason appearances in school history. Tarrant was raised in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

.Staff
"Richmond to name Robins Center hardwood after coach Dick Tarrant"

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, July 30, 2015. Accessed August 12, 2016. "A native of Englewood, New Jersey, Tarrant came to Richmond as an assistant coach in 1978, and he became head coach in 1981." He attended St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, where his basketball coach was Vince Lombardi. Under Tarrant, the Spiders gained a reputation as giant killers. In their first NCAA appearance, in 1984, they upended an Auburn team led by

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

in the first round. In 1988, they defeated defending national champion

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen—the deepest run by a

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

team at the time—before losing to

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. In 1991, Tarrant led the 15th seed Spiders to an upset win over second-seeded Syracuse—the first time that a 15th seed had made it out of the first round. In 2013, Tarrant was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. In 2015, Richmond named the playing surface at the Robins Center "Dick Tarrant Court" in Tarrant's honor. He left Richmond as the winningest coach in school history, though he has since been passed by Chris Mooney.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarrant, Dick 1928 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New Jersey College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Fordham Rams men's basketball coaches Fordham Rams men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in New Jersey Sportspeople from Englewood, New Jersey Basketball players from Bergen County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey St. Cecilia High School (New Jersey) alumni Richmond Spiders men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen