Why is recruiting such a struggle here?

[Mike Irwin]

Hogville was around in the 99-2000 season?

Seriously, how in the world do people get those numbers to call to begin with?

If it wasn't Hogville it was whatever existed before that. The Pig Pen or whatever that thing was.

[Atlhogfan1]

Anyone who was around Notes knows the decision to have him deliver the message wasn't a good one and it is no surprise it went badly.  Gilbert and Hankins were the "neighborhood recruits" Nolan claimed he was forced to sign. 

[MikePiazza]

People have referred to that situation over the years without the context that would explain it.

Here are the facts:

Nolan Richardson usually arrived at his office sometime around 1:30 pm. Terry Mercer would give him his phone messages.
During this period there was an incident with Jason Gilbert, a shooting guard from Mt. Home. The kid wasn't playing a lick of defense and no matter how well you shot Nolan wanted you to make an effort to improve your defense. So he told Notes to take a collection of video from several games and show Gilbert examples of his teammates playing good defense and him playing no defense. After the video session Gilbert got mad and quit the team. Bob Holt called him and Gilbert told Holt that he felt like he was being singled out by Notes because he was white.

All hell broke loose. Terry Mercer started fielding anonymous, hate filled comments the morning that Gilbert's comments appeared in the newspaper. Nolan came to town early that morning unaware of the controversy. He came by his office while Mercer was at lunch. He hit playback on the answering machine to listen to his messages and what he heard was a lot of people calling in using the N word to describe Notes. By the time he was finished listening he was pissed.

Later that day in a press conference he referred to those callers as tur*s and a$$holes and redneck SOB's. He never said all fans were that way or all white people. He made it very clear that he was referring to anonymous callers who were using the N word to describe his son.

I know this because I was there. However it was not surprising to me when certain fans piled on this message board and starting accusing Nolan of labeling Arkansas' fanbase as tu*ds and a$$holes and redneck SOBs. It was a stupid claim.

Mt. View, just to be clear.

[Pork Twain]

I am just tired of excuses.

[sowmonella]

I was curious so I went back to the past three classes per 24/7. We signed 7 players total. 1 Five Star, 3 Four Star and 3 Three Stars. Portis *****, Whitt ****, Kingsley ****, Beard ****, Babb, Durham & THompson ***.

[hogsanity]

I was curious so I went back to the past three classes per 24/7. We signed 7 players total. 1 Five Star, 3 Four Star and 3 Three Stars. Portis *****, Whitt ****, Kingsley ****, Beard ****, Babb, Durham & THompson ***.

and two of those 7 are gone, Portis and Babb. Beard is in limbo right now.

[sowmonella]

I know but the topic was recruiting.

[WarPig88]

Anyone who was around Notes knows the decision to have him deliver the message wasn't a good one and it is no surprise it went badly.  Gilbert and Hankins were the "neighborhood recruits" Nolan claimed he was forced to sign.

LOL! Now we know. You are literally trying to rationalize the racist responses. Sad.

Hankins was actually a good player who was getting minutes down the stretch of the season as the team began to make a move. He hurt his back in a 4 wheeler accident and didn't play another game afterward, mostly sitting on the bench in street clothes.

I feel for you.

[hogsanity]

I know but the topic was recruiting.

Signing 7 players in 3 years, and only having 5 of those left ( counting Beard ) might show a LACK of recruiting, or at least a lack of recruiting success.

[WarPig88]

Signing 7 players in 3 years, and only having 5 of those left ( counting Beard ) might show a LACK of recruiting, or at least a lack of recruiting success.

A kid going in the first round of the draft is a problem? Beard will be gone, but there was no indication prior to the moment he did the counterfeit thing that he was a character risk.

You are reaching here.

[hogsanity]

A kid going in the first round of the draft is a problem? Beard will be gone, but there was no indication prior to the moment he did the counterfeit thing that he was a character risk.

You are reaching here.

Really?  So for a coach who talks constantly about how he likes to have a deep bench so he can get into the legs of the opponent, signing 7 players, TOTAL, over a 3 year span is acceptable?

Yeah, it is a problem if you do not have players to take their place. I am not even talking similar calibre players, I am talking real flesh and blood bodies to physically take up space on the floor.

[WarPig88]

Really?  So for a coach who talks constantly about how he likes to have a deep bench so he can get into the legs of the opponent, signing 7 players, TOTAL, over a 3 year span is acceptable?

Yeah, it is a problem if you do not have players to take their place. I am not even talking similar calibre players, I am talking real flesh and blood bodies to physically take up space on the floor.

We had ONE kid leave because he was unhappy. That is good.

