Richardson out as coach of Razorbacks


SAME OLD G

SAME OLD G

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http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2002/0301/1343512.html

Richardson out as coach of Razorbacks

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ESPN.com news services


FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The University of Arkansas on Friday bought out Nolan Richardson's contract, saying it would pay the coach up to $500,000 a year for the next six years to have him quit as coach.


"We are grateful to Coach Richardson for his many contributions to the program over his tenure," a statement from the university said.


Athletic director Frank Broyles said: "We believe it's time for a change in leadership for the best interests of the basketball program."


He said the school would begin seeking a replacement when appropriate and that Richardson assistant Mike Anderson would take over as interim coach.


Arkansas plays Vanderbilt on Saturday in its final regular-season game. It also will play in the Southeastern Conference tournament. At 13-14, it is unlikely the team would make the NCAA tournament, but an NIT bid might be possible with a victory or two in the conference tournament.


Discussions over the future of Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson had entered a second day Friday amid reports the school wanted to buy out the last six years of his contract.


Lawyers for Richardson and the Little Rock-based university system got involved Friday, sources close to the coach and the athletic department said, but there was no indication if they were close to resolving things.


At his office in Little Rock, system President B. Alan Sugg said he had not met with Richardson but he had been in touch with people who were talking with the coach. He would not say whether he wanted Richardson to come back for an 18th season.


At noon, from an elevator outside White's office in Fayetteville, athletic director Frank Broyles said, "You'll know something this afternoon." He wouldn't say what was being discussed.


The coach, Broyles and Fayetteville campus chancellor John A. White met for 90 minutes Thursday without resolving the longtime coach's future.


Richardson complained at a news conference Monday that he was treated differently because he is black. He said he was not answerable to fans or to the media, but his agent said later the remarks were directed at the small percentage of hard-to-please Razorback supporters.


After Thursday's meeting, Richardson canceled his regularly scheduled news conference and skipped practice. Assistant coach Mike Anderson, who spoke with reporters after the workout, said he and other assistants were capable of leading the team if Richardson couldn't during Saturday's game against Vanderbilt.


Television stations KATV in Little Rock and KFAA in Fayetteville said Richardson rejected an offer to buy out the six years left on his $1.03 million a year contract. School officials refused to address the report.


Richardson said Thursday during the Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference that he wanted to remain as coach.


"I enjoy where I am. I've worked extremely hard. We've got a good recruiting class coming in next year," he said. "I had made those promises to the families, and so my interest has always been high in coaching. At this point, I still love the game."


The coach raised the possibility of a buyout last Saturday in Lexington, Ky. In discussing pressure on him and Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, Richardson said: "If they go ahead and pay me my money, they can take the job tomorrow."


White said he chalked Richardson's comments up to frustration with a season record that fell to 13-14 with a loss to Mississippi State on Wednesday night. But as the effects of the comments lingered, White said that Richardson's most recent remarks harmed the university and that he couldn't guarantee the coach's job was secure.


"There has been a lot of damage overall to the program. Coach Richardson recognizes that," White said late Wednesday.


Sources familiar with Richardson's contract said there are three ways it can be canceled:


If Richardson quits, he gets nothing.


If Richardson is fired for cause, he gets nothing.


If the university voids it, it must pay him $500,000 for each year remaining on it.


Richardson has coached at Arkansas for 17 years and took the team to the NCAA tournament in 14 of the previous 16 years. In his tenure, the Razorbacks advanced to the Final Four in 1990, 1994 and 1995. Arkansas beat Duke for the title in 1994 and lost to UCLA in the 1995 championship game.


The university's student-run newspaper, The Arkansas Traveler, said in an editorial Friday that the school should do what it can to make sure Richardson stays.


"For 17 years, Nolan put this university on the map. Bud Walton Arena was built for him, and he christened it with a National Championship banner," the paper wrote. "Though he might have not expressed himself very well off the court Monday, the banners in Bud Walton Arena speak volumes.


