Sutton to Anderson, Coach accomplishments 7 years in.

[okrazorback]

Let me try again with haters like you.you may as well suck it up.because you guys have lost.Mike Anderson is going to be the coach here no matter if you like it or not.so you may as well stop all your whining and crying.as long as mike is winning games and selling out Bud Walton,he is going to be the coach here.there was 20,000 people in Bud Walton for the OSU game.fans are excited about the program.that's why games are selling out.only haters and crybaby's like you are unhappy.

They have the same right as you do to express their opinion. Don't get me wrong. I hope Mike wins them all, but I was looking forward to Nolan's 40 minutes  of hell. That is the most exciting basketball games I have ever watched, but I do not think Mike will ever get there, but in my opinion no other coach has either.

[BallHog1]

Good gosh you are a broken record.  Haters, whiners, crybabies, sellout Bud Walton. 

I think Joe has to repeat himself because you don't comprehend and repetition is the key to learning for folks like you.
Try not to be a hater, think about what you are saying before you post. You lost, Mike is here to stay and so is Joe. Get over it.

[Hawg Red]

Anderson did not walk into a dumpster fire.

We'll say it was a grease fire. There was definitely a mess to clean up.

[FineAsSwine]

Sutton built it for Richardson........

And Richardson took the program to heights that Sutton never could and never did during his lengthy career here or anywhere else.

[GuvHog]

We'll say it was a grease fire. There was definitely a mess to clean up.

No there wasn't a mess to clean up. The program was on the upswing when Pelphrey was fired. The Hogs won 18 that year, received an NIT invitation, the APR problem was fixed, and a top 10 recruiting class was on it's way to campus.

[DeltaBoy]

Rules and the Game changed bottom line.

[hogfan10]

Actually Sutton coached in an average of 32 games in his 1st 7
Richardson coached in 32.8
Anderson too date has averaged 31.8 with 10 more games this season so no

It would have been easier to get into the NCAA tourney if you played weaker competition throughout the season. That's why some want to move back to the SWC (Big 12)

What is your basis for weaker compitition? Even if SWC (which I don't think it was) was weaker, they still had upper tier programs like SMU (Konkack? years), Houston (Phi Slamma Jamma years), and Texas had some very good teams. You didn't get multiple teams from a conference into the tournament, you got 1 and if lucky another in the years of 32 teams. For the last 25 years or so 3 teams have reasonably had a shot to win the SEC title; Kentucky every year, and Florida & Arkansas, both of which have been up and down. But, those are the only schools that appear to consistently make an effort in basketball.

[hogsanity]

Can we, for once and all, decide if Pelphrey cleaned up the APR situation Heath left, or not. Keeping in mind APR is a rolling # and often does not cause problems until 2 or 3 years AFTER the fact.

[hogfan10]

And Richardson took the program to heights that Sutton never could and never did during his lengthy career here or anywhere else.

Yes he did, but I think you could make an argument that if Sutton hadn't have "crawled" to Kentucky he might have reached those heights at Arkansas.
He took us from a literal barn as a home court to sell out crowds and the Final Four, pretty impressive.

[hogsanity]

What cant we just portray it for what it was/is.

Sutton came here from Creighton. He had the pedigree, but had not done a lot as a HC before he got here. He took the Hogs from playing on a court in a building with dirt on the floor ( not on the court ) in places and built it into one of the best programs of the 70's. He got so good that Kentucky, the holy grail of college basketball, came calling.

Richardson came here from Tulsa. He was a little more accomplished as a HC, with a NIT title and 3 NCAA appearances at Tulsa, but not really thought of nationally. He had to change the type of players here, which cost his a bad 1st seasons, but he had them in the NIT yr 2, and in the NCAAT in yr 3. By Yr 6 they were in the Final 4, and he went on to win a NC and play in another NCAATCG. He, along with Tark and a couple others changed the way college basketball was played.

Anderson - was actually more accomplished as a HC, AT THE TIME HE CAME HERE, than either Sutton or Richardson. Yet, in his time here has come no where near doing what they did in the same amount of time.

[raz1965]

With good recruit's ahead, let's let Mike have his chances with them before we say what he can't do. He program seems to be on the rise, sure better than the past 20 or so years.

