ROD TUELLER
AGE: 62
RESIDENCE: Logan
CLAIM TO FAME: Played freshman basketball at Utah with Jack Mannion and the late Pearl Pollard, who is in the State of Utah Basketball Hall of Fame. Coached at Altamont High, 1959-62; Logan High, 1963-1973, and coached his brother-in-law, Robert Lauriski, considered one of the greatest Utah prep basketball stars in history. Utah State assistant coach, 1974-79, and head coach, 1979-89.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: At Utah State, Tueller had three years (1974-77) where his teams never lost to BYU or Utah.
"It's hard to recall just one memory," Tueller said. "But I thought going three years without losing to either BYU or Utah was huge to our basketball program.
"It was a big thrill for us to have Chris McMullen (Orem High) swish a last-second shot to beat Utah at the (Jon M.) Huntsman Center. Brian Jackson was a major factor during those years. He was an All-American and Big West Player of the Year (1977). He was taken pretty high in the NBA draft but never played in the NBA. He went directly to play ball in Europe, where he became one of the top scorers in European basketball history.
"When you think about it, we went to three NCAAs and one NIT during my tenure. And that was pretty good, because UNLV, with Jerry Tarkanian's teams, really dominated the league. Actually, his teams made a good living off my clubs. He should put an asterisk on his resume. We played them 20 or 30 times during that period and never defeated UNLV."
Tueller actually says one of his better minutes came against UNLV in the Spectrum. His Aggies took the Rebels to three overtimes before losing, 142-140.
"After that game, there was a deathly silence in the Spectrum. You could hear a pin drop. Where before there was so much emotion," Tueller said. "I was really drained emotionally and physically."
He also coached Greg Grant, who scored more than 2,000 points and had 1,000 rebounds (1981-84) and was Big West Player of the Year in 1984.
His teams won the Big West Conference two years and tied for the championship once. And he won 60 percent of his games in his nine years coaching the Aggies.
WHAT IS HE DOING NOW? Tueller served three years with his wife, Valene, as an LDS Church mission president in Baton Rouge, La., and they have been back in Logan for a year and a half.
"We really enjoyed our mission," Tueller said. "I thought we were very strong in our faith. But it made us even stronger. Now, I'm just staying at home enjoying being a grandfather. We have 22 grandchildren. We have a split, where we have 11 boys and 11 girls among our grandchildren. You can't beat that."
Tueller and his wife still own and operate the Tueller School of Dance, and he dabbles in some real estate ventures.
"Valene has been terrific at this for a number of years, and she still enjoys it," Tueller said. "We still find time to be temple workers at the Logan Temple. The greatest thing about everything is that we have lived in the same area in Logan since moving here.
"We have been blessed, because a lot of coaches move to so many places. By being able to make a good living and stay in Logan, it really helped with the growth of our six children. It really added to their stability. And of course, our faith in our church added to the equation, too."
Tueller still is involved with the Utah State basketball program by doing color commentary with the voice of the Aggies, Al Lewis, during home games.
"I don't want to travel anymore. I had enough of that," Tueller said. "Like I said, I'm just enjoying being a grandfather. And I'm fortunate to have the health and time to do so. Life has been good."
E-mail: torch@uswest.net