Two of the other kids said they were staying all the way up until a couple of days before they announced. I realize neophyte fans think you make offers for openings you don't have, but it really is bad for business in this day and age to do that. If you have to dismiss kids to make room or not honor your offer it will hurt you big time in recruiting circles. Especially as the best players are ending up more and more in the same circles of influence through prep schools and AAU ball.

Make one coach angry because you screwed his player over and you can forget the TEAM full of talented players he coaches until he is gone.

So yes, you are reaching. ONE kid left for another school. Another for the NBA and the other is in trouble with the law. It hurts, but it is hardly an indication of poor recruiting as you are suggesting.

[Atlhogfan1]

LOL! Now we know. You are literally trying to rationalize the racist responses. Sad.

Hankins was actually a good player who was getting minutes down the stretch of the season as the team began to make a move. He hurt his back in a 4 wheeler accident and didn't play another game afterward, mostly sitting on the bench in street clothes.

I feel for you.

You obviously don't know as usual.

I didn't address the racist responses to Nolan.  Those people who called have serious issues to understate it.  Shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry for Nolan they did.

Unrelated to those horrible reactions from a few people, I'm not surprised the message to Gilbert went badly since it was delivered by Notes.  No coincidence Notes was gone after the season and "finally" got another job. 

We know that recruiting period was somewhat chaotic and not very good.  Nolan gave his very one sided view of what was happening which I don't doubt much of the truth in what he said.  But he was also not the complete victim he made himself out to be either.  The earlier quotes in this thread became somewhat self fulfilling the more he felt victimized. 

[hogsanity]

We had ONE kid leave because he was unhappy. That is good.

Two of the other kids said they were staying all the way up until a couple of days before they announced. I realize neophyte fans think you make offers for openings you don't have, but it really is bad for business in this day and age to do that. If you have to dismiss kids to make room or not honor your offer it will hurt you big time in recruiting circles. Especially as the best players are ending up more and more in the same circles of influence through prep schools and AAU ball.

Make one coach angry because you screwed his player over and you can forget the TEAM full of talented players he coaches until he is gone.

So yes, you are reaching. ONE kid left for another school. Another for the NBA and the other is in trouble with the law. It hurts, but it is hardly an indication of poor recruiting as you are suggesting.

Do you not see the problem with only signing 7 players, TOTAL, over a 3 year period?  If one leaves early for the pros, if one suffers a career ending injury, if one has academic issues, if one decides to go play at another school, or if one just decides he does not want to play ball anymore, if any of those things happen, it is bad, if several of them happen, you have no bench left, at all.

I have said several times, Portis and Qualls leaving is not on Mike. They did what they felt was best for them. Babb, I do put that on Mike because, imo, he mishandled Babb.  I do not blame him at all for the Beard situation. No idea on Kapita. If he knew there was a potential, maybe you do not take that risk.

[Mike Irwin]

So can you connect the events Mike?

How does it then end up that Nolan files a lawsuit against the university?  (I asking this because I don't recall the entire timeline).  Is there a trustworthy story / article somewhere online that covers this?

To be honest this was a minor incident to Nolan which had nothing to do with his battles with Frank. Many of you are fathers. What would you do if a bunch of anonymous cowards called your answering machine and made those comments about your son? You would be pissed. You would call them out.

The lawsuit had nothing to do with this. The lawsuit was Nolan's way of getting on the public record the daily crap he took from the BAC.
In that respect the lawsuit was successful.

[WarPig88]

Do you not see the problem with only signing 7 players, TOTAL, over a 3 year period?  If one leaves early for the pros, if one suffers a career ending injury, if one has academic issues, if one decides to go play at another school, or if one just decides he does not want to play ball anymore, if any of those things happen, it is bad, if several of them happen, you have no bench left, at all.

I have said several times, Portis and Qualls leaving is not on Mike. They did what they felt was best for them. Babb, I do put that on Mike because, imo, he mishandled Babb.  I do not blame him at all for the Beard situation. No idea on Kapita. If he knew there was a potential, maybe you do not take that risk.

You know there is a limit on how many scholarships you can give out. Also, you may save one back because you feel like you are in good with a kid in the following class that is much better than is available in this class.

There is way more to the numbers than you are recognizing here. You act like he is leaving as many on the table as Calipari does at Kentucky or something. As far as Babb goes, frosh leave all the time. Always have, always will. To lose only one in 4 years is pretty darn good actually.

[WarPig88]

Look, I know if Mike burned your house, made a pass at your wife, and kicked your dog you would still run panting to him asking for an autograph, but can you please be realistic. His recruiting has been horrible. The worst of it was the signing class AFTER they had the best season since he has been here.