[hogsanity]

With good recruit's ahead, let's let Mike have his chances with them before we say what he can't do. He program seems to be on the rise, sure better than the past 20 or so years.

we've seen this exact thing for the past 6 seasons. It is always waiting for the next great recruiting class, yet it never turns out to be that great. 2 years ago it was " just wait til that 17 class gets here". Now it is wait until that 18 or 19 class gets here.

[HognitiveDissonance]

While arguing over who cleaned up what with APR, I just wish people would understand the APR has little to no impact on actual on-court performance.
It's not like they can gut half your roster. The most severe penalty is a scholarship or two. That's nothing. You're talking about your 12th and 13th man. Oh boy. That means this year we would never get to play Gabe O. It's not a big deal.

Let me be clear: you never want to be hit with an APR, just for the fact that it's a stigma for your program that you'd rather not have.  But I will repeat it has little bearing on wins and losses.

As proof, I would point out the UCONN won the national title a year after going through an APR punishment. Were they happy with APR issues? No. But it didn't set them back, obviously.

Just STOP making this APR crap more than it is. All it is, is an avenue for people to pursue whatever agenda they're going to pursue anyway.

[HognitiveDissonance]

We'll say it was a grease fire. There was definitely a mess to clean up.

Oh boy. My favorite phrase again: 'dumpster fire'.
In today's vernacular in college sports, anyone who doesn't inherit a national title contending team has inherited a 'dumpster fire'. The hyperbole has gotten ridiculous.
Originally, 'dumpster fire' was reserved for extreme situations where there were very real challenges, such as SMU and the death penalty in the 80s.
Anderson did NOT inherit a terrible situation. It actually wasn't bad, to be honest.

While we're talking about fires...
How about the raging inferno Nolan Richardson left Stan Heath?
A roster with no talent(unless you count guys like Rashard Sullivan and Wenbos Mukubu talent). Stan had to scramble hard late in the spring to sign some guys like Eric Ferguson and Kendrick Davis, two pretty good players.
But the biggest 'fire' was the lawsuit Nolan had going on with the University. How would you like to be the coach and have to recruit in living rooms with that going on?
THAT was a dumpster fire.

[FineAsSwine]

Yes he did, but I think you could make an argument that if Sutton hadn't have "crawled" to Kentucky he might have reached those heights at Arkansas.
He took us from a literal barn as a home court to sell out crowds and the Final Four, pretty impressive.

It was pretty impressive to make a final four at Arkansas, one of the hardest places to do so in the country, but Nolan made two appearances in the title game and walked away with a championship. Sutton crawled to KY where winning championships is far easier than at Arkansas but he still was unable to capture a ring.

Nolan won an undisputed national championship at Arkansas and coached for another. While Sutton was great, Nolan was greater. Sutton did help create a great atmosphere for basketball at Arkansas but Nolan built upon it and took it to dizzying heights never seen at Arkansas.

Time to name the court after the greatest Hog basketball coach of all time.

[BallHog1]

While arguing over who cleaned up what with APR, I just wish people would understand the APR has little to no impact on actual on-court performance.
It's not like they can gut half your roster. The most severe penalty is a scholarship or two. That's nothing. You're talking about your 12th and 13th man. Oh boy. That means this year we would never get to play Gabe O. It's not a big deal.

Let me be clear: you never want to be hit with an APR, just for the fact that it's a stigma for your program that you'd rather not have.  But I will repeat it has little bearing on wins and losses.

As proof, I would point out the UCONN won the national title a year after going through an APR punishment. Were they happy with APR issues? No. But it didn't set them back, obviously.

Just STOP making this APR crap more than it is. All it is, is an avenue for people to pursue whatever agenda they're going to pursue anyway.

You realize you don't necessarily know which player is going to end up being at the end of the bench when you recruit don't you? The reduction in schollies takes away "chances" at getting that super star. Less chances = less likely to find the next Michael Jordan.

[Hawg Red]

No there wasn't a mess to clean up. The program was on the upswing when Pelphrey was fired. The Hogs won 18 that year, received an NIT invitation, the APR problem was fixed, and a top 10 recruiting class was on it's way to campus.

According to whom?

[Hawg Red]

Oh boy. My favorite phrase again: 'dumpster fire'.
In today's vernacular in college sports, anyone who doesn't inherit a national title contending team has inherited a 'dumpster fire'. The hyperbole has gotten ridiculous.
Originally, 'dumpster fire' was reserved for extreme situations where there were very real challenges, such as SMU and the death penalty in the 80s.
Anderson did NOT inherit a terrible situation. It actually wasn't bad, to be honest.

