By: Jax Crall
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – April 4th, 1994. A moment in time that has left an everlasting impact on generations of Razorbacks worldwide. The first NCAA basketball championship was coming to Fayetteville.
Although head coach Nolan Richardson was already well-known in the basketball world, that day solidified him as a legend, and the awards, recognition, and respect began to steadily follow.
Richardson began his tenure in Arkansas as the first African American coach at a major university in the South in 1985,
“I never thought about the fact that I’d be the first,” Richardson said. “I did realize that my example of how coaching ought to be could open doors for some of the young black kids who have great inspiration for wanting to be a coach.”
Inspiring he was, and during his impactful time in Northwest Arkansas, Richardson led the Razorbacks to much more than a championship. The former National Coach of the Year brought home an NIT championship and reached the Final Four three times in five seasons.
Richardson built his Razorbacks on one key value: hard work. Even today, his overarching lesson is still being echoed.
“I always tried to preach the fact that no one outworks us, no one,” he said. “I would always talk about the fact that there are so many much more much more intelligent people than I have ever been, but I knew one thing they couldn’t do that I can: work.” “If I can outwork you, I have a chance to be successful.”
Last Monday, hundreds of people gathered at the Oaklawn Racing Resort in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to induct Richardson as the 2025 Arkansan of the year from the Arkansas Broadcast Association.
“Honors have been really coming in over the years for me,” Richardson said. “This is another just a great deal of letting me know that I did my job pretty decently, and I hope I opened doors for those who were less fortunate than I was.”
Richardson stated that opening doors was always his true goal; he never dreamed about being Coach of the Year or a Hall of Famer, he just wanted to win and inspire, and standing on the stage on Monday,
“As a basketball coach or as a person I know that each and every day I try to give it my best,” Richardson said. “Trying to give it my best means trying to do well.”
Because of his mark on the state of Arkansas, Richardson will now join a large group of Arkansans of the Year. The ABA began this award in 1977, with the first inductee being former U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright.
Other notable inductees have included sports figures like Brooks Robinson, Lou Holtz and John McDonnell; business leaders like Don Tyson and Claiborne Deming; entertainers like Johnny Cash and Colin Raye; and political figures like then-Gov. Bill Clinton, and U.S. Sen. David Pryor and Dale Bumpers.
Looking ahead to Razorback Men’s Basketball, Richardson is exactly where he wants to be: in the state and city that invested in him as much as he invested in them, and he trusts the basketball team will carry on the legacy.
“When you get the right person and the right job, I think it’s going to be the right thing, ” Richardson said. “Right now, that’s to me what I see in Cal.”