That’s right. 100%. Great Dudley.
Great read, Dudley. Right on. Time to make it happen.
Agree 100%!!!
Great article Dudley. I’m in agreement 100%. Love Coach Richardson. I had the pleasure of meeting him on the golf coarse years ago. What a coach. What an example for young men. What a gentleman. What a trailblazer.
It’s past due. Why would anyone think different?
Well said, Dudley.
I hope they do it as suggested by Dudley, so Nolan can enjoy it for a long time in the golden years of his life. Don’t wait too long, please.
So far the administration has not valued the National Championship. They act like they think we can win it every four years or so.
I moved to EL Paso in 05 and was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a Recreation Center, Middle School and a street name in his honor. Also his former high school just recently named their Gymnasium in his honor. I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed that after 20 something years after winning the only national championship in the schools history The University of Arkansas has not named anything in his honor. (Anything that I know of)
Couple day ago I turned on the TV to SECN in the late afternoon to watch Finebaum. Instead, It was “SEC Storied”. It was about Coach Richardson, his rise and his carrier in Arkansas and the championship. It went through the years prior and Arkansas progress game by game all the way through the final game. It brought back all the memory as it was yesterday. My emotional excitement was by far more than I had expected. Then I remembered Coach Richardson gave me something from the championship; where is it? Sometime after the championship, coach Richardson and staff of helpers made a tour of the various Razorback clubs in the State. One of which was my hometown in Southeast Arkansas. He spoke briefly, then they had drawings for various Razorback items. I won the Sports Illustrated with his picture holding the championship trophy. He signed it for me, we visited for few minutes. He was happy, very pleasant, and said something and we all laughed. It was a memorable day. Years later I retired to NW Arkansas to be closer to the action. During the course of the championship games, next day I would cut the story out of the newspaper and post it in a scrapbook. When it was finished, I made a place inside of it for the magazine. Now after watching the “Storied” program, I started looking for them. I looked in my man-cave basement room, in garage shelvings where I have store books…nowhere. Then my wife saw me distraught running around. She asked what I was looking for? Then she said did you look in the attic? No, oh yes. Next day I found my prize in the attic.
Our rise to basketball prominence started with coach Sutton. But he left the program less than adequate for Kentucky and finished his carrier at Oklahoma State. We became a powerhouse with coach Richardson and won a national championship. I know of no one else deserving to have their name appear in BWA.
I’ve said all along that I would be okay with the court, or the practice center, or both being named for Nolan. At least since there was a practice center in the works. And I was in favor of the court while Nolan was still here, when a few morons were calling him No-win and calling for his immediate dismissal. How did that dismissal work out for the next decade or so, guys?
I love Nolan. He was the best when he was motivated. However, when you try to destroy everything on the way out… I think that is a double edged sword. You don’t get buildings or courts named after you when you do that. Nolan had his day in court - FINALLY his chance to present evidence and tell about all the sins committed against him… and he basically had nothing. To my memory the only thing was Broyles mouthing about Nolan calling the fans “redneck SOBs” and “turds and assholes” and how the equivalent would go over. No discriminatory letters, recordings or even stories for that matter. Just Nolan’s demons and his fight against air for “justice”. God save us if HDN had been black because that guy took some real abuse (mostly deserved) on the way out.
NR court will probably happen but and I’ll be okay with it but I don’t think he is owed it and I think making false accusations in an attempt to destroy everything he AND others built (“tanks in the streets”) should also mean something.
This is a wonderful story. These “human interest” posts are why I frequent this board.
Thank you for sharing.
Nolan made mistakes. No doubt. But those that berated him with racial epithets in his 1st couple of years should be filled with shame and look him up to say “I’m sorry”. As a 66 year old white male that grew up in Pine Bluff and saw and heard those type of epithets thrown at African Americans I still feel shame for those that dehumanize others. And on top of everything else Nolan was going through the biggest personal tragedy that anyone could imagine with his daughter dying of cancer. Nolan faced those type of things his entire life and overcame his anger and helped many, many young men and women believe that they could succeed just by his example.
Nolan made mistakes. Many. But he is a great coach, a good man and an icon in Arkansas. Let’s finish the healing process. This is another step our state can take to show that our past is just that - our past.
I love and respect JFB. He is the icon of the Razorback brand. He made peace with Nolan and I believe he would be the first in line to see Nolan’s name on our court. Forgive and forget the bad. Look to what Nolan did for so many.
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Let me say, I think Nolan deserves the court name (and slobberin hog on the court), name on the Practice Facility, and a statue as you enter BWA.
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However, I have a question. I’m seeing a lot of people say long overdue, yes but, McDonnell has the three things I mentioned he has 42 NC’s. How long between winning the first one and those things happening? Also Broyles himself, if I’m not mistaken Broyles won the NC in 64, but his statue wasn’t built for at least 40 years. Any body know how long between the titles and the accolades?
Again, I think Nolan deserves those things, but those saying long overdue, what is the timeframe between the other two and naming fields, stadiums, practice facilities and statues after them? How do the timelines compare? And I agree with the earlier post it should be done so he can enjoy the moment before it’s too late
An outstanding read, that brought back several memories
Love the idea of a statue of Nolan on way into BWA.
If only he and Frank had gotten along better at the end, that statue would have been constructed a decade ago after several more final fours even
Ditto. (I’d say HDN and Hatfield both were treated as harshly as Nolan).
I understand completely why nothing was done while he was still coaching (that is really a bad idea, careers need to be over, IMO, before buildings are named after someone, statutes raised, etc. I am sure there are cases where it can be justified before that, but in general, best to wait). I get with the way things ended that it couldn’t be done for a while. (Yes Nolan made mistakes on the way out, IMO, Frank made mistakes on how he handled it too). But we have now waited too long to do this. 2014, the 20 years anniversary of the title would have been a great time. 2004? No, too many open wounds. Is it “long overdo” or just “overdo” I don’t know. But it needs to be done NOW.
The frivolous lawsuit had negative affects on UA recruiting in all sports as well as recruiting regular students.
The 25th anniversary comes in the 2018-19 season. Plan to have it next year during a Saturday home SEC game and it’ll draw a huge crowd. It will be a chance to remember the championship team on the silver anniversary. Perfect timing.