While we're talking about fires...
How about the raging inferno Nolan Richardson left Stan Heath?
A roster with no talent(unless you count guys like Rashard Sullivan and Wenbos Mukubu talent). Stan had to scramble hard late in the spring to sign some guys like Eric Ferguson and Kendrick Davis, two pretty good players.
But the biggest 'fire' was the lawsuit Nolan had going on with the University. How would you like to be the coach and have to recruit in living rooms with that going on?
THAT was a dumpster fire.

Anderson inherited a program that had only been winning 39% of its conference games for the previous 9 seasons. He inherited a program with a very poor culture and a loser mentality. When you have players like Courtney Fortson, Stefon Welsh, Jason Henry, etc. sliming things up, it's going to be a little difficult to get that culture right. Even a guy like Marshawn Powell was known for not having the greatest attitude.  Pretty sure there was a sexual assault incident during Pelphrey's time. The man just did not filter out bad character. To deny that as a factor in downgrading the condition of the program is to simply deny the reality of the situation. I'll leave you with that. If you disagree, so be it and we'll leave it at that.

[Atlhogfan1]

Eddie and his demons needed a change of scenery from Fay and the disaster that happened at UK.  What made his career so impressive was the program build he did at both Arkansas and Ok St.   The arenas at both programs had to be renovated and expanded due to his success.  He wasn't a coach who had a short run with one or two groups of players at one program.  He was able to replicate it which is rare to do to the point he took both programs and for the years he maintained it at both programs.  Few coaches have done it.  Roy Williams is one but did it at college basketball royalty.  Eddie just wasn't able to get the NC. 

Nolan was obviously the more accomplished coach at Arkansas. 

Both should be celebrated for what they did here.

[The OTR]

I think Joe has to repeat himself because you don't comprehend and repetition is the key to learning for folks like you.
Try not to be a hater, think about what you are saying before you post. You lost, Mike is here to stay and so is Joe. Get over it.

I'm having a deja vu.  I think I did this to you last year when Joe was on your last nerve. 

[Atlhogfan1]

Anderson inherited a program that had only been winning 39% of its conference games for the previous 9 seasons. He inherited a program with a very poor culture and a loser mentality. When you have players like Courtney Fortson, Stefon Welsh, Jason Henry, etc. sliming things up, it's going to be a little difficult to get that culture right. Even a guy like Marshawn Powell was known for not having the greatest attitude.  Pretty sure there was a sexual assault incident during Pelphrey's time. The man just did not filter out bad character. To deny that as a factor in downgrading the condition of the program is to simply deny the reality of the situation. I'll leave you with that. If you disagree, so be it and we'll leave it at that.

Mike didn't inherit any of those players but Powell.  The job was open because a rebuild needed to be done.

Anderson has had his own player issues:  Harris, Williams, Qualls, Thomas, Beard, Cook.  The difference is Mike is a strong enough leader and manages to keep them in the program as long as possible instead of filtering out and has success with them. 

[BallHog1]

I'm having a deja vu.  I think I did this to you last year when Joe was on your last nerve. 

Could be....

[zebradynasty]

So we really going to debate that a program ANY program that fired 3 coaches and one quit over a 9 year period isn't a dumpster fire

[Atlhogfan1]

So we really going to debate that a program ANY program that fired 3 coaches and one quit over a 9 year period isn't a dumpster fire

Yes.  It's an overused description. 

[Hawg Red]

Mike didn't inherit any of those players but Powell.  The job was open because a rebuild needed to be done.

Anderson has had his own player issues:  Harris, Williams, Qualls, Thomas, Beard, Cook.  The difference is Mike is a strong enough leader and manages to keep them in the program as long as possible instead of filtering out and has success with them.

Yeah, so even if the players have moved on, they can still leave behind bad culture. And stuff like rape/sexual assault, drug dealing and robbing drug dealers, whatever the hell Jason Henry was probably doing was worse than Beard using fake money, Cook not handling his booze too well, and Thomas and Madden being potheads. I don't know exactly what Harris did and I know Qualls got into a little altercation with a member of the staff. JaCorey Williams would have fit right in with Pelphrey's bunch. But there was a bad culture there when Mike arrived. Again, I think it's silly to suggest otherwise. De-programming a loser mentality and trying to de-flea a dirty dog can be tough. All coaches have player issues. However, that does not always equate to there be a culture problem. Mike does not have a culture problem because he'll always have more respectable, straight-laced young men than problem children. The inverse was true for Pelphrey and that had to be a problem for Mike when he got to Arkansas.