"Nolan deserves to be the coach as long as he wants to, which, hopefully, will be long enough to hang another National Champion banner here."
 



Originally posted by Devil's Gun Trigger Man
This is some bull****!!!!!


I hope Nolan goes to another SEC school and kicks Arkansas' arses!!!!
Click to expand...

I would love to see Richardson hired at UAPB, still receive his $500K per year salary from Arkansas, get all the recruits to transfer to UAPB with him, schedule every school in Arkansas, and just kick azz til his beige boots turn brown!
 
All good things must come to an end. I say Nolan need to pack up, leave Arkansas and sit off in the sunset with his $3 million dollars.

Arkansas will have problems getting the good black athletes in every sport for some years to come. I'M GLAD.
 
Personally, I'd like to see Richardson go to an HBCU and establish a program that can compete with the bigger programs. He shouldn't need the money (salary) at this point and, more than likely, he would have a very supportive crowd backing him.

With his name and accomplishments he could still get a lot of good players. It might be a challenge at the beginning but I think its an ideal way for him to show those ungrateful folks at Arkansas what they had.

However, I suspect that he will end up somewhere out west.

Regards.
 
The problem with Richardson's buyout is that it has a clause in it that says if he takes another coaching job then the 500,000 per year for the next 6 years stops. So that in itself rules out an HBCU. Because he won't sit out for 6 years, but he'll get a PWC to match what he will lose by taking another job plus some on top of it. Look for Richardson out West like Dr. Mac said. UNLV and UCLA come to mind. I know UCLA people are not that happy with their program. Plus Nolan could recruit California much easier than recruiting someone to Arkansas.


I tell you what, ESPN Outside the Lines didn't help Nolan out none tonight along with other programs. That was a sad account of what happens at these PWC's. We all like to label Bobby Knight as a bad guy, but his kids graduated. While I thought he was out of line alot, he treated all the kids the same and he does care about their schooling. I often wonder if we(blacks) would look at him different if he was black and doing these things. Because we know John Chaney ain't no joke either. The segment on Knight was the most postive one. It even took shots at Duke and the perception of their high graduation rates. Jason Williams has his stuff together.
 
He won't be out of a job for long. Somebody is going to pick him up at the end of the season. While the "Hogs" are suffering in Fayetteville, the team that Richardson will be coaching will be moving up the ranks.

Here's the question. If Richardson gets a team, will Arkansas do to him what Indiana did to Bobby Knight? Will Arkansas play Richardson's new team?
 
Nothing bad or wrong about this.

Richardson brought this upon himself and he chose to circle the wagons and run defiant smack that he didn't have to run. They simply called his bluff on it. It's a win-win for both parties, there's no racial conspiracy here, and there should be no hard feelings between the parties. It was good while it lasted, now it's time for a change. Thankyou Nolan Richardson/Arkansas for making the black coach in the south idea a reality. Let's take notes from the experiment and employ them in other experiements.
 
A Selfish Coach Should be Fired

He should not be coaching any of our kids. I would not want him at any of our HBCUs. He shows little concern about whether or not our kids graduate. The Univ. of Arkansas basketball players have one of the worst graduation rates, zero or nearly zero. He has exploited our youth. A coach should be concerned about his players academic success, if not for eligibility, atleast for that young man's future and contribution to his family and the community (especially the Black community). :(
 
PantherProwl,
I agree with you. I was not a big Nolan Richardson fan, but I rooted for them to beat Duke in the NCAA championship. I rooted against him when they played UCLA the next year. But after finding out he didn't demand academics there like he should, I have lost even more respect. I kind of figured Nolan out years ago. He just didn't sound like Chaney and Thompson. He had different motivations. So I just hoped I was wrong about him. I am sure he had a hard time at Arkansas, but as Bartram said, some of it was brought on. Sometimes you have be humble like a Tony Dungy. Or choose your spots to express your concerns. My problem with Nolan is he was no better than those rednecks when it came to caring about his players education. So he should have kept his mouth shut if he knew he wasn't doing anything for those kids. At least Chaney can attack the media and the hipocracy of the NCAA without some white boy sticking back at him by saying. Uh Coach, why your players not graduating mess.

