Time heals: AD Long will reach out to Richardson
Now this is some good news. New Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long plans to extend an olive branch to former UA coach Nolan Richardson in the near future, according to the Associated Press.
And it took exactly one month into Long’s tenure to make his intentions known.
Word has it Long wants to honor the 1994 team that won Arkansas’ one and only national championship in basketball next season.
UPDATE: In an article written by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Tom Murphy, Long said, “I understand that next year is the 15th anniversary, and certainly we’d want to honor that team on that occasion, absolutely.”
You may remember the school failing to honor the 10-year anniversary of Arkansas’ most exciting season on the basketball court.
Here’s what Long told the AP earlier today:
“I look forward to sitting down with him and talking with him and getting to know him,” said Jeff Long, who replaced Frank Broyles on Jan. 1. “I think it says a lot about how he feels about the Razorbacks that he stayed here in Fayetteville. Time heals, and hopefully time will heal those wounds on both sides and that we can move forward from that.”
To say the ground between Nolan and the Arkansas campus has been fractured and filled with land mines since 2002 is an understatement. Richardson was famously fired after making some statements to the media that provoked then-athletics director (that’s still weird to say) Frank Broyles to can the UA’s hardwood leader. Then there was the discrimination lawsuit that Nolan filed and was subsequently thrown out of court by a federal judge.
Richardson finished his Arkansas career with a 389-169 record, five conference championships, three Final Four appearances, one national championship and one national runner-up finish (1995).
Even Broyles seems to be softening his stance in an incredibly candid and expertly written piece in the Dallas Morning News on Dec. 26. Here’s what the former athletics director and UA football coach told the DMN’s Kevin Sherrington:
“If you wanted to be negative,” he says, tentatively, “you could say Nolan didn’t work as hard after he won the national championship.”
He pauses.
“But who does? You could probably say that about me after I won a national title.”
I wonder what the chances are that Long makes a recommendation to name the court at Bud Walton Arena after Richardson? That’s got to be coming soon.
Long certainly has been a breath of fresh air so far in his short time on the Hill. The hiring of Bobby Petrino was a great pick up for Razorback nation, despite the media barrage (we’re talking to you, ESPN).
Now it seems the golden days of Arkansas basketball will be making a return to Bud Walton Arena next season, thanks to Long.
It sure will be nice to hear Nolan’s cowboy boots clicking on that court one more time.
9 Responses to “Time heals: AD Long will reach out to Richardson”
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Three cheers here, one to Nolan (your not forgotten), one to Mr. Long (were liking what we see from you), and one for Brandon Marcello (good post, hope to see many more). Go hogs!
Kudos to Long, Nolan is a great coach and he left his heart and soul on the court after every game. He is a winner!
Excellent read. I am still rollin’ with Nolan.
Ps. And I am liking the 40 minutes of PEL, also.
I’m in on the 40 minutes of PEL as well. Great phrase! I think it would be a very healing thing to have Richardson, and one of the best, most exciting UofA sports teams to come through the University, to be recognized for the greatness and the excitement that was Razorback basketball in the 90s.
Richardson has shown he is ready to start the healing process from his end. The University and Jeff Long are doing the right thing moving forward on their end. I genuinely hope one day Frank and Nolan can one day stand together as great contributors to the University. It would do wonders for the state in many levels. Drill down to the bottom and it was a very simple personality clash. Time to move on and do what’s right.
Before we go throwing accolades at Jeff Long for the “olive branch,” lets remember a few things:
1.) Nolan Richardson was the one that denegrated the state, the school and the Hogs with HIS words during that fateful press conference low so few years ago.
2.) Nolan Richardson was the one that filed suit for being “discriminated” against. This has always been pretty hilarious when you consider that at the time he was the HIGHEST paid state employee. Yeah, five million after endorsements is real suffering. Even the Hall of Fame football player, Jim Brown, had a problem figuring this out.
3.) Nolan Richardson was the one who said, “If they want my job, they can have it.”
4.) Nolan Richardson was the one coach in the athletic department with the poorest graduation rate.
Now no one can dispute his record and levels of acheivement on the court. I frankly think at the time and even still now, there has NEVER been a better game coach. But, could you expect to go in this coming Monday morning to your place of work, tell your boss to basically go play with himself/herself and not expect to be fired? Then, years later get the call to come back and talk about it and “make up?”
Interesting commentary, UA87. Yet, if I happened to to be tops in my field, irrespective of profession, and brought the employer many, many benefits through my employment and my former boss - whom I had some personal problems with - retired, the answer would much more likely be in the affirmative.
While I have usually admired Broyles and did not agree with some of the things that Richardson did during his tenure at the UA, a reconciliation of sorts, in my opinion, would be a positive on many different levels.
The players and coaches from the “40 minutes of hell” championship era should all be honored.
don’t forget how nolan was treated the first several years as hog’s coach-his daughter was dying and many thought he was not doing his job. he said nothing . how many of us could go thru the pain he went thru and keep a positive attitude toward the u. of a. and it’s fans. it’s obvious he loves the hogs-relive the night we watched the hogs win the national championship-running the streets yelling whoooo piggg soooie-and i was in my late 40’s living in houston texas-to honor him is the least we could do!!!
The one thing I can remember about Nolan, was this… He won us a National Championship…not a “Mytical NC” but an actual NC.. When Randy Rainwater asked Marcus Elliot wheteher Nolar played the race trump care he said yes. I wanted to ask him how many times he, Marcus Elliot, had to stay in a different hotel, or eat in the rear of the resteraunt, or watch a movie from the balcony, or being told he had to stay at a different holt that the rest of the team. The reason Marcus never had to deal with that was that a person like Nolan, as strong person, came before him….. Nolan earned the right to complain, he won the games we wanted him to win. He’s earned the right to be honored, so lets honor him…
Shortly after that fateful day of February 26, 2002, Phil Taylor, a BLACK sports columnist for what was then CNNSI wrote: “I don’t want Nolan Richardson to complain about some white columnist who says he doesn’t recruit as well as he used to. I want to hear him stand up and say that whatever slights he may or may not have received during his tenure at Arkansas don’t amount to a hill of beans; that his program’s graduation rate for African-American players is OBSCENE, and that as the man, as the BLACK man who was in charge of that program, he is ASHAMED of it and EMBARRASSED by it. If he ever brings himself to utter those words, you can run that on every TV station in the country.”
Hmm. Looks like Broyles and White did the right thing at the right time. Look at the Temple program and the fact that they never took the same actions at the appropriate time against Cheney. We’re digging back to respectability under Pelphrey. They may be waiting decades.
If Nolan admits EQUAL fault, I say name the court at BWA after him.