So you truly believe it is good recruiting to only sign 7 players in a 3 year span? Especially knowing that at the end of your 4th season you will be losing at least 2 players because they were srs, likely to lose Portis to the draft, and then just as you said FR leave all the time, you have to figure at some point at least 1 kid is going to leave for whatever reason. Knowing all that is coming, and a coach still only signs 7 players?  N one in their right mind thinks that is acceptable.

Why do you have to make this personal? His recruiting hasn't been horrible. We just had our best season in 20 years. You don't do that with horrible recruiting. Are you serious?

I recall people claiming that the class with Qualls and Bell would set this program back years. Those people have been PROVEN to be dopes. Are you one of them?

In the last 3 classes we have signed 5 guys rated 4 stars or higher. You call that "horrible". It's pretty clear you are deluded.

[Otis]

You know there is a limit on how many scholarships you can give out. Also, you may save one back because you feel like you are in good with a kid in the following class that is much better than is available in this class.

There is way more to the numbers than you are recognizing here. You act like he is leaving as many on the table as Calipari does at Kentucky or something. As far as Babb goes, frosh leave all the time. Always have, always will. To lose only one in 4 years is pretty darn good actually.

Didn't Devonta Abrams leave? What about Dee Wagner although he may have been a sophomore.

[HognitiveDissonance]

People have referred to that situation over the years without the context that would explain it.

Here are the facts:

Nolan Richardson usually arrived at his office sometime around 1:30 pm. Terry Mercer would give him his phone messages.
During this period there was an incident with Jason Gilbert, a shooting guard from Mt. Home. The kid wasn't playing a lick of defense and no matter how well you shot Nolan wanted you to make an effort to improve your defense. So he told Notes to take a collection of video from several games and show Gilbert examples of his teammates playing good defense and him playing no defense. After the video session Gilbert got mad and quit the team. Bob Holt called him and Gilbert told Holt that he felt like he was being singled out by Notes because he was white.

All hell broke loose. Terry Mercer started fielding anonymous, hate filled comments the morning that Gilbert's comments appeared in the newspaper. Nolan came to town early that morning unaware of the controversy. He came by his office while Mercer was at lunch. He hit playback on the answering machine to listen to his messages and what he heard was a lot of people calling in using the N word to describe Notes. By the time he was finished listening he was pissed.

Later that day in a press conference he referred to those callers as tur*s and a$$holes and redneck SOB's. He never said all fans were that way or all white people. He made it very clear that he was referring to anonymous callers who were using the N word to describe his son.

I know this because I was there. However it was not surprising to me when certain fans piled on this message board and starting accusing Nolan of labeling Arkansas' fanbase as tu*ds and a$$holes and redneck SOBs. It was a stupid claim.

We know a certain element of the fanbase is nuts. Any fanbase. So who cares what they think?
These are the fans who will leave messages like that on an answering machine.
These are the type of people who will throw bricks through Alabama coach Bill Curry's window.
These are the type of people who will yell and curse at Ken Hatfield as he's leaving the field because 'he' lost the game to Texas on a last-second TD throw in 1987. Last I checked, Ken was white.
There is crap that people in those positions have to deal with.
I have no doubt some of these are flat-out racists. It's not ok to use racial epithets.
But a segment of minorities are racists too, if not worse. It's not ok for them to use racial epithets, either. That's how this all came up.

I don't doubt your story at all, Mike...but I don't think it changes much. Considering Nolan's tenure as a whole, it doesn't really explain to me. Speaking of Nolan liking to stand on the racial soapbox, that is. I don't see how anyone can really claim that he wasn't that way.

At the 1995 Final 4, when Billy Packer is trying to conduct a simple interview, did he really have to say 'even a blind man can see that, Billy?'. Nolan was always carrying a chip on his shoulder, thinking someone was questioning his coaching ability. Contrast to a black coach like Tubby Smith, from the same era, who probably had some of the same experiences in life, but never seemed to carry the same chip the way Nolan did. That always struck me.
I still like Nolan to this day, by the way.

[Mike Irwin]

We know a certain element of the fanbase is nuts. Any fanbase. So who cares what they think?
These are the fans who will leave messages like that on an answering machine.
These are the type of people who will throw bricks through Alabama coach Bill Curry's window.
These are the type of people who will yell and curse at Ken Hatfield as he's leaving the field because 'he' lost the game to Texas on a last-second TD throw in 1987. Last I checked, Ken was white.
There is crap that people in those positions have to deal with.
I have no doubt some of these are flat-out racists. It's not ok to use racial epithets.
But a segment of minorities are racists too, if not worse. It's not ok for them to use racial epithets, either. That's how this all came up.