How about this being a damn shame to rather send your black kid to play for Bob Knight than Nolan Richardson. He'll land on his feet though. He won a National Championship, so some desperate program who doesn't care if he graduates a kid or not will hire him. He won't be at a Stanford type school that's for sure.
 
Well like I stated in another thread: He knew the job was dangerous when he took it. These high paying jobs at the PWC's comes with a price. When any black coach, takes the head coaching position at any of the PWC's especially in the South, he should ask himself, "am I willing to pay that price?" "Am I thick skinned enough to take the slings and arrows that will be thrown at me?"
 
TSU/BAMA,
You are so right about that. He knew what he was getting himself into. I guess he felt like after winning it would get easier, but he got more arrogant with it and you know those necks didn't appreciate it. To top it off, he has the white wife. I know somebody said she was hispanic, but I remember the interview by CBS and she was white or least she was saying that. So you got an arrogant black coach with a white wife in Arkansas. That's a lethal combination. Nolan probably should have left when his stock was high after those Final Four teams left. He would have had more choices for jobs. I think its going to get ugly. ESPN is already reporting that Nolan has a prominent Civil Rights attorney in the mix just in case.
 
Originally posted by JR
Nolan probably should have left when his stock was high after those Final Four teams left. He would have had more choices for jobs.
Click to expand...

Excellent point, JR. I think he overstayed his welcome, well, if he was ever really welcomed in the first place. (But, thats neither here nor there.)
 



Nolan didn't have a stellar record graduating his athletes from Arkansas. Neither did Eddie Sutton. Neither, for that matter, did the Holy Grail of Arkansas Razorback coaches, Lou (I'ma brang ya hur, but when ya gits hurt, I cain't hep ya) Holtz.

It's the coaches job to win games. It is up to the student to be motivated to use that free education to his advantage, and up to the parents that send them there to see to it that they never have to pay for some college credits. I don't give a rat's ass where my children to go school, if they're there on an athletic scholarship, they will be having their asses in CLASS so that they might remain ACADEMICALLY eligible to continue their education if they get hurt. That's going to happen if I have to sit my arse in the classroom right beside them.

We are talking about grown assed men here. They need to have sense enough to realize, "Hey, I play aight, but I 'bout ain't goin' to the NBA. Perhaps I need to get my nose in a book, or my academically challenged arse in the face of a tutor." There would be Razorback basketball players on the Yard when b-ball season was over (and football players kickin' it during basketball season). Those knee-grows knew they had classes. They CHOSE not to go, and have no one to blame but themselves if they don't have the Parchment.

You think Houston Nutt's ofay arse gives a damn whether or not his star cornerback has anything more but enough credits and the gpa to suit up come fall? NOPE!! College sports is a meat market, and these athletes with these pipe dreams are filet mignon. They need to wise up and think for themselves.

As for recruiting, the number of African Americans going to UA to play basketball will drop, but it won't drop that much, I don't think. There are too many good players in Arkansas who won't be recruited by the so-called "big" schools. Then there are those who will actually walk-on there (think Ernie Murry ... who didn't graduate, either), because their dream is to be a Razorback.

Having lived in Arkansas my entire life, and seen how they treat us up there (first my father, then my brother, now Nolan), we'll have another Andrea Yates story on our hands if one of my babies even asks me, "Mama, can we visit the University of Arkansas?"

