Canzano: College recruiting has always been a sketchy game - even for Frank Sinatra

Jerry Tarkanian won a national title at UNLV.

John Canzano weighed in with a column on Wednesday about the Jimbo Fisher vs. Nick Saban disagreement. In the column, Canzano pointed out that that recruiting has always brought out the best (and worst) in coaches.

Canzano pulled no punches in the column on JohnCanzano.com and recounted a hilarious story about Frank Sinatra and legendary college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian:

(Tarkanian) called upon Frank Sinatra to help him recruit two Italian kids who were considering UNLV. Tarkanian asked Sinatra if he might do him a favor and call the mothers of the recruits.

Sinatra made the call and even sang to the moms on the telephone. UNLV didn’t get either player, and years later, Sinatra’s 0-for-2 performance as a recruiter still bothered Tark. All you had to do was bring Sinatra up and Tarkanian would begin muttering about how lousy ‘ol blue eyes was when it mattered.

Read the full column.