Richardson Says He Will Fight Contract Buyout

Former Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said he would fight a buyout of his contract, beginning with a meeting Monday with the university president.

“I did not resign or retire, nor did I request to be bought, and I have not been bought out of my contract,” Richardson said in a statement, his first public comment since Chancellor John A. White announced his decision March 1 to buy out the final six years of Richardson’s contract for $3 million.

Richardson said he had authorized his lawyer, John Walker, to provide documents to University of Arkansas system President B. Alan Sugg “which I believe support my position” in advance of the meeting Monday. The meeting is part of Sugg’s review of Richardson’s dismissal.

Arkansas announced it had bought out Richardson’s contract after he had twice publicly said he would leave if the university would buy him out. Documents obtained by the Associated Press indicated that Richardson was unhappy with wording in a new contract for his television show before he made the disparaging statements.

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Melanie Davis became the first woman to referee a Division I men’s NCAA tournament game Friday, working the first-round game between San Diego State and Illinois in the Midwest Regional at Chicago.

“I hope this opens the door for other ladies to come in,” Davis said. “If not, I’m going to take this moment and cherish it.”

Davis has officiated men’s games in the Southwestern Athletic Conference for more than 10 years and has done the conference tournament championship game the last two seasons. She was chosen to work the NCAA tournament just as the other referees were, said Hank Nichols, the NCAA’s national coordinator of men’s basketball officiating.

Each conference ranks its referees based on their work during the season, and then submits the top ones to the NCAA to be considered for the tournament. Davis was the SWAC’s top-ranked referee, Nichols said.

“It is history-making,” Nichols added. “But I wasn’t thinking about that in terms when we did it.”

It was a big deal to Davis. When she got her packet of information for the tournament, she was so nervous she couldn’t open it.

“I waited three or four hours to open it,” she said. “I set it on the dresser and kept staring at it and staring at it. I was worried at first, but I’m glad it happened.”

In keeping with policy, the NCAA did not announce the referees before the tournament. So there was no fanfare as she walked onto the floor, with few people aware of the milestone.

Davis won’t know until after the weekend whether she’ll work the later rounds of the tournament.

Associated Press

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USC’s overtime loss to North Carolina Wilmington on Thursday night got a 4.2 TV rating with a 9 share in Los Angeles. Those numbers were lower than the national overnight rating and share of 5.0/11 that CBS averaged for its two sessions of first-round NCAA tournament coverage.

CBS averaged a 7.3/12 overnight national rating and share for its prime-time coverage, which included the USC game.

The 5.0 is 6% better than the 4.7 rating CBS got for the opening round last year and the highest since the first round drew a 5.1 in 1993. The 7.3 is 22% higher than the 6.0 for last year’s first round prime-time coverage and equals the highest since 1991.

In Los Angeles, the Arizona-UC Santa Barbara game, which followed USC’s loss, got a 4.0/6, and earlier in the day, Wake Forest-Pepperdine drew a 2.4/8.

Larry Stewart

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Clemson Coach Larry Shyatt, whose teams have finished last in the Atlantic Coast Conference the last three years, received a two-year contract extension.... Tennessee junior forward Marcus Haislip will declare for the NBA draft.... Ticket applications for next year’s West Regional at the Arrowhead Pond will be available beginning at 10 a.m. Monday at the arena or on the Internet at www.arrowheadpond.com.

Associated Press