:mad:
 
Vinita,
I agree and I disagree. Those kids are not grown men. Some of them have no clue to no fault of their own. And a good coach will make sure he mentors his kids as well as coach them to victory. He is at a institution of higher learning. He should make sure at least that his kids are trying to graduate. John Thompson did it. John Chaney does it. Now I agree with you that Eddie Sutton and Lou Holtz didn't do anything either. But look at their track record. They have been from school to school. They are for themselves. If Bobby Knight of all people care and still win. How come these coaches at Arkansas can't do it. Hell Bobby just got to Texas Tech and they are immediately a winner. It is a cop out that all you suppose to do is win and screw the kids. Even regular students need guidance. How many times have you seen your friends or people you knew in college change their minds about their major when they got to college. It's because they were young and didn't know. Same for the ball player who is 17 or 18 and naive. Remember most of these kids don't benefit from a strong family structure and have been exploited at an early age because they could play ball. So they go to the PWC and get used and thrown away.
Nolan as a black man should not have been like the other PWC coaches. He should have mentored like Thompson and Chaney and not cop out like he did. Which puts him in the same category as Sutton and Holtz. I remember him encouraging Scotty Thurman to turn pro against NBA scout recommendations because Nolan knew he had these HS All-Americans coming and he needed some of the boys to go ahead and leave. Poor Thurman didn't make the NBA. I hope he's all right now. He was supposed to be a decent student. Remember Eddie Robinson won, but he used to go around to each ball players room to make sure they went to class. Now that's coaching. Like I said if crazy azz Bobby Knight does it, a African American coach damn sure better. Or he is a sell out in my book.

I applaud you for your stand on your kids not going to Arkansas. Being from Jackson, MS. I feel the same about Ole Miss and Ms State. I burned my scholarship from Ole Miss in the fireplace because I knew how they were. But if my parents had not been there to tell me what the deal was all those years I would have been lost like these kids who have no one giving them any direction. Which make them easy targets for the man.
 
Note that the chancellor came in three years after the Razorbacks won the national title. So I will bet that he had some thoughts about the graduation rates. At least I hope that he did for his sake. So when this came up, I think that the graduation rates came into play when the athletic director, chancellor and Nolan had their conservation. Needless to say it did not look good for Nolan at that point.

Now, I do not think that coaches should be held totally responsible for the graduation rates. After all the players need to be responsible. But they should understand that the players are students and should create an atmosphere to where the players can get their work and graduate. Nolan should have understood this. Sure, he was primarily paid to win championships. But there is more to school than basketball. Then again should the big PWCs even be recruiting a lot of these athletes? I am about to open up a can of worms.

While Nolan need to take some responsibility, the athletes need to be responsible. In my opinion the guy who is a Harlem Globetrotter is lying about his degree. (I forget his name.) If I heard correctly, he is saying, especially to kids, that he has a degree but is three hours short of one. Well, I do not care if one is three hours short or 90 hours short of a degree. They are short of a degree. Also, too many athletes who now are on the street see little wrong to what happened to them. Well, it is high time that they get responsible and wake up. Sure, they are young. But they are away from home and not with their parents. I hope that they do not pass any of these values on to their children. But that is a lot of hoping.

As an engineer I do not want to sound like I am attacking sociology. The Duke story was interesting. I am how many players would be allowed to major in engineering, if Duke has the major, math or business? Many "academic counselors" do steer athletes into certain majors. Trust me. Engineering is not one of them. BTW Mike Krzyzewski, Coach K, went to, played for Bob Knight at, and graduated from West Point.

I know that Bob Knight was portrayed positively last night. As a Knight hater I congratulate him on his changes. But I too wonder what the majors of his players are at Texas Tech.

To answer my earlier question about the big PWCs recruiting a particular athlete, I will say no. I did not think that these schools should be recruiting so many marginally students. But of course it will continue, and I will not hold my breath.

Anyway, there is enough blame to go around. The coaches, schools, and athletes need to take some responsibility. Some of these families need to wake up too. The chances of Joe, Roy, Calvin, Eric, Jack, etc. going to the NBA, NFL or the MLB are very slim.
 