I don't doubt your story at all, Mike...but I don't think it changes much. Considering Nolan's tenure as a whole, it doesn't really explain to me. Speaking of Nolan liking to stand on the racial soapbox, that is. I don't see how anyone can really claim that he wasn't that way.

At the 1995 Final 4, when Billy Packer is trying to conduct a simple interview, did he really have to say 'even a blind man can see that, Billy?'. Nolan was always carrying a chip on his shoulder, thinking someone was questioning his coaching ability. Contrast to a black coach like Tubby Smith, from the same era, who probably had some of the same experiences in life, but never seemed to carry the same chip the way Nolan did. That always struck me.
I still like Nolan to this day, by the way.

I've pointed this out before. Guess I'll have to do it again. Nolan adored his grandmother. She raised him. Kept him in school. Was responsible for his career.

I saw a photo of her once. She was in her mid 30's in the picture. She looked 20 years older.  Nolan said she'd been through hell. Caught the worst of the Jim Crow era. I remember that stuff in my hometown from when I was a kid.

He also said that toward the end her life when she knew he was going to be a man with influence she practically commanded him to speak out on racial issues. Don't get so big that you forget your people, she told him. He looked me right in the eye and said, "If I had ignored her it would have been the same as spitting on her grave."

As for Packer, you can have him. He's a class A jerk. I've seen him order his co workers around like they were peons. Whatever Paul Eells was Packer is 180 degrees in the other direction. At the 1990 Final Four in Denver one of our producers had arranged through CBS to have him on live during one of our pre-game segments. It was a call in show where fans in NWA could ask him questions.

He showed up pissed, bitching to high heaven. He said to his personal assistant, I can't believe I have to waste my time taking to a bunch of farmers from Arkansas.

That was it. I told him to take a hike. We didn't need him.

Four years later in Charlotte when Nolan said all that stuff about the media thinking Duke would win because they were the smarter team he was talking about Packer. He's the one who said it.

So yeah, every opportunity he got to insult Packer, he took it.

Good for him.

[Dominicanhog]

seems there is always context but to some, they only see Black vs. White. 

[WilsonHog]

There was a time when I was resentful of all the comments Nolan made. That was foolish of me for several reasons:

(1) I had no context. Had I known then (ex: Mike's story about the messages on Nolan's answering machine), I would have felt much differently. Context matters; the problem is that too many times we're quick to be judgmental off of a sound byte. Jump to conclusions first, ask questions later.

(2) A man is who he is. It isn't fair or realistic to ask him to change or to hide that part of his personality ("We love the wins! Now, could you maybe just shut off what made you who you are so our sensitive fans don't have to be confronted by the past? Thanks.").

(3) Every man's motivation is different. I am convinced that our success those 17 years was BECAUSE of who Nolan was. Because of his past. The world he grew up in - and that his grandmother grew up in - provided the motivation that generated all the fire.

[WilsonHog]

Well, you would have to have your head in the sand or pretty forgetful to forget who Nolan Richardson was, what he accomplished and the antics and comments about the University, state and program that caused his firing. I on the other hand, don't know a UA basketball fan that has forgotten.

You miss my point; I said that I remembered.

I simply no longer care. In fact, I haven't cared for about 12 years now.

Now, I am sure my children don't remember much about it, because it wasn't a topic of conversation around our dinner table even when it was happening.

[WilsonHog]

Tom,

I understand what you are saying here, but I just can't agree with your positions.  Nolan's ego (and his mouth) were at times his best asset and his worst enemy.  And while all of this is water (long since gone) under the bridge, how Nolan's end of his time as the head men's basketball coach of the University of Arkansas came about is still having a negative effect on the program even today. That is not the kind of effect a coach should leave on a program.

Whatever the opinions are is irrelevant - the question becomes how can this program be improved - and quickly?

I am not convinced that it can.

Eddie Sutton built his program on dedication, discipline, and defense, and on the backs of three of the Triplets, arguably the three best players on one team in program history. While we were good after the Triplets, Sutton was never able to replicate those results post-Moncrief. By the time he left, the popular narrative was that the program had grown stale.

Then Nolan came in with a style no one had seen before. He was fueled by an intense motivation to prove he could win a national title. He took advantage of family ties to get some recruits, and friendships in the high school ranks to get others, and he made all of them believe.

In retrospect, those were pretty unique circumstances. I'm not convinced, as some believe, that all we have to do is hire Gregg Marshall and then sit back and watch the trophy cases fill up.

[TNhawgfan]

I'm glad Mike Irwin is a member of this board to give insights from someone who was there. I know there on posters on here that think they know more than the Arkansas media, and it would be easy for mike and others to say forget it and stop posting. But for the rational fans on here, we're glad they don't

[WarPig88]

Didn't Devonta Abrams leave? What about Dee Wagner although he may have been a sophomore.

