Nolan's Take: Portis as Best Hog Big Man of All Time

[edemire]

Had a great, long talk w/ Nolan before his HOF induction. I asked him for his take on Mike Anderson's superior player graduation numbers (so far) and about Bobby Portis:

Q: You've seen Bobby Portis play. He's up to 6-11, put on some muscle, been to the camps, I assume developing skill-wise. Does he have the tools to be the best big man the program has ever produced?

Nolan: I don't see him as a center, which is good, because he can put it on the floor, he's very agile, he can run ... I wouldn't say he'd be the best of all of them. He'd be up there with them. I don't get to see him every day – Mike [Anderson] does. Mike got to see Oliver Miller develop every day. Eddie got to see Joe Kleine everyday. I'm kind of old school. I don't think the players of today are as good as the players of yesterday. I think it's a "me" mentality more than anything else.

Q: But with Bobby specifically I don't see that. Do you?

Nolan: No, I don't. That's why I would say he would rank up there with those guys, because he's not selfish. And that's unusual.

......

Q: Six of Mike Anderson's players graduated last March. He had nine players with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Looking back on your time in Arkansas, do you wish you had focused more on your players' academics and making sure they graduate?

Nolan: There's no coach in America who put more focus on education than I did. That's why this school is named after me [points to "Nolan Richardson Middle School Jaguars" logo on his shirt