Nolan Richardson
Encyclopedia
Nolan Richardson is an American basketball
head coach
, who was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He has coached teams to winning a NCAA Men's Division I Basketball National Championship, a NIT
, and a Junior College National Championship, the only coach to do so. Most recently he coached the Mexican National Team
. He previously coached college basketball
at the University of Tulsa
and the University of Arkansas
and won the NCAA title
with the University of Arkansas in 1994 and was runner-up the following year.
On October 20, 2009, Richardson was named head coach of Women's National Basketball Association
's Tulsa Shock, formerly known as the Detroit Shock
. He stepped down on July 8, 2011.
, United States
to Nolan Richardson Sr. and Clareast Richardson. Clareast died from a mysterious disease in 1944, leaving behind three children: Shirley, age 5, Nolan Jr., three, and Helen, six months. Eventually they moved in with the children's grandmother, Rose Richardson. Nolan's father, would visit, but often did not live with the family, battling alcoholism for much of his adult life.
Nolan Richardson played collegiately at Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso
, playing his senior year under the school's new coach, future Basketball Hall of Fame
r Don Haskins
.
in El Paso. He then moved to Western Texas Junior College, where he won the National Junior College championship
in 1980. He was the head coach at Tulsa from 1981 to 1985, leading Tulsa to the NIT
championship in 1981. While coaching at Tulsa, Richardson became known for wearing an assortment of polka dot ties. This trademark eventually led Tulsa students to don polka dots during home games. In 1985 Richardson became the head coach at the University of Arkansas, where he gained national recognition, winning the National Championship in 1994.
three times, losing to Duke
in the semifinals in 1990, winning the National Championship
in 1994 against Duke University
, and losing in the Championship game
to UCLA
in 1995. He was named the National Coach of the Year in 1994. His teams typically played an up tempo game with intense pressure defense - a style that was known as "40 Minutes of Hell." He is the winningest Basketball coach in Arkansas history, compiling a 389-169 record in 17 seasons. He is the only head coach to win a Junior College National Championship, the NIT, and the NCAA Tournament.
, and challenged Athletic Director Frank Broyles
to ruffled feathers by declaring "if they go ahead and pay me my money, they can take my job tomorrow.” 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. Coach Richardson's lawsuit was dismissed in July 2004. The Razorbacks have not been back to the sweet 16 since Richardson's dismissal. Arkansas had reached the Sweet 16 six times in seven years under Richardson between 1990 and 1996.
nian national team. In March 2007, Richardson was named as the head coach of the Mexican national team
.
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, dead 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.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
, who was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He has coached teams to winning a NCAA Men's Division I Basketball National Championship, a NIT
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...
, and a Junior College National Championship, the only coach to do so. Most recently he coached the Mexican National Team
Mexico national basketball team
The Mexico national basketball team is the side that represents Mexico in men's international basketball competitions. The governing body of the team is the Asociación Deportiva Mexicana de Baloncesto – abbrev...
. He previously coached college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
at the University of Tulsa
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
and the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
and won the NCAA title
1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina...
with the University of Arkansas in 1994 and was runner-up the following year.
On October 20, 2009, Richardson was named head coach of Women's National Basketball Association
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
's Tulsa Shock, formerly known as the Detroit Shock
Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006 and 2008 WNBA champion...
. He stepped down on July 8, 2011.
Early life
Richardson was born in El Segundo Barrio in El Paso, TexasEl Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to Nolan Richardson Sr. and Clareast Richardson. Clareast died from a mysterious disease in 1944, leaving behind three children: Shirley, age 5, Nolan Jr., three, and Helen, six months. Eventually they moved in with the children's grandmother, Rose Richardson. Nolan's father, would visit, but often did not live with the family, battling alcoholism for much of his adult life.
Nolan Richardson played collegiately at Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...
, playing his senior year under the school's new coach, future Basketball Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
r Don Haskins
Don Haskins
Donald Lee Haskins, nicknamed "The Bear" , was an American collegiate basketball coach and player. He played for three years under legendary coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M...
.
Coaching start
Richardson began his coaching career at Bowie High SchoolBowie High School (El Paso, Texas)
Bowie High School is one of the oldest operating high schools in El Paso, Texas and is part of the El Paso Independent School District. It is located in the Chamizal neighborhood in the South Central part of the city next to the border with Mexico, not far from the Bridge of the Americas linking El...
in El Paso. He then moved to Western Texas Junior College, where he won the National Junior College championship
NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships it usually consists of 16 invited teams...
in 1980. He was the head coach at Tulsa from 1981 to 1985, leading Tulsa to the NIT
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...
championship in 1981. While coaching at Tulsa, Richardson became known for wearing an assortment of polka dot ties. This trademark eventually led Tulsa students to don polka dots during home games. In 1985 Richardson became the head coach at the University of Arkansas, where he gained national recognition, winning the National Championship in 1994.
University of Arkansas
Richardson took the University of Arkansas to the Final FourFinal four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
three times, losing to Duke
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
in the semifinals in 1990, winning the National Championship
1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina...
in 1994 against Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, and losing in the Championship game
1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1995, and ended with the championship game on April 3 at the Kingdome in Seattle,...
to UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in 1995. He was named the National Coach of the Year in 1994. His teams typically played an up tempo game with intense pressure defense - a style that was known as "40 Minutes of Hell." He is the winningest Basketball coach in Arkansas history, compiling a 389-169 record in 17 seasons. He is the only head coach to win a Junior College National Championship, the NIT, and the NCAA Tournament.
University of Arkansas controversy
In February 2002, Richardson spoke out against the administration at the University of Arkansas and its fans. He claimed that he was being mistreated because he was African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, and challenged Athletic Director Frank Broyles
Frank Broyles
John Franklin Broyles is a former American football player and coach, athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach the University of Missouri in 1957 and at the University of Arkansas from 1958 to 1976...
to ruffled feathers by declaring "if they go ahead and pay me my money, they can take my job tomorrow.” 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. Coach Richardson's lawsuit was dismissed in July 2004. The Razorbacks have not been back to the sweet 16 since Richardson's dismissal. Arkansas had reached the Sweet 16 six times in seven years under Richardson between 1990 and 1996.
After the University of Arkansas
From 2005 to 2007, Richardson, who speaks fluent Spanish, served as the head coach of the PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nian national team. In March 2007, Richardson was named as the head coach of the Mexican national team
Mexico national basketball team
The Mexico national basketball team is the side that represents Mexico in men's international basketball competitions. The governing body of the team is the Asociación Deportiva Mexicana de Baloncesto – abbrev...
.
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
Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006 and 2008 WNBA champion...
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
Marion Jones
Marion Lois Jones , also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete, and a former professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA...
, 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, dead last in the league. Richardson tried to rebuild the team by coaxing Sheryl Swoopes
Sheryl Swoopes
Sheryl Denise Swoopes is an American professional basketball player who, subsequent to being waived into free agency, signed to re-join the WNBA to play with the Tulsa Shock in 2011. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA when it was created. She has won three Olympic Gold Medals and...
out of retirement, but after a 1-10 start, Richardson resigned on July 8, 2011.