It is a subject that comes up from time to time, and it came up at dinner with Hunter Yurachek less than a month after he became the University of Arkansas athletic director.
Before a basketball game last season, a sportscaster broached the subject of naming the basketball court in Bud Walton Arena after Nolan Richardson.
On any given day on 103.7-FM, The Buzz -- which does sports radio call-in shows all day long -- the topic might come up, too.
It has been 17 years since Richardson was terminated by the UA for saying before -- and at least twice after -- a game against Kentucky to give him his money and the school could have his job.
He basically said it to Tubby Smith before the game, and he was caught by a TV camera saying it -- a statement which was the first thing the UA's defense team introduced in the lawsuit Richardson filed against the UA. He also said it in his news conference after the game in response to a question from a Lexington-based reporter.
Our man Scott Cain -- before he became a financial whiz -- waited several minutes after the news conference to let Richardson cool down, then asked whether he meant what he said. Richardson said he did.
The statement was played for days on TV stations, including ESPN, and was as powerful as Richardson's final news conference at Arkansas, which was laced with anger, hostility and hurt. The powers at the UA -- starting with Chancellor John White -- decided it would be impossible for Richardson to ever recruit to Arkansas again after making such a statement, and the only coach to win a basketball national championship at Arkansas was fired.
When Richardson realized his contract called for him to get $6 million instead of the $9 million he thought he would get, he sued the university for racial discrimination.
Richardson hired John Walker, a brilliant attorney who excelled in those types of cases. The UA hired civil-rights expert Phil Kaplan. The trial was compelling.
Judge William "Bill" Wilson allowed Richardson's team an open field. After days of testimony, Arkansas began its defense with the tape of Richardson telling Kentucky coach Tubby Smith before that game that he, Richardson, would be laughing all the way to the bank. The suit was practically over, but not quite.
After much deliberation, Wilson ruled Richardson's termination was because of his statements.
No one really celebrated the UA's win because the school just wanted it over with minimal damage. Richardson appealed and lost.
The damage is not recognizable 17 years later, but in the immediate aftermath recruiting became tougher for basketball and football.
Fences have been mended since then, and Richardson is a fairly regular visitor for Mike Anderson coached games.
Richardson is remembered more for his 560 victories and making the Arkansas basketball program one of the best in the country than for his lawsuit.
So the question about naming the court after him -- for which he has not campaigned -- comes up from time to time. But there are some major boosters who have taken Richardson's much quoted approach -- they have forgiven but not forgotten.
Either way, it does seem like this might be the time for a couple of statues to be created outside Bud Walton -- one for Eddie Sutton, who laid the foundation for Razorback basketball, and one for Nolan Richardson, who added a championship wing to the home of the Hogs.
Sports on 02/24/2019