It’s Not Quite Hog Heaven

From the empty red chair to the subdued public address introduction for his replacement, former coach Nolan Richardson was much in evidence when Arkansas beat Vanderbilt, 81-67, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.

The last six years of Richardson’s contract were bought out by the school Friday after a tumultuous week in which the coach made comments concerning fans, the media and his treatment as the only black head coach at Arkansas.

After 17 seasons as Arkansas coach that included three Final Four appearances and a national championship in 1994, Richardson was replaced by Mike Anderson for the Razorbacks’ final regular-season game.

For 21 years, Anderson has been a part of Richardson-coached teams--first as a player, then as a volunteer assistant, recruiting coordinator and in recent seasons assistant head coach the past couple of years.

On the sideline Saturday, in the middle of the players on the bench, was an empty red chair. Draped over the chair was a red towel, with Richardson’s name in white. The towel was a gift after he recorded his 500th Division I victory in December.

When junior guard Charles Tatum was benched during the game, he sat down, put his arm around the empty chair and began talking to the towel.

When it came time for pregame introductions, announcer Johnny George ran through the starting five with some pizazz and then, in a low-key voice introduced “Assistant coach Mike Anderson.”

For years, George has made quite a show of introducing the head coach with a growling drawn out, “No-lan Rrriiicchhhhaardson.”

Anderson wore black loafers; a far cry from the flashy boots that set off Richardson’s ensemble.

Many of the players had written “NR” or “Nolan Richardson” on their shoes. Most of them were wearing white armbands with “NR” on them.

Wearing suits, three non-players from the Razorback entourage sported big red ribbons with white polka dots on their coats. Before Richardson arrived at Arkansas, he coached five seasons at Tulsa, where polka dot shirts became his trademark.

Arkansas, 14-14 overall and 6-10 in the Southeastern Conference, pulled away from Vanderbilt (16-13, 6-10) with a 13-0 run early in the second half. Teddy Gipson, one of four Razorback seniors playing their final game at Walton Arena, led Arkansas with 19 points. The other seniors--Brandon Dean, Jannero Pargo and T.J. Cleveland--also scored in double figures.

After the game, students held up several signs thanking Richardson and noting his 389 victories with the Razorbacks. “Thanks for the memories,” one said.

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A senior moment: Before Georgetown’s game against Rutgers, point guard Kevin Braswell--the Hoyas’ only senior-- gathered his teammates in a huddle and told them: “It’s my last game at the MCI Center for Georgetown, and I don’t want to go out a loser.”

He certainly didn’t.

Braswell was in control throughout an 88-69 victory, scoring 18 points and handing out a school-record 16 assists to become Georgetown’s all-time leader in that category (677). He had assists on the first three baskets of the second half, including the career record-setter on a feed to Mike Sweetney for a layup.

“It couldn’t be any better. Everybody came through today,” Braswell said. “I was just so happy that we won. I was just pushing the guys, telling them that we can’t win this game by five or six points. When we played at Rutgers we lost in overtime by two. We want to show the selection committee that we’re a good team and we’re playing our best ball.”

Georgetown (18-10) won its third in a row in an attempt to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament.

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Performance of the day: Elvin Mims scored a career-high 35 points in his final collegiate game as Southern Mississippi dealt South Florida’s NCAA tournament hopes a serious blow in a 92-75 victory at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Mims made 15 of 21 shots and also had 14 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Southern Mississippi (10-17) didn’t qualify for the Conference USA tournament, which South Florida (18-11) will have to win to reach the NCAA tournament.

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Performance of the weak: Southeastern Louisiana in a 61-39 loss to Nicholls State, which had won only one of its previous 26 games.

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Staff and Wire Reports