Article on Tim Jankovich

ADLER · March 13, 2004

Men's basketball: Ex-UNT coach back at home with Kansas

Jankovich on team’s bench for Big 12 Tournament

08:40 AM CST on Friday, March 12, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Denton Record-Chronicle

No matter where Tim Jankovich’s career has taken him, Texas always seems to be right around the corner.

Jankovich grew up in Kansas and played for Kansas State, but reached a series of milestones in his coaching career in the Lone Star state. The former North Texas coach will be looking to reach another landmark today when he returns to Dallas for the Phillips 66 Men’s Big 12 Tournament at the American Airlines Center.

Jankovich is now an assistant coach for Kansas, which will play its first game in the tournament at 8:20 p.m. tonight. The Jayhawks will face the winner of a game between Missouri and Texas A&M that was played late Thursday night.

"For me it’s almost too good to be true," Jankovich said of working for Kansas. "Not only am I working with one of the top programs in the history of college basketball, I am also working in my home state."

Jankovich worked his way into what he described as an ideal job as an assistant just seven years after the end of his stint as UNT’s head men’s basketball coach. UNT hired Jankovich in 1993 to take over a team that had won just five games the previous season.

UNT posted the second-biggest turnaround in the nation by finishing with a 14-15 record in Jankovic’s first season. The Mean Green advanced to the Southland Conference championship game in two of Jankovich’s first three seasons and posted a pair of winning campaigns.

Jankovich described his early years at UNT as a great experience. The Mean Green moved to the Big West Conference and posted a 10-16 record in Jankovich’s fourth and final season with the Mean Green.

Jankovich became the head coach at Hutchinson Community College the next season and has not worked as a coach in Texas since.

Jankovich worked for Bill Self at Illinois and followed him to Kansas this year after Roy Williams left for North Carolina.

The move not only brought Jankovich back to his home state, it put him in a league with several Texas rivals.

Jankovich became familiar with several of those Texas teams while coaching four teams in the state. He started out as a graduate assistant at Texas-Pan American in 1983.

Jankovich went on to work for Texas (1986-87) and Baylor (1991-92) before his stint as head coach at UNT.

Jankovich has kept track of the Mean Green since he left and has been impressed with what Johnny Jones has accomplished in three years. The Mean Green recently completed a 13-15 campaign with a 91-89 double overtime loss to New Orleans in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

"They are definitely on the right track under coach Jones," Jankovich said. "You can look at the history of the program and see what a difficult job UNT is. They are doing a great job and are competitive. It will take time, so I hope people are patient."

Jankovich said he would like to take a second shot at working as a head coach, but has not found the right opportunity.

"Most assistant coaches want the opportunity to lead a program," Jankovich said. "I am no different. Everyone has different criteria for what they are looking for in a place to coach. I would want to be at a place where people are passionate about athletics."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870.

CMJ · March 13, 2004

I was a pretty big Jankovich fan. I hope he gets another head coaching job somewhere - though being at Kansas is pretty dang sweet.

drex · March 23, 2004

The way Tim Jankovich was treated at North Texas is one of the darkest chapters of our athletic history. I am so happy for his rise from the ashes.

IronMan4 · March 23, 2004

I went to his camp! The best memory from that was playing the NBA Jam arcade game with David Miller in the Crumley (where we stayed) game room. We were the Pacers, he was Reggie Miller and shot 3's the whole game and I was Rik Smits and got the rebound if he missed and passed it back. We beat all comers. For a freshman in high school, hanging with a college player that good was a thrill. Jankovich put on a dribbling exhibition one night and he was pretty dang good. Obviously I was not around when Jankovich coached here, so that's all I can contribute.