[zebradynasty]

Yes.  It's an overused description.

How many times its been used is not the issue. Is it accurate? L yes!

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

Anderson - was actually more accomplished as a HC, AT THE TIME HE CAME HERE, than either Sutton or Richardson. Yet, in his time here has come no where near doing what they did in the same amount of time.

Do you think Moncrief, Brewer, and Delph would have stayed 4 years in today's game?  How about Day, Big O and Mayberry?  What if Qualls and Portis had finished their eligibility at Arkansas? 

[Hawg Red]

Do you think Moncrief, Brewer, and Delph would have stayed 4 years in today's game?  How about Day, Big O and Mayberry?  What if Qualls and Portis had finished their eligibility at Arkansas?

!!!!!!!

It's almost as if, like, the times have changed and it's harder to keep players in your program 4 years.

[sadhogfan]

I don't understand why we cannot simultaneously maintain that:

(A) Mike Anderson is not the same caliber of coach as Nolan or Sutton.
BUT
(B) Mike Anderson is clearly a better coach than Pelphrey or Heath.

Statistics and results bear out both of these realities.

You can choose to reject MA as our coach because of (A), and because you want a HOF caliber coach. That is fine; it's also worth noting that there aren't a ton of those out there.

On the other hand, it is ridiculous to try to reject MA as our coach because he is no better than Pelphrey or Heath. He clearly is, and when people try to argue to the contrary, they look stupid.

For my part, I wish MA was better, but he's actually been pretty good. I have VERY little confidence that we would replace him with someone better. I think the thing to hope for is that MA turns us back into a year-in, year-out NCAAT program (it appears that he is on his way to doing that), and when the time comes for him to retire, our program will be respectable enough that we can lure a coach that is at the level we all want.

[FineAsSwine]

Eddie and his demons needed a change of scenery from Fay and the disaster that happened at UK.  What made his career so impressive was the program build he did at both Arkansas and Ok St.   The arenas at both programs had to be renovated and expanded due to his success.  He wasn't a coach who had a short run with one or two groups of players at one program.  He was able to replicate it which is rare to do to the point he took both programs and for the years he maintained it at both programs.  Few coaches have done it.  Roy Williams is one but did it at college basketball royalty.  Eddie just wasn't able to get the NC. 

Nolan was obviously the more accomplished coach at Arkansas. 

Both should be celebrated for what they did here.

1.   Richardson's success is what built the basketball palace of Mid-America.

2.  Sutton, even if including his 3 final fours and accomplishments from all of his stops, do not match Richardson's resume and his accomplishments at Arkansas alone.

3   I do celebrate both for what they did here except I give Richardson his full due, just like the Hall of Fame selection committee did. He is the greatest coach of all the coaches who ever coached here in terms of career accomplishments and he did it in a much shorter time frame because he was still coaching high school ball up until he was 35 years old because for some reason, it took him that long to get a shot at a measley junior college job where he won a national championship in almost no time.

[Hawg Red]

I don't understand why we cannot simultaneously maintain that:

(A) Mike Anderson is not the same caliber of coach as Nolan or Sutton.
BUT
(B) Mike Anderson is clearly a better coach than Pelphrey or Heath.

Statistics and results bear out both of these realities.

You can choose to reject MA as our coach because of (A), and because you want a HOF caliber coach. That is fine; it's also worth noting that there aren't a ton of those out there.

On the other hand, it is ridiculous to try to reject MA as our coach because he is no better than Pelphrey or Heath. He clearly is, and when people try to argue to the contrary, they look stupid.

For my part, I wish MA was better, but he's actually been pretty good. I have VERY little confidence that we would replace him with someone better. I think the thing to hope for is that MA turns us back into a year-in, year-out NCAAT program (it appears that he is on his way to doing that), and when the time comes for him to retire, our program will be respectable enough that we can lure a coach that is at the level we all want.

Perfect post.

[jabber71]

What is your basis for weaker compitition? Even if SWC (which I don't think it was) was weaker, they still had upper tier programs like SMU (Konkack? years), Houston (Phi Slamma Jamma years), and Texas had some very good teams. You didn't get multiple teams from a conference into the tournament, you got 1 and if lucky another in the years of 32 teams. For the last 25 years or so 3 teams have reasonably had a shot to win the SEC title; Kentucky every year, and Florida & Arkansas, both of which have been up and down. But, those are the only schools that appear to consistently make an effort in basketball.