My earlier post was based on Nolan's treatment by the school. I do think that he was held to a higher standard than the coaches before him and that, had he not been black, one bad season would have not caused his demise; outburst or no outburst by him. As long as we tolerate treatment like this it will continue to occur to us.

I agree that Nolan's graduation rate for his students is terrible. And as an African American male, I would have hoped that it would have been higher. He should have taken more ownership in seeing his students graduate and making sure that they were prepared for life after basketball. The NCAA's graduation rate are base on, I believe, students who graduate in six years. I would be interested in knowing how many of his players graduated period.

I agree with Vinita. Most coaches in major college athletics don't do well and/or appear not to put much emphasis/interest in their kids matriculation other than enough to keep the eligible to play. Unfortunately, based on the last statistics I saw for our Conferences, the HBCU schools were not doing as well as we should either. Thus, we have to hold our own as accountable as we do the coaches at the other schools (I'll see if I can find the graudation rates and post them). Otherwise the only coaches who should be allowed to coach in the SWAC and Meac are the Chaneys, Thompsons, Knights, and Coach K's.

The parents ARE a large part of the problem. Most of them don't have a clue about what it takes for their kids to be successful in college. IN FACT, most of them don't have a clue about what it takes for their kids to be successfull in junior high and high school given the poor grades and study habits most of these kids have nowadays. When the parents focus is on the kid making it playing ball, what outlook can the kid expect to have. And, God Bless them, some of these parents really need help. They really have no idea as to what is happening to them or who to trust when these fast talking recruiters beginning "selling them the world" to get their kids to come to their schools".

But if you really want to start talking about who is to blame, I suggest starting with the NCAA itself. Anytime institutions with particular standards will lower them to accept kids it ordinarily would not because they can play ball itself is hypocritical, ripe for exploitation, and almost guarantees that those who are allowed in will not see success. The NCAA allows it for the benefit of schools making money off of these students and we all know that. So we are seeing a system that is ripe with exploitation from jump street.

What's the solution: teach our children (and their parents also) well and get in their heads at an early age. Yes, this is very hard (especially the parents)......Is it doable, I don't know.

Finally, I don't hold Richardson's choice of who he married against him.....That's his choice. You make your own bed, you lie in it. Personlly, I perfer dark meat....my wife will tell you that.:)

Regards.
 
Good points EB. I agree that alot these players who do graduate are not in the so called difficult majors which makes it even worse if they don't graduate. Not that it can't be done. Alan Henderson played for Knight at Indiana and he was preparing for Med school after bball. So his major was not basketweaving. Now I am not going to be critical of the majors because to each his own. Sure the players need to take some responsibility. But remember if this kid was not a player would he even be interested in college? Not everybody is ready for college. The average kid may choose to go to the military because he isn't ready or desire to go.

What we forget is that these players are kids just like everybody else. So if these PWC's recruit them and encourage them to come play ball at their school, knowing that he is a marginal or bad student then they should help these kids instead of using them. I know we can be critical because we didn't play ball. But for me it was no different then the ball players in school. Hell my schedule was worse. I was a Physics Major in SU's Band and in NROTC. The band practiced and was gone more than our Football team or basketball team when I was there. But alot of cats graduated in the harder technical majors. So I don't think the ball can't do it. They are just not those kind of students in the first place. At least most of them are not.

The point I am trying to make is the athlete is set up to fail if he doesn't have a strong support system. Since he is probably going to college only to get a shot a the pros. That's why alot of the elite HS kids go straight to the NBA. They want the money and don't want to deal with the rigors of college and have to go to class. No different than the kid who goes to the Army because he's tired of school or needs money. The abuse of these kids start at a young age and when somebody tells them they are a star and one day will be a pro player then it starts the vicious cycle then. Education becomes secondary. Most of them come from a single parent home and let's not fool ourselves. The mom is not always doing what she should either and there is no father around. After finding out little Johnny can ball and people come a calling. She sees dollar signs as well as her prized son. That difficult for that kid to get any good advice. Not all parents push education and that is a sad commentary.

