I like college basketball, even though my team (Bradley Braves) hasn't been spending a lot of time playing in the post season lately.
But I do follow the tournaments and I noticed that former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Being a Texas graduate and a season ticket holder for the Longhorns (5 of the 6 years I was in graduate school...I watched selected games my first year), the mention of coach Richardson brought back memories. Two of them stand out, and one of them..involved race, albeit in an unusual way. More below the fold.
(cross posted on my personal blog)
Former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson was recently inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. This brought back memories of the Texas vs. Arkansas battles of old; I attended Texas from 1985 to 1991 and followed the team (season tickets most years).
The Texas vs. Arkansas games were usually emotionally charged. Two memories stand out, both from the 1989-1990 season. That year, Arkansas won the Southwest Conference and the conference tournament and made it to the Final Four...by....beating Texas in Dallas in the Elite Eight. The teams played 4 times and Arkansas won them all; 3 games (the NCAA game and the regular season games) were close.
First one: in the regular season, there was a huge shootout at Austin. Texas had a 3 point lead with only a few seconds to go and Texas had the ball. Arkansas fouled Travis Mays (future NBA player) who was an 80 percent free throw shooter. The foul was ruled intentional, which meant that UT got two shots AND the ball. That would have given Texas a 5 point lead with something like 5 seconds to go.
Coach Richardson walked off of the court. No technical was called.
So....Mays....MISSES BOTH. Arkansas steals the ball and hits a 3 at the buzzer....overtime...and Arkansas won.
Richardson was called "strolling Nolan" for that.
Second one: the "race" factor.
Arkansas was a virtually all black team with a black coach. Sure, many of the white Arkansas fans used the N-word...and cheered for them anyway. That isn't what struck me as odd though.
This was the SWC tournament championship game and Arkansas was killing us...blowing us out. The Arkansas fans were loving it and cheering wildly with each Arkansas basket.
So, toward the end of the game...and remember that Arkansas HATED Texas, UT 7'th man Hank Dudek got a rebound. He spotted an open lane and drove it the length of the floor and dunked the ball.
The Arkansas crowd got silent for a moment...and then....clapped. This was NOT the roar that you hear from your team scoring...but a instant reaction...a serious clap.
Dudek is white.
Oh sure, he was UT's 7'th person on the rotation; a small forward (6'7") who...yes..could jump. He had transferred from a mid-major program on the east coast. He was a legitimate 7'th person; he wasn't good enough to start for this Elite Eight team but would have started for most teams. This play, while a good play, was well within his athletic abilities.
But I still remember that reaction. It amused me; I had seen Dudek play and work out. I wasn't the least bit shocked. My wife (at the time) turned red in the face and muttered "as*h*les!"
Man...that was strange.