Yes his girlfriend had a child and he was immediately eligible as a transfer to be closer to her and the child. Wagner left after his sophomore season when it was clear that he would probably never be part of the rotation.

Compare that Nolan's post championship years. People said he quit recruiting but that wasn't the case. We signed 4 McD AA's after the championship. We had signed 5 prior. We had 5 guys drafter prior, 4 first rounders, and 4 drafted post championship.

The difference was that players were leaving in droves after coming to campus. Antwon Hall, Jesse Pate, Adebayo, Marlon Townes, Chris Jeffries, Glendon Alexander, Jason Gilbert, Jason Jennings, Hankins, Joe Johnson, and Ali Thompson, and Darnell Robinson all left before using their eligibility up.

Robinson and Johnson got drafted, Pate and Adebayo were victims of the NCAA witch hunt, Thompson was an academic casualty, and the rest left due to being kicked off or being unhappy in some way.

This is a different era. Kids leave early for over seas ball now and to play in the D league. There will be attrition due to that. But outside of Qualls and Portis, the staff hasn't been caught off guard in terms of filling spots in recruiting as some on here are trying to say.

[WilsonHog]

I think those are some very fair observations - and very accurate.  It may be asking for lightning to strike a third time for success to occur again to the extent it did twice before.  Can it happen?  Sure. Is it likely to happen?  I don't think Vegas odds would be very attractive at all. 

For the sake of those around here who are diehard Arkansas fans, I hope that it does happen though.

I believe we're better than what we showed under Heath and Pelphrey, and should expect so. I do not expect that we will reach the Sutton Days grom 1977-79, nor Nolan's best days again, not consistently.

[WarPig88]

I believe we're better than what we showed under Heath and Pelphrey, and should expect so. I do not expect that we will reach the Sutton Days grom 1977-79, nor Nolan's best days again, not consistently.

As long as kids are leaving earlier and earlier for pro situations, programs on our level will struggle for consistency.

That's why I think stability in your coaching staff is going to be a big deal moving forward.

[WarPig88]

It's wonderful that you don't care Tom, but that doesn't mean that everyone feels like you and that this can't be a reason for the lack of recruiting success.

Well, my wife to be back then and I lived in Houston and followed Nolan and team on the SWC farewell tour at every stop in Texas. We were huge fans and friends with Nolan and the players and well known. It hurt when he turned on fans like us that had so much invested in the program and their success. It is not anything I will forget and am giving it as a major reason for this program falling on hard times and why it is so hard to recruit here, yes even 14 years later.  generations of my family all remember well what occurred with Nolan's departure and the hateful shots he took at the State, the Program and the fans. I don't attend games any longer and am not very interested in the basketball team any longer, mainly because the program has never recovered from the Nolan curse. My in laws all remember well also, even though they are Texans and Longhorn fans. I don't think it should be surprising that most fans remember.

My other reason was, because we haven't hired a dynamic, responsible coach that is fully vested in the players well being and is also able to recruit like the top programs. If my son was a top recruit, I wouldn't encourage him to play for Mike.

LOL

[hawginbigd1]

Really?  So for a coach who talks constantly about how he likes to have a deep bench so he can get into the legs of the opponent, signing 7 players, TOTAL, over a 3 year span is acceptable?

Yeah, it is a problem if you do not have players to take their place. I am not even talking similar calibre players, I am talking real flesh and blood bodies to physically take up space on the floor.

Give up on that poster for sure, you will go insane trying to bring reality into the conversation with him. Unfortunately there are 2 many sort of like him. We will have 9 players on the roster and the only one with legit star capability has never played a college BB game. Recruiting is just dandy!!!

[tophawg19]

Arizona near metropolitan area.
Duke and UNC are in the 7 most populous state in the union and that area is near Greensboro which has a vibrant african/american population.
Kentucky has a brand and a pop of 350k, Louisville is right there.
Kansas is near Kansas City.

Sorry, but when you look at basketball schools, proximity to a large metro area is a CONSTANT among them. Fayetteville, AR 79K.

NWA isn't exactly a bastion of culture for young African/Americans either.

Regardless of sport, proximity to home is the BIGGEST factor in recruiting. Last time I looked, U of A ain't exactly in a huge area of population.

the wings program is proof that there is plenty of talent available. Also we can recruit Dallas , little rock , memphis , kansas city , St Louis . All are well in reach as is Houston , oklahoma city . there are great kids in all these towns .

[Mike Irwin]

It's wonderful that you don't care Tom, but that doesn't mean that everyone feels like you and that this can't be a reason for the lack of recruiting success.