From Wikipedia
The early 1980s were the glory years of SWC basketball, including the Phi Slama Jama teams at the University of Houston. However, the most consistent program during the last quarter of the 20th century was the University of Arkansas with Sweet 16 appearances in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1990, 1991, Elite 8 appearances in 1978, 1979, 1990 and 1991 and Final Four appearances in 1978 and 1990. Arkansas's famed Triplets, Marvin Delph, Ron Brewer and Sidney Moncrief, gave the rest of the league fits. Furthermore, the Razorbacks' Lee Mayberry, Todd Day and Oliver Miller won three straight SWC regular season and tournament titles from 1989–1991, the school's last three seasons in the conference. The passion of Arkansas fans for their Razorbacks often overran the confines of SWC basketball venues, so much so, that Reunion Arena in Dallas (annual site of the SWC postseason tournament) was deemed "Barnhill South" (after the Razorbacks' on-campus arena) based on the numbers and intensity of Hog fans present.

Outstanding basketball coaches included Nolan Richardson, Tom Penders, Eddie Sutton, Abe Lemons, Guy V. Lewis, Shelby Metcalf and Gerald Myers. Great SWC hoops players included the aforementioned Triplets, Akeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Vinnie Johnson, Jon Koncak, Alvin Robertson, Ricky Pierce, Day, Mayberry, Miller and U.S. Reed, among others.

So for the most part the SWC was Arkansas and then everyone else, kind of like SEC it is usually Kentucky and everyone else.

Season   Schls   W   L   W-L%   SRS   SOS   AP   NCAA   Regular Season Champ   Tournament Champ   POY

6   1990-91 SWC   9   149   124   .546   7.79   5.47   2   2   Arkansas   Arkansas   Todd Day, Oliver Miller
7   1989-90 SWC   9   151   123   .551   5.37   3.31   1   3   Arkansas   Arkansas   Travis Mays
8   1988-89 SWC   9   143   126   .532   2.94   2.46   0   2   Arkansas   Arkansas   Travis Mays
9   1987-88 SWC   9   146   127   .535   1.62   1.53   0   3   SMU   SMU   Carlton McKinney
10   1986-87 SWC   9   149   123   .548   6.22   4.80   1   3   Texas Christian   Texas A&M   Carven Holcombe
11   1985-86 SWC   9   142   123   .536   3.48   3.40   0   1   Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Christian   Texas Tech   John Brownlee
12   1984-85 SWC   9   156   114   .578   5.64   4.25   1   3   Texas Tech   Texas Tech   Bubba Jennings
13   1983-84 SWC   9   151   124   .549   1.47   2.14   2   3   Houston   Houston   Akeem Olajuwon
14   1982-83 SWC   9   153   121   .558   3.28   3.27   2   2   Houston   Houston   Clyde Drexler, Michael Young
15   1981-82 SWC   9   155   107   .592   8.36   6.76   1   2   Arkansas   Arkansas   Ricky Pierce
16   1980-81 SWC   9   135   122   .525   3.20   3.27   1   2   Arkansas   Houston   Rob Williams
17   1979-80 SWC   9   137   120   .533   1.57   1.70   0   2   Texas A&M   Texas A&M   Ron Baxter, Terry Teagle
18   1978-79 SWC   9   145   117   .553   2.56   2.85   1   2   Arkansas, Texas   Arkansas   Sidney Moncrief
19   1977-78 SWC   9   146   117   .555   4.05   4.21   2   2   Arkansas, Texas   Houston   Ron Brewer
20   1976-77 SWC   9   133   123   .520   -1.09   0.10   1   1   Arkansas   Arkansas   Otis Birdsong
21   1975-76 SWC   9   133   116   .534   -0.58   -0.41   1   1   Texas A&M   Texas Tech   Sonny Parker, Ira Terrell

[FineAsSwine]

Do you think Moncrief, Brewer, and Delph would have stayed 4 years in today's game?  How about Day, Big O and Mayberry?  What if Qualls and Portis had finished their eligibility at Arkansas?

Pretty sure Gafford will be leaving before he finishes his eligibility as well. Things are very different for sure.

