Dick Tarrant

Richard Joseph Tarrant Jr. (born September 15, 1928) was the head men's basketball coach at the University of Richmond^[1] 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.^[2]

Dick Tarrant

Tarrant in 1982
Biographical details
Born	(1928-09-15) September 15, 1928 (age 96) Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Fordham University (1951)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1965–1969	Fordham (asst.)
1978–1981	Richmond (asst.)
1981–1993	Richmond
Head coaching record
Overall	239–126 (.655)
Tournaments	5–5 (NCAA Division I) 2–4 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
5 CAA regular season (1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992) 4 CAA tournament (1984, 1988, 1990, 1991)
Awards
4× CAA Coach of the Year (1984, 1986, 1989, 1991)

Tarrant was raised in Englewood, New Jersey.^[3] He attended St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, where his basketball coach was Vince Lombardi.^[4]

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 in the first round. In 1988, they defeated defending national champion Indiana and Georgia Tech to advance to the Sweet Sixteen—the deepest run by a Colonial Athletic Association team at the time—before losing to Temple. 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.^[5] In 2015, Richmond named the playing surface at the Robins Center "Dick Tarrant Court" in Tarrant's honor.^[3] He left Richmond as the winningest coach in school history, though he has since been passed by Chris Mooney.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Richmond Spiders (ECAC South / Colonial Athletic Association) (1981–1993)
1981–82	Richmond	18–11	6–4	2nd	NIT first round
1982–83	Richmond	12–16	2–7	6th
1983–84	Richmond	22–10	7–3	1st	NCAA Division I second round
1984–85	Richmond	21–11	11–3	T–1st	NIT second round
1985–86	Richmond	23–7	12–2	2nd	NCAA Division I first round
1986–87	Richmond	15–14	8–6	3rd
1987–88	Richmond	26–7	11–3	1st	NCAA Division I Sweet 16
1988–89	Richmond	21–10	13–1	1st	NIT second round
1989–90	Richmond	22–10	10–4	T–2nd	NCAA Division I first round
1990–91	Richmond	22–10	10–4	2nd	NCAA Division I second round
1991–92	Richmond	22–8	12–2	T–1st	NIT first round
1992–93	Richmond	15–12	10–4	3rd
Richmond:		239–126 (.655)	112–43 (.723)
Total:		239–126 (.655)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion