Along with the likes of Charles Barkley, Danny Manning and Dick Vitale, Nolan Richardson was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame over the weekend. In addition to the numerous basketball luminaries on hand, he was surrounded by plenty of family members and former Razorback stars.
The always insightful Barkley summed up Nolan's legacy thusly:
"He's one of the great innovators of the game who's just now getting the credit he has always deserved. Everybody is playing now like his teams did, or at least they're trying to. Florida won a national championship like that. Rick Pitino won one like that. But he played like that before it became popular."
Speaking of legacies, the lack of proper recognition for Nolan and Arkansas' all-time greatest sports team (hint: it wasn't the 1993-94 footballers) is an embarrassment that should be rectified as soon as possible. As fate would have it, this season marks the 15th anniversary of that heroic squad.
So, let's make it happen. Naming the court after Nolan? Retiring some jerseys? At the very least, a nice halftime tribute to the coaches and players? Your move, Jeff Long.