Tulsa World: Nolan Richardson returns to Razorbacks' arena

TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Saturday, November 21, 2009 | WIRELESS

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

		Sports Editor Mike Strain
		Sports Columnist Dave Sittler
		The Picker Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

Nolan Richardson returns to Razorbacks' arena
Relations between former coach and school begin to thaw.

By NOAH TRISTER Associated Press
Published: 12/13/2008 2:29 AM
Last Modified: 12/13/2008 2:40 AM

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A lot has changed for Nolan Richardson since 2002.

He has a head full of white hair now, and aside from an occasional stint with an international team, he's been pretty much out of coaching since he was fired by Arkansas in a messy end to a tenure full of accomplishment.

The old wounds have faded, and Richardson returned to Arkansas on Friday to remember one of his successes, the Razorbacks' 1994 national championship team that will be honored later this season.

"It's been a long time since I've been on this campus. It's been a long time since I've been in this room," Richardson said during the news conference in the interview room at Bud Walton Arena. "But it still remains the same in my heart."

Richardson was Arkansas' coach for 17 seasons. At their peak, the Razorbacks played a style dubbed "40 Minutes of Hell" that was both entertaining and effective.

Arkansas fired Richardson in 2002 after he said toward the end of a frustrating season, "If they go ahead and pay me my money, they can take the job tomorrow."

He later lost a discrimination lawsuit against the school, but relations have recently thawed. Richardson has been supportive of Stan Heath and John Pelphrey, the two men who have coached Arkansas since he left.

Pelphrey appeared with Richardson and athletic director Jeff Long at Friday's news conference to announce the celebration for the '94 team, which will be honored the weekend of the March 1 game against Georgia.

Pelphrey

played at Kentucky while Richardson was at Arkansas. Pelphrey took over the Razorbacks last year and faces the daunting task of trying to reach the same heights Richardson achieved.

"I'll never forget the first time I walked into the office. I just knew he was going to jump out of one of those corners and start pressing and trapping me somewhere," Pelphrey said.

Since leaving the Razorbacks, Richardson has coached national teams from Panama and Mexico. He was also briefly a candidate for Arkansas State's vacancy earlier this year, but John Brady ended up taking that job.

Meanwhile, Frank Broyles — who was Arkansas' athletic director when Richardson was fired — retired at the end of last year.

Long reached out to Richardson shortly after taking over.

"I am honored to be here, and I'm sure that our players will be happy to come back home again and call this their home. We've been gone from home a long time," Richardson said.

"Thank you for letting me come back in a building that I enjoyed so much." By NOAH TRISTER Associated Press

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

COMMENTS

Add your comment

Show: Most Recent Comment First

0 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.