Report! Arkansas to buy out Richardson
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LITTLE ROCK -- A magazine reported Wednesday that the University of Arkansas and basketball coach Nolan Richardson will agree to a $3 million buyout of the coach's contract in the wake of Richardson's criticism of reporters and hard-to-please fans.
University spokeswoman Rebecca Wood said the report was "totally unsubstantiated."
Hawgs Illustrated publisher Clay Henry said two sources had told him that Richardson would formally agree to the buyout Thursday morning after the Razorbacks return to Fayetteville from a game at Mississippi State.
"It appears it is now over," Henry reported on the magazine's Internet site. "Things could change before then, but I think these are good sources and they are correct in their information at this time."
Richardson has just over six years left on a $1.03 million contract. He has coached at Arkansas for 17 years and took the team to the NCAA tournament in 14 of the previous 16 years.
Henry has known Richardson since the coach was at Tulsa two decades ago and Henry worked for a Tulsa newspaper.
Richardson, whose team was 13-13 entering Wednesday's game against the Bulldogs, said at a news conference Monday that he was treated differently by reporters and fans because he is black. The latest remarks were aired nationwide and, in turn, drew the attention of the chancellor's office.
Last Saturday, Richardson said after a loss to Kentucky that, if the university wanted to buy out his contract, it could. Many attributed the remarks to his frustration near the end of a disappointing season.
The university's administration said for a time Tuesday that Chancellor John White would want to talk to Richardson about his comments, but later backed down and said Richardson would be dealt with "in the appropriate way and in the appropriate time."
White declined interview requests.
No school official implied that discipline was necessary over Richardson's latest comments. At a news conference Monday, Richardson said he would close his practices and limit access for the media. He also questioned why only white reporters were assigned to cover the Razorbacks.
Gov. Mike Huckabee said he considers Richardson a friend and wouldn't pile onto the controversy.
"I like Coach Richardson," Huckabee said at an event at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a sister school to UA-Fayetteville. "Anything I would say would be to him, and not about him.
"He has plenty of people lined up to criticize him and I'm not joining that line," Huckabee said.
Discipline hasn't followed previous off-color remarks.
Amid the Broyles-Richardson flap of 2000, guard Jason Gilbert, who is white, quit the team after being labeled by assistant coach Nolan Richardson Jr. as "part of the problem" with the team. Richardson said he told his son he didn't have to put up with undetermined "redneck SOBs."
In 1995, Richardson called critics a pair of crude names after his team, the defending national champion, lost to Alabama and fell to 15-4. Arkansas was ranked No. 9 at the time.
In a New York Daily News article on the difficulties of being a black coach in the South, Richardson said in 1994 that, "If I was white and I did what I've done here, they'd build statues to me. ... Eddie Sutton did the same thing here and he became God."
The 2000 dispute evaporated after Richardson took a 15-14 team to the Southeastern Conference tournament, won four games in a row to take the league title and the automatic NCAA berth.
University spokeswoman Rebecca Wood said the report was "totally unsubstantiated."
Hawgs Illustrated publisher Clay Henry said two sources had told him that Richardson would formally agree to the buyout Thursday morning after the Razorbacks return to Fayetteville from a game at Mississippi State.
"It appears it is now over," Henry reported on the magazine's Internet site. "Things could change before then, but I think these are good sources and they are correct in their information at this time."
Richardson has just over six years left on a $1.03 million contract. He has coached at Arkansas for 17 years and took the team to the NCAA tournament in 14 of the previous 16 years.
Henry has known Richardson since the coach was at Tulsa two decades ago and Henry worked for a Tulsa newspaper.
Richardson, whose team was 13-13 entering Wednesday's game against the Bulldogs, said at a news conference Monday that he was treated differently by reporters and fans because he is black. The latest remarks were aired nationwide and, in turn, drew the attention of the chancellor's office.
Last Saturday, Richardson said after a loss to Kentucky that, if the university wanted to buy out his contract, it could. Many attributed the remarks to his frustration near the end of a disappointing season.
The university's administration said for a time Tuesday that Chancellor John White would want to talk to Richardson about his comments, but later backed down and said Richardson would be dealt with "in the appropriate way and in the appropriate time."
White declined interview requests.
No school official implied that discipline was necessary over Richardson's latest comments. At a news conference Monday, Richardson said he would close his practices and limit access for the media. He also questioned why only white reporters were assigned to cover the Razorbacks.
Gov. Mike Huckabee said he considers Richardson a friend and wouldn't pile onto the controversy.
"I like Coach Richardson," Huckabee said at an event at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a sister school to UA-Fayetteville. "Anything I would say would be to him, and not about him.
"He has plenty of people lined up to criticize him and I'm not joining that line," Huckabee said.
Discipline hasn't followed previous off-color remarks.
Amid the Broyles-Richardson flap of 2000, guard Jason Gilbert, who is white, quit the team after being labeled by assistant coach Nolan Richardson Jr. as "part of the problem" with the team. Richardson said he told his son he didn't have to put up with undetermined "redneck SOBs."
In 1995, Richardson called critics a pair of crude names after his team, the defending national champion, lost to Alabama and fell to 15-4. Arkansas was ranked No. 9 at the time.
In a New York Daily News article on the difficulties of being a black coach in the South, Richardson said in 1994 that, "If I was white and I did what I've done here, they'd build statues to me. ... Eddie Sutton did the same thing here and he became God."
The 2000 dispute evaporated after Richardson took a 15-14 team to the Southeastern Conference tournament, won four games in a row to take the league title and the automatic NCAA berth.
I smell Jesse Jackson.He'll be all over this one with his race card.How there's not enough black coaches.Funny thing is...Nolan is the one who started the whole race issue on this one.Im glad the university is doing the right thing.Although they will catch alot of racial attacks.Its time for Nolan to just retire and quit blaming white people for his short comings in life.