[Atlhogfan1]

1.   Richardson's success is what built the basketball palace of Mid-America.

2.  Sutton, even if including his 3 final fours and accomplishments from all of his stops, do not match Richardson's resume and his accomplishments at Arkansas alone.

3   I do celebrate both for what they did here except I give Richardson his full due, just like the Hall of Fame selection committee did. He is the greatest coach of all the coaches who ever coached here in terms of career accomplishments and he did it in a much shorter time frame because he was still coaching high school ball up until he was 35 years old because for some reason, it took him that long to get a shot at a measley junior college job where he won a national championship in almost no time.

1.  We all know that.

2.  The NC is the difference.  I agree that makes Nolan more accomplished.

3.  Nolan has been given his due over and over. 

[Johnny Bobo]

I think Joe has to repeat himself because you don't comprehend and repetition is the key to learning for folks like you.
Try not to be a hater, think about what you are saying before you post. You lost, Mike is here to stay and so is Joe. Get over it.

best post eva!

[PonderinHog]

!!!!!!!

It's almost as if, like, the times have changed and it's harder to keep players in your program 4 years.

So, what is our formula?  Develop a strong stable and occasionally bring in a Secretariat?  Seems like it to me. Just think what this team would be with Portis.

[FineAsSwine]

So, what is our formula?  Develop a strong stable and occasionally bring in a Secretariat?  Seems like it to me. Just think what this team would be with Portis.

And what this team could have been next year without Adidas!

[PonderinHog]

And what this team could have been next year without Adidas!

That damn close!  Mike has not been what I'd call lucky, going back to game two of his first season.

[Kevin]

Yeah, so even if the players have moved on, they can still leave behind bad culture. And stuff like rape/sexual assault, drug dealing and robbing drug dealers, whatever the hell Jason Henry was probably doing was worse than Beard using fake money, Cook not handling his booze too well, and Thomas and Madden being potheads. I don't know exactly what Harris did and I know Qualls got into a little altercation with a member of the staff. JaCorey Williams would have fit right in with Pelphrey's bunch. But there was a bad culture there when Mike arrived. Again, I think it's silly to suggest otherwise. De-programming a loser mentality and trying to de-flea a dirty dog can be tough. All coaches have player issues. However, that does not always equate to there be a culture problem. Mike does not have a culture problem because he'll always have more respectable, straight-laced young men than problem children. The inverse was true for Pelphrey and that had to be a problem for Mike when he got to Arkansas.

the bottomline to all this is: arkansas has another coach who is polarizing. very little middle ground.

it comes down to expectations. i think expectations for the basketball program is very low considering the history, facilities.

this should be a top 25 team every year, no worse than a 6th seed in the tournament. a couple of sweet 16's every 5 years.

but most just want to make the tournament, and have cma as coach.

[hogfan10]

It was pretty impressive to make a final four at Arkansas, one of the hardest places to do so in the country, but Nolan made two appearances in the title game and walked away with a championship. Sutton crawled to KY where winning championships is far easier than at Arkansas but he still was unable to capture a ring.

Nolan won an undisputed national championship at Arkansas and coached for another. While Sutton was great, Nolan was greater. Sutton did help create a great atmosphere for basketball at Arkansas but Nolan built upon it and took it to dizzying heights never seen at Arkansas.

Time to name the court after the greatest Hog basketball coach of all time.

I agree with all but your last sentence.
Sorry, but if you sue the school that you coached, for 18 years no less, and was paid very well to do so; nothing should be named after you.
He destroyed all good will, and everything he had built with that lawsuit; and is a big reason we are what we've been since.

[hawgfan4life]

What cant we just portray it for what it was/is.

Sutton came here from Creighton. He had the pedigree, but had not done a lot as a HC before he got here. He took the Hogs from playing on a court in a building with dirt on the floor ( not on the court ) in places and built it into one of the best programs of the 70's. He got so good that Kentucky, the holy grail of college basketball, came calling.

Richardson came here from Tulsa. He was a little more accomplished as a HC, with a NIT title and 3 NCAA appearances at Tulsa, but not really thought of nationally. He had to change the type of players here, which cost his a bad 1st seasons, but he had them in the NIT yr 2, and in the NCAAT in yr 3. By Yr 6 they were in the Final 4, and he went on to win a NC and play in another NCAATCG. He, along with Tark and a couple others changed the way college basketball was played.

Anderson - was actually more accomplished as a HC, AT THE TIME HE CAME HERE, than either Sutton or Richardson. Yet, in his time here has come no where near doing what they did in the same amount of time.

