BENTONVILLE -- The most important thing in life is your attitude, Nolan Richardson told a gathering of students, staff and community members at Northwest Arkansas Community College.
"That's what I told my players. You can't play for me if you don't have the right attitude," Richardson said.
Profile
Nolan Richardson
Nolan Richardson was born Dec. 27, 1941, in El Paso, Texas. He played college basketball at Texas Western College. He began his coaching career at Bowie High School in El Paso.
His first college coaching job was at Western Texas College, where he won the national junior college championship in 1980. He later led the University of Tulsa basketball team to an NIT championship in 1981 and the University of Arkansas to a national championship in 1994. He led Arkansas to the championship game in 1995.
Since leaving the University of Arkansas, he has served as head coach of the Panamanian national team, the Mexican national team and the Tulsa Shock of the WNBA.
Source: Staff Report
Richardson, who won 389 games in 17 seasons as head coach of the University of Arkansas men's basketball team, was the featured speaker at the college's 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. program Thursday.
Richardson, 73, discussed King's influence on his life, but also touched on family, competition, race and history. He mixed in some motivational messages as well.
Richardson began his 40-year coaching career at the high school level in El Paso, Texas, before becoming head coach in 1978 of Western Texas College. At the time, Richardson was the only coach who was black in Texas' system of 50 junior colleges.
He recalled it wasn't unusual to hear spectators at the games making racist comments toward him.
"The N word? Oh, that was a constant remark," he said.
Richardson noted one of the messages King left behind was to judge people not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.
Richardson decided early on he would build his character on the principle no one would outwork him, he said. He expressed pride in having worked his way up the coaching ladder, from high school to the Razorbacks.
Competition is a fact of life, no matter whether you're a student or in the work force, he said. Simply trying is not enough, he said.
"You've probably heard, 'It doesn't matter whether you win, it's how you play the game.' Doesn't that sound nice?" Richardson said. "Hell, that's not true."
Richardson lives with his wife, Rose, in Fayetteville. During his hourlong speaking appearance Thursday, he made practically no reference to his time at the University of Arkansas. Though he guided the Razorbacks to three Final Four appearances and one national championship, the university fired him in 2002 under a cloud of controversy, with Richardson accusing the administration of unfair treatment of blacks.
Many longtime Arkansans in Thursday's audience, however, clearly still had fond memories of him. Numerous people jumped at the chance to have their picture taken with him before and after his talk. The audience also gave him two standing ovations.
Chris Huggard, a history professor at the college, introduced Richardson. Richardson waived his typical speaking fee in lieu of a $1,000 donation to the Yvonne Richardson Memorial Fund, Huggard said.
Tim Cornelius, vice president of learning, presented Richardson a check for an amount he declined to disclose. All of the money came through private donations from college faculty and staff, Cornelius said.
Richardson "gives a lot of himself for others," Huggard said.
Yvonne Richardson was Nolan Richardson's daughter. She died of leukemia when she was 15 years old. The memorial fund established in her name raises money to help children who are sick or underprivileged. More than $2 million has been raised through the fund, Richardson said.
"The price of sickness is unbelievable," Richardson said. "I thank you wholeheartedly for helping her cause."
Lakeesha Shaw of Bentonville was among those from the community who turned out for Richardson's talk.
She asked Richardson about the 1966 Texas Western College team, which won the national championship and became the first team in NCAA history to start five black players in the championship game.
That championship happened one year after Richardson's final year as a player at Texas Western.
Correction
A previous version had an incorrect new name for Western Texas College. The error has been corrected.
"It was a historical moment. Everything changed. That did a lot for that community and the rest of the world," he said.
Richardson closed his talk by encouraging audience members to make each day the most important day of their lives, then try to do a little better each following day.
After the event, Shaw said she was glad the college chose Richardson as the featured speaker.
"He was raw, and he was real in stating some of the things we're dealing with as a country," Shaw said.
NW News on 01/23/2015