Is Nolan Richardson Being Snubbed By Texas Sports Hall Of Fame?

One of El Paso’s most prominent sports figures was so successful during his collegiate coaching career he earned a spot in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Yet, he can?t even get on the ballot for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

Nolan Richardson grew up El Paso?s Segundo Barrio, was a three-sport athlete at Bowie High School, starred for the Miners, and as a basketball coach, he won a national championship at every college level.

In 1994, Richardson was on top of the sports world when he led his Arkansas Razorbacks to the NCAA National Championship, thanks to his 40 minutes of hell defense.

Just eight years later, his career came to a sudden halt after an infamous press conference in which he accused the University of Arkansas of discriminating against him.

?Well, I look at all of you people in this room,? he said during that press conference. ?I see no one that looks like me, talks like me or acts like me.?

Ever since then, it?s been tough for Richardson to land a top-level head coaching job.

?Something is going wrong that Nolan Richardson is not a shoe-in as a first-time nominee on the ballot,? said Kevin Lovell, president of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.

The El Paso Hall of Fame recently submitted a nomination packet for Richardson, including signatures from its membership.

?We went to extraordinary efforts,? Lovell said.

Lovell said he finds it hard to believe someone such as Gary Blair, the women?s basketball coach at Texas A&M, could make the 2010 primary ballot. Yet, a man with the national championship credentials of Richardson is rejected.

“If you look at that ballot you’re going to see a guy that’s in rodeo, baseball, diving, etc.,? Lovell said. ?But, you have to look at the coaches nominated, and that’s who Nolan’s competition was.?

As Ray Sanchez, the dean of El Paso sports reporters has written in his articles, ?(Nolan Richardson) is perhaps the greatest all-around athlete El Paso has ever produced. He was all-district in football, basketball, and baseball at Bowie ? a feat never equaled by any other El Paso athlete.?

Rus Bradburd, author of ?Forty Minutes of Hell: The Extraordinary Life of Nolan Richardson,? also finds it hard to believe that Richardson can?t make it on the Texas Sports Hall of Fame ballot “Nothing has ever come easy for Nolan Richardson it’s always been a struggle,? Bradburd said. ?I don’t think it would bother him so much, but it should bother all of El Paso, and bother coaches of color and anyone concerned with fairness in the world”

Dave Campbell, chairman of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame selection committee, said he thinks Richardson has the credentials to make it into the hall of fame and that they are ?impossible to overlook.?

Campbell also doesn?t believe Richardson?s omission is political.

?I’ve never had that expressed to me in the meetings,? he said. ?First-time nominations ? as in the case with Nolan Richardson ? usually get turned down. There’s a little bit of a waiting period once you’re on the ballot because the people ahead of you seem to have priority”

But the question remains, does the 2002 lashing-out session by Richardson continue to haunt him?

“There are people that Nolan Richardson has riled up, and he’s rattled people’s cages,” Bradburd said. “I think he’s the most important black coach, or coach of color in American history.”

The hall of fame honor, if it should happen, would be OK with Richardson, but he?s been honored in a greater way.

He told ABC-7 on Monday that it?s much more important to him that a school was named after him in his hometown of El Paso.

Related Links:Link:El Pasoans In Texas Sports Hall Of FameLink:Texas Sports Hall Of Fame Selection CommitteeLink:Texas Sports Hall Of Fame 2010 Ballot