Your points are great until the end.  Your last comparison statement neglects to account for the fact times are far more different today than they were then regarding college basketball. 

[hogsanity]

You can choose to reject MA as our coach because of (A), and because you want a HOF caliber coach. That is fine; it's also worth noting that there aren't a ton of those out there.

Neither Sutton or Richardson were HOF coaches WHEN THEY TOOK THE ARKANSAS JOB. They turned into great coaches after they took the job. Mike has not turned into anything other than what he always was, a average coach.

Do you think Moncrief, Brewer, and Delph would have stayed 4 years in today's game?  How about Day, Big O and Mayberry?  What if Qualls and Portis had finished their eligibility at Arkansas? 

I have said many times the game has changed, in many ways. And that is part of the issue with Mike too, he won't change.

[Breems]

CMA really could've helped his case with a tournament appearance in 2013-2014. That team was a tournament team but blew their chances. Had they made the NCAAT, you're looking at a tournament appearance in year 3 and an appearance 3 of the last 4 years.

Likewise, had we played a little better in the last 3 minutes last season (or perhaps gotten better calls), there would be a lot more leniency.

Those are what-ifs, but they do offer some perspective. We're starting to get to the tournament and win games there. The next accomplishments aren't far away.

[Atlhogfan1]

Your points are great until the end.  Your last comparison statement neglects to account for the fact times are far more different today than they were then regarding college basketball.

Is this era too hard for him?

[Peter Porker]

the bottomline to all this is: arkansas has another coach who is polarizing. very little middle ground.

it comes down to expectations. i think expectations for the basketball program is very low considering the history, facilities.

this should be a top 25 team every year, no worse than a 6th seed in the tournament. a couple of sweet 16's every 5 years.

but most just want to make the tournament, and have cma as coach regardless of wins and losses.

FIFY.

[zebradynasty]

1.  We all know that.

2.  The NC is the difference.  I agree that makes Nolan more accomplished.

3.  Nolan has been given his due over and over.

Not quite true. He brought us an UNDISPUTED National Championship in a sport that nobody ever thought could happen here. Over a 10 year period Arkansas was nationally a top 10 program. Outside of what Frank did in the 60's and Track no one has come close.

[Atlhogfan1]

Not quite true. He brought us an UNDISPUTED National Championship in a sport that nobody ever thought could happen here. Over a 10 year period Arkansas was nationally a top 10 program. Outside of what Frank did in the 60's and Track no one has come close.

So in this specific thread, Nolan hasn't been praised enough.  Ok.  Nolan has been given the respect he deserves. 

Yes we thought it could happen at Arkansas.  Nolan accomplished it. 

[raz1965]

Personally, I Remember well when Sutton left Arkansas, I was happy to see him go, never thought his style would win a national championship. He had taken Ark as far as he could, which was short of the great coach who came after. I watched as other teams ran up an down, with alley oop dunks an fast scores, knowing full well with Eddies slow pace there would be no come back when the Razorbacks fell behind. I believe when Mike gets a complete team fans will once again see Noland's style back in action. Hoping the extension is enough to prove the ones with doubt wrong an unite us all back to basketball glory.

[zebradynasty]

I agree with all but your last sentence.
Sorry, but if you sue the school that you coached, for 18 years no less, and was paid very well to do so; nothing should be named after you.
He destroyed all good will, and everything he had built with that lawsuit; and is a big reason we are what we've been since.

Says a lot about current value system in this country. Long as I  pay you...I can say what I want to you do as I please. If you see wrong keep your mouth shut....Nolan's lawsuit while embarrassing it needed to happen because it exposed an ole deep south mentality that needed to be swept out. The University is and will be better for it!

[hawg66]

Criticizing or minimizing Anderson's recent uptick in recruiting as due to an uptick in in-state talent has to be looked at like everything else in this thread if we're comparing to Sutton and Richardson. Sutton had the biggest uptick in in-state talent ever. He landed Delph in year one and Moncrief/Brewer in year two. Success breeds success, and that base of great local talent was the foundation for everything that happened after. Nolan's NC was helped immensely by the presence of Corliss.  The hate for Anderson is so strong among some that they are upset that another great group of Arkansas players are headed to the Hill.

His new contract is signed. The in-state talent is coming. It doesn't make success a guarantee but it sure makes all the bitching seem petty.