Well, my wife to be back then and I lived in Houston and followed Nolan and team on the SWC farewell tour at every stop in Texas. We were huge fans and friends with Nolan and the players and well known. It hurt when he turned on fans like us that had so much invested in the program and their success. It is not anything I will forget and am giving it as a major reason for this program falling on hard times and why it is so hard to recruit here, yes even 14 years later.  generations of my family all remember well what occurred with Nolan's departure and the hateful shots he took at the State, the Program and the fans. I don't attend games any longer and am not very interested in the basketball team any longer, mainly because the program has never recovered from the Nolan curse. My in laws all remember well also, even though they are Texans and Longhorn fans. I don't think it should be surprising that most fans remember.

My other reason was, because we haven't hired a dynamic, responsible coach that is fully vested in the players well being and is also able to recruit like the top programs. If my son was a top recruit, I wouldn't encourage him to play for Mike.

Then please explain why you are here? Is it fun being part of a 24-7, seven days a week complaint session? Because that's what this forum is.

If you and your family were well known friends of Nolan then to me that is proof that you can be friends with someone and not know them at all.

Nolan Richardson continued to live here after he was fired. In NWA he remained popular almost everywhere he went. I've seen people crowd around him, talk to him in glowing terms and remark afterward how kind and gracious he was. And these are people that weren't personal friends. None of them ever said to me that he had insulted the state or them.

Since you admit that if you had a son you would encourage him to play for someone other than Mike and since generations of your family remember Nolan negatively I see no reason for you to be here.

[WarPig88]

the wings program is proof that there is plenty of talent available. Also we can recruit Dallas , little rock , memphis , kansas city , St Louis . All are well in reach as is Houston , oklahoma city . there are great kids in all these towns .

Not really. Things are beginning to pop here in Arkansas for basketball talent, but our AAU teams tend to be smoke and mirrors in that they have traditionally dodged some of the big tournaments that are attended by elite East Coast teams. They claim a lot of national championships in large part because those elite teams do not attend.

Also, the cities you mention, only a couple are actually in the 300 mile range of Fayetteville and don't fit the proximity model at all. Not to mention that there are plenty of D1 schools within the natural recruiting radius of those areas.

Oklahoma City is practically in Norman for crying out loud. Dallas has A&M, Austin, Norman, and now SMU with Larry Brown. Kansas City is Mizzou and Kansas territory. Saint Louis is a combination of Big Ten and Mizzou. Memphis hasn't been fertile grounds even while Nolan was still coaching here.

You are not being realistic.

[farmhawg]

People have referred to that situation over the years without the context that would explain it.

Here are the facts:

Nolan Richardson usually arrived at his office sometime around 1:30 pm. Terry Mercer would give him his phone messages.
During this period there was an incident with Jason Gilbert, a shooting guard from Mt. Home. The kid wasn't playing a lick of defense and no matter how well you shot Nolan wanted you to make an effort to improve your defense. So he told Notes to take a collection of video from several games and show Gilbert examples of his teammates playing good defense and him playing no defense. After the video session Gilbert got mad and quit the team. Bob Holt called him and Gilbert told Holt that he felt like he was being singled out by Notes because he was white.

All hell broke loose. Terry Mercer started fielding anonymous, hate filled comments the morning that Gilbert's comments appeared in the newspaper. Nolan came to town early that morning unaware of the controversy. He came by his office while Mercer was at lunch. He hit playback on the answering machine to listen to his messages and what he heard was a lot of people calling in using the N word to describe Notes. By the time he was finished listening he was pissed.

Later that day in a press conference he referred to those callers as tur*s and a$$holes and redneck SOB's. He never said all fans were that way or all white people. He made it very clear that he was referring to anonymous callers who were using the N word to describe his son.

I know this because I was there. However it was not surprising to me when certain fans piled on this message board and starting accusing Nolan of labeling Arkansas' fanbase as tu*ds and a$$holes and redneck SOBs. It was a stupid claim.

Grew up with Terry, all true and much much much more that people will never know.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Grew up with Terry, all true and much much much more that people will never know.

Sad that there are still remnants of that crowd of people who, despite their racism and/or racist attitudes, still mingle among the rest of us Razorback fans. But, there is hope that they will change.

[ricepig]

People have referred to that situation over the years without the context that would explain it.

Here are the facts:

Nolan Richardson usually arrived at his office sometime around 1:30 pm. Terry Mercer would give him his phone messages.
During this period there was an incident with Jason Gilbert, a shooting guard from Mt. Home. The kid wasn't playing a lick of defense and no matter how well you shot Nolan wanted you to make an effort to improve your defense. So he told Notes to take a collection of video from several games and show Gilbert examples of his teammates playing good defense and him playing no defense. After the video session Gilbert got mad and quit the team. Bob Holt called him and Gilbert told Holt that he felt like he was being singled out by Notes because he was white.