Jason Williams of Duke is an exception to the rule. He has two educated parents and they told him to finish his degree before leaving Duke. BTW Duke is more of a liberal arts type school. So you want find Engineering at the top of the major list for any of their students. I don't think they even offer it there. I am not sure though.
 
Dr Mac,
You hit the nail on the head for the root of the problem is the Parents or lack of. Your are so correct. You just hope the coach that recruits those kids would take more interest in their schooling. Yeah us HBCU's can't talk too much on graduation rates. The only difference is ours flunk out and go home, while the PWC's find a way to keep them eligible for 4 years. Then they get rid of them.
 
This is a good discussion. As for as Nolan goes, some things just ain't never gonna be fair. He is at the flagship Univ. in Arkansas. IF he doesn't win, they are going to find something to get on him about. There is no way anyone could work for me as say what he said and get away with it. He was losing this year, you are just gonna take some heat, all he had to do was win next year.<br><br>As far as academics go, it is partly the student/athletes fault and part the coach. The coach must set the enviroment for acadimic success. For example, which punishment is higher, missing class or coming late for pratice. If you have a big test, does the coach accomdate it. DOES THE COACH EVEN KNOW/CARE IF YOU MISS CLASS. Just because a kid is not doing well in school doesn't mean he is stupid. They will pick up if the coach really gives a damn about academics or not. I would say about %25 are going to do well, and about %25 are hopeless, but that middle %50 can be influenced positively by a coach with the right structure and priorites. Like, having a meaningful study hall program.
 
Being recruited to be in the UAPB band, I don't think the band director that recruited me was responsible for me getting a degree. My chance of becoming a professional musician is just as good as a basketball player getting into the NBA. I know that our band practice MORE than any football team and basketball team COMBINED, and there was NO program in place to help us, (tutors, study sessions, etc.).

Now, parents need to realize the percentages of their child making it to the NBA. Therefore, if they are going to let their children go to the PWC and make them MILLIONS, then at least they (PARENTS) can do is make sure their child gets a degree.

You guys act like the players that didn't get a degree from Arkansas are less than productive members of society. Ken Biley, senior on the 94' championship team, is close to being a manager at a Wal-Mart store. Being a computer programmer for Wal-Mart early in my career, I know the managers of a store make $500,000+/year. I'm sure some of the things he learned playing for Nolan is worth more than what could have been taught in a class.
 
But Sperm, that was sad commentary Biley made on that ESPN show. Plus the only reason he got that job was because he met Sam Walton when he was a player at Arkansas. That was one case and a hook-up. I know some Wal-Mart managers who don't make 500,000 a year unless they are a district or Regional Manager. So those making that kind of money must be few and far between and managing the top stores in the Wal-Mart Chain. That wouldn't be good business to pay every store manager that kind of money. I guess the ones I know must not be good.


While it wasn't your band director job to see if you would graduate. It was his job to put your azz out if you ain't going to class and flunking out. Same for Nolan. He should have disciplined those boys. The band didn't exploit us either. We didn't have tutors either. But Doc would ride your azz about school. While he didn't make us go to class. He would get our grades and see what the deal was. So we couldn't BS him. And you know and I know that unless you are a Music Major, no one in the band thinks that they are going to do this after college anyway. And we are not recruited like a ball player either or been coddled as Middle School and High School players are. Sure the kids bare some reponsibility. But as others have posted, you have to create the environment for them.

The truth is Nolan dropped the ball. He is self -centered and arrogant. And he let some of his players down with his selfishness. If Chaney and Thompson could do it and have good winning programs, so could he. That's just my opinion. Just because he was coaching in Arkansas should not have made a difference. Heck he had it easier. He didn't get the type of players Thompson and Chaney got. They got those East coast all I know is basketball and I was a living legend kids. I bet Tubby Smith players are getting out at racist azz Kentucky. And he was a Nolan assistant for years at Tulsa.
 
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