Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is an American former basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and led the Razorbacks to three Final Fours. Elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, Richardson coached teams to winning a Division I Basketball National Championship, an NIT championship, and a Junior College National Championship, making him the only coach to win all three championships. During his 22 seasons of coaching in NCAA Division I, Richardson made a post-season tournament appearance 20 times.

Early life

Richardson was born in El Segundo Barrio in El Paso, Texas, United States to Nolan Richardson Sr. and Clareast (Mims) Richardson. Clareast died from miliary tuberculosis in 1945, leaving behind three children: Shirley, age 5, Nolan Jr., age 3, and Helen, six months. Eventually they moved in with the children's grandmother, Rose Richardson or Ol' Mama. Ol' Mama had a profound impact on Nolan by helping instill the drive and determination to succeed. Nolan's father would visit, but often did not live with the family, battling alcoholism for much of his adult life.

Nolan Richardson played college basketball at Eastern Arizona Junior College during the 1959-1960 season. He then returned home to play for Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso), playing his junior and senior years under Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins for the Miners.

Coaching career

Early years

Richardson began his coaching career at Bowie High School in El Paso, Texas. He coached at Bowie for ten years then moved to Western Texas Junior College for three seasons, posting a record there of 101-13. In 1979-80, his third and last season at Western Texas, he led the team to a 37-0 record and the 1980 National Junior College championship.

University of Tulsa

Richardson was the head coach at Tulsa from 1980 to 1985, leading Tulsa to the NIT championship in 1981. This was the first time an African American coach won an NIT championship. Richardson is credited with bringing the Tulsa program to national prominence when hired in 1980, Shortly thereafter, Arkansas dismissed Richardson as head coach. In December 2002, Richardson filed a lawsuit against the university, the board of trustees, and the Razorback Foundation, citing a racially discriminatory environment; the lawsuit was dismissed in July 2004.

Richardson's former long-time assistant, Mike Anderson, was hired as Arkansas' head coach in March 2011. Anderson led Arkansas to three NCAA Tournament appearances in eight seasons as head coach. Richardson attended numerous Arkansas home games during Anderson's tenure. On March 26, 2019, Anderson was terminated as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks after a lackluster 2018–19 season and was replaced by former Nevada head coach Eric Musselman.

Nolan Richardson Court

On March 28, 2019, two days after the termination of Nolan Richardson's protege Mike Anderson, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name the court in Arkansas' Bud Walton Arena in honor of Nolan Richardson and his contributions to the University of Arkansas and the state of Arkansas. The honor became official in the wake of growing public support to honor Richardson in this way, including a resolution proposed during the 2019 regular session of the Arkansas General Assembly.

International

From 2005 to 2007, Richardson, (who speaks fluent Spanish) served as the head coach of the Panama national team. In March 2007, Richardson was named head coach of the Mexico national basketball team.

WNBA

In the middle of 2009, Richardson was named as head coach and general manager of a prospective WNBA expansion team in Tulsa. While it seemed unusual to hire a coach before securing an actual berth in the league, the investors behind the expansion effort claimed this proved they were serious about wanting a team. On October 20, 2009, the Tulsa group bought the Detroit Shock and moved it to Tulsa as the Tulsa Shock. It was Richardson's first time as a professional head coach, as well as his first time coaching women.

Richardson's tenure with the Shock was far from successful. His first season ended before it began when key players who had led the Shock to three WNBA titles opted, for various reasons, not to make the move to Tulsa. This forced Richardson to try to build the team around disgraced Olympic track star Marion Jones, who hadn't played a meaningful basketball game since her college days 13 years earlier. The players also found it difficult to adjust to Richardson's frenetic style. A lack of continuity plagued the team as well; all of the players who had come from Detroit had left the team by the middle of the season, and Richardson seemingly juggled the roster on a game-by-game basis. The final result was a dreadful 6-28 record, last in the league. Richardson tried to rebuild the team by coaxing Sheryl Swoopes out of retirement, but after a 1-10 start, Richardson resigned on July 8, 2011.

Head coaching record

Junior college

College

†Richardson was replaced by interim coach Mike Anderson before the end of the season.

WNBA

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| align="left" |Tulsa

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See also

  • List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach

References

  • Arkansas Razorbacks bio