It’s hard to imagine that Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson has anything left to add to his resume. After all, the only coach to win a national junior college title, a postseason NIT crown and an NCAA championship would rank among the top college coaches ever to grace the hardwood even if he didn’t coach another game.
Yet last season in his 20th season of coaching and his 15th with the Razorbacks, the winningest coach in UA history reached a new milestone as his squad captured its first SEC Tournament title in school history.
It’s challenges like those that keep Richardson vibrant, motivated and poised to set his sights on another national championship. If the past is any indication, college basketball fans should take notice.
He has compiled a career record of 475-181 (.724) in 20 seasons as a Division I head coach, a mark that places him ninth among active coaches in winning percentage.
In 15 years at Fayetteville, Richardson has posted an impressive 356-144 (.712) mark, by far the highest win total in school history. In fact it took Richardson nine fewer seasons to achieve what previous record holder Glen Rose accomplished in 23 campaigns.
He has made Arkansas a regular in postseason play with 14 straight tournament appearances, including 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, three Final Four berths, a national championship in 1994 and a national runner-up finish in 1995. The Razorbacks boast a 26-11 (.703) record in NCAA play since Richardson arrived.
In addition, Richardson has guided Arkansas to five league crowns, including two in the Southeastern Conference and three in the Southwest Conference. His teams have won four SEC Western Division crowns, three Southwest Conference tournament titles and one SEC Tournament championship.
The dean of SEC coaches, Richardson has earned coach of the year honors in every league in which his teams have competed. He won SEC Coach of the Year honors in 1998 after winning the award three times in the SWC and twice in the Missouri Valley Conference as the head coach at Tulsa. Richardson was named the national coach of the year in 1994 even before the Razorbacks won the national title.
Richardson had a successful track record in athletics long before he came to Arkansas. He began his collegiate athletic career as a player for Hall of Famer and former Texas-El Paso coach Don Haskins.
Following brief stints in the American Football League and American Basketball Association, he went into coaching at Bowie High School in El Paso. He had a 10-year record of 190-80 and was named coach of the year three times.
He moved to Western Texas Junior College next and compiled a remarkable three-year record of 101-14. His final team went 37-0 and won the junior college national championship.
His next stop was Tulsa where he posted a five-year record of 119-37 (.763). He led the Golden Hurricane to three NCAA tournaments and two postseason NIT draws, including an NIT championship in his first campaign.
A 1963 graduate of UTEP, Richardson has been inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and the El Paso Hall of Fame.
In addition, Richardson has been recognized for his countless contributions to worthy causes off the court. In 1995, he was presented the prestigious Courage Award by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). An avid golfer, he is the host for the annual Nolan Richardson Charity Golf Classic that raises money for more than 30 local and regional charities.
In his hometown of El Paso, Texas, Nolan Richardson Middle School and the Nolan Richardson Community Center stand as proof of his unwavering support of education and youth development in the area.
After all, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Richardson continues to make additions to his list of accomplishments. The list is just getting longer on an already legendary resume.