All hell broke loose. Terry Mercer started fielding anonymous, hate filled comments the morning that Gilbert's comments appeared in the newspaper. Nolan came to town early that morning unaware of the controversy. He came by his office while Mercer was at lunch. He hit playback on the answering machine to listen to his messages and what he heard was a lot of people calling in using the N word to describe Notes. By the time he was finished listening he was pissed.

Later that day in a press conference he referred to those callers as tur*s and a$$holes and redneck SOB's. He never said all fans were that way or all white people. He made it very clear that he was referring to anonymous callers who were using the N word to describe his son.

I know this because I was there. However it was not surprising to me when certain fans piled on this message board and starting accusing Nolan of labeling Arkansas' fanbase as tu*ds and a$$holes and redneck SOBs. It was a stupid claim.

Mt. View, not Mt. Home, but it didn't effect his lack of defense.

[farmhawg]

Sad that there are still remnants of that crowd of people who, despite their racism and/or racist attitudes, still mingle among the rest of us Razorback fans. But, there is hope that they will change.

They won't, that is why you have the agenda from a few posters in this thread.

[Mike Irwin]

Sad that there are still remnants of that crowd of people who, despite their racism and/or racist attitudes, still mingle among the rest of us Razorback fans. But, there is hope that they will change.

The things that Nolan spoke out against have largely been rectified. Today there are black coaches all over college basketball. The conditions that Mike Anderson works under are totally different from what Nolan faced every day when he came to work. Mike has the full support of his AD and there are no boosters lurking out there just waiting to run him off.

Yes there are still people around who want a white coach over Mike but that kind of thinking is rare these days. Even in this forum, where many want Mike gone, it's not my impression they feel that way because he's black.

[TomBigBeeHog]

In other news: recruiting seems to be going very well right now. Should make everyone happy.

[WarPig88]

Giving my perspective on the question here Mike. I suppose we are all individuals with different DNA and react differently. How shallow minded of you to assume such about myself and family. I would have expected a guy in tune with the program to understand, but I see you are just a hypnotized walking stuffed shirt. We all have our reasons for believing the program has hit the skids the past 14 years since Nolan took a big dump on it. I gave mine.

And unless you know different, I have as much right to be here and give my opinion as you do!

And that better not be me you are insinuating wants a white coach. That has absolutely zero to do with it from my perspective.

He's not talking about your right to be here. The question is why do you even want to be here? Do you just like being annoyed? Do you just enjoy putting MA down?

You obviously don't do it for self edification.

[Mike Irwin]

Giving my perspective on the question here Mike. I suppose we are all individuals with different DNA and react differently. How shallow minded of you to assume such about myself and family. I would have expected a guy in tune with the program to understand, but I see you are just a hypnotized walking stuffed shirt. We all have our reasons for believing the program has hit the skids the past 14 years since Nolan took a big dump on it. I gave mine.

And unless you know different, I have as much right to be here and give my opinion as you do!

And that better not be me you are insinuating wants a white coach. That has absolutely zero to do with it from my perspective.

So let me get this straight. You used to be friends with Nolan which means he was friends with you. But then he said some stuff when he got fired that ticked you off. So you're not really a Razorback basketball fan anymore but you know a lot of stuff so from time to time you pop in and let us know why the basketball program is unsuccessful.

Got it.

As for your threat to me, my post to you had no reference in it as to your attitude about Mike vs a white coach. If I felt that way I would have referenced your fake Hogville name when I made the post in response to a post not from you but from TomBigBeeHog. That's how a message board works.

[PonderinHog]

So let me get this straight. You used to be friends with Nolan which means he was friends with you. But then he said some stuff when he got fired that ticked you off. So you're not really a Razorback basketball fan anymore but you know a lot of stuff so from time to time you pop in and let us know why the basketball program is unsuccessful.

Got it.

As for your threat to me, my post to you had no reference in it as to your attitude about Mike vs a white coach. If I felt that way I would have referenced your fake Hogville name when I made the post in response to a post not from you but from TomBigBeeHog. That's how a message board works.

Careful, Mike.  Remember, he's easily offended...

[farmhawg]

Careful, Mike.  Remember, he's easily offended...

+1

[WayneHawg]

It's been hard to recruit because the hog's haven't been relevant in cbb in 20 years, they were starting to change that this year and we lost possibly 7-8 player's that had major playing time, which has probably set us back another 3-4 year's, MA couldn't have been dealt a hand any worse

[HognitiveDissonance]

This is a classic case of a thread chasing a rabbit. All I said was no double standards allowed. It's not ok to imply racism and then use or allow racial slurs directed at white people.   

