El Paso native Nolan Richardson chosen for induction into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2015 and El Paso native Nolan Richardson is one of the inductees.

The El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame has championed Richardson’s induction into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame for several years.

Richardson grew up in El Paso and had great success playing basketball at Texas Western College (now UTEP), coaching at Bowie High and then winning the national junior college championship at Western Texas in Snyder.

His greatest fame happened at Tulsa and Arkansas. He led the Razorbacks to a national championship and a runner-up finish.

He’s the only coach in history to win a national championship in junior college, the NIT and the NCAA.

Richardson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in summer 2014 and is a member of about a dozen other halls of fame.

The others selected for induction into the 2015 Texas Sports Hall of Fame are:

Prairie View A&M and NBA starZelmo Beaty(deceased)
Former Dallas Cowboys VP of Player PersonnelGil Brandt BYU Heisman Trophy QBTy Detmer Dallas Cowboys All Pro safetyCliff Harris Former University of Texas swim coach Richard Quick(deceased)
Dallas Cowboys All Pro DBEverson Walls
Baylor NCAA & Olympic 400m championJeremy Wariner

The induction ceremony will be on April 9 in Waco.

There will be a reception at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame before the banquet beginning at 4 p.m. April 9. Combination Reception/Banquet tickets are $200 each or $1,500 for a reserved table of 10.

The banquet will be held at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center. Banquet only tickets can be purchased for $75 each or a table of 10 can be reserved for $675. Tickets can be ordered by calling the museum at 800-567-9561 or online through the Texas Sports Hall of Fame website.