[HognitiveDissonance]

I've pointed this out before. Guess I'll have to do it again. Nolan adored his grandmother. She raised him. Kept him in school. Was responsible for his career.

I saw a photo of her once. She was in her mid 30's in the picture. She looked 20 years older.  Nolan said she'd been through hell. Caught the worst of the Jim Crow era. I remember that stuff in my hometown from when I was a kid.

He also said that toward the end her life when she knew he was going to be a man with influence she practically commanded him to speak out on racial issues. Don't get so big that you forget your people, she told him. He looked me right in the eye and said, "If I had ignored her it would have been the same as spitting on her grave."

As for Packer, you can have him. He's a class A jerk. I've seen him order his co workers around like they were peons. Whatever Paul Eells was Packer is 180 degrees in the other direction. At the 1990 Final Four in Denver one of our producers had arranged through CBS to have him on live during one of our pre-game segments. It was a call in show where fans in NWA could ask him questions.

He showed up pissed, bitching to high heaven. He said to his personal assistant, I can't believe I have to waste my time taking to a bunch of farmers from Arkansas.

That was it. I told him to take a hike. We didn't need him.

Four years later in Charlotte when Nolan said all that stuff about the media thinking Duke would win because they were the smarter team he was talking about Packer. He's the one who said it.

So yeah, every opportunity he got to insult Packer, he took it.

Good for him.

I've heard similar things about Packer, so no, I don't 'want' him (though I had no problems with watching his TV work through the years, thought he was a good analyst)

That makes he and Nolan a good pair. Both had their good points but both could prickly and churlish at times.

[HognitiveDissonance]

It's been hard to recruit because the hog's haven't been relevant in cbb in 20 years, they were starting to change that this year and we lost possibly 7-8 player's that had major playing time, which has probably set us back another 3-4 year's, MA couldn't have been dealt a hand any worse

If recruiting or coaching is so hard here, how has the baseball team made the NCAAs 14 years in a row? I know, I know, it's a different sport, different this or that...(not really).
See, there is a program right down the street that's blowing every sport and their excuses out of the water. They just won't fly. There's no reason basketball can't do that. I can make a great argument that doing it in basketball might be a bit easier than doing in baseball. (I said, a bit, not a lot).

[HognitiveDissonance]

the wings program is proof that there is plenty of talent available. Also we can recruit Dallas , little rock , memphis , kansas city , St Louis . All are well in reach as is Houston , oklahoma city . there are great kids in all these towns .

Can't let guys like A Goodwin and K Allen get away. I'm not one who believes you can 'build a fence' and get everybody. But in recent years and the classes coming up there seems to be plenty of SEC talent instate to build around, enough to cherry-pick from other states and build a contending team. This one year, that's what we had, built around one local guy(Portis) and one good gem find by the staff(Qualls).

[Doug]

And unless you know different, I have as much right to be here and give my opinion as you do!

NEWS FLASH - Mike knows different, as well as pretty much everyone else does: Your participation on Hogville is not a right, it's a privilege.

This isn't a PUBLICLY owned forum, it's a privately owned one. If (heaven forbid), Lanny said reverse the colors, post orders and rearrange everyone's login names, then that's what will happen.

You don't own the site, you have zero rights here. You're here because you're a GUEST in someone else's PRIVATE "home".

That being said, I reiterate Mike's question: If you're not a fan, then what the hell are you doing here, aside from wasting bandwidth?

[Mike Irwin]

I've heard similar things about Packer, so no, I don't 'want' him (though I had no problems with watching his TV work through the years, thought he was a good analyst)

That makes he and Nolan a good pair. Both had their good points but both could prickly and churlish at times.

They could not have been more different and I've known Packer longer than Nolan. Packer was generally pleasant enough on TV, especially in his early years with NBC. But, in person as he moved up the ladder and became CBS's number one basketball color analyst, he developed a reputation as a bully. A better comparison would be Packer to Bobby Petrino who also liked to boss around co workers and belittle them.

Nolan used his press conferences to blow off steam. It was amazing to watch him get angry in front of the cameras and totally transform afterward. I told him one time that he ought to pay us (the local media) for serving as his therapists. He laughed because he knew I was right.

I never blamed him for that. He worked for people in the BAC who drove him nuts on a regular basis. He needed a way to get rid of his frustrations. However, in person you would not find a nicer guy and a funnier person to shoot the breeze with. He was hilarious (still is). He'd have me laughing so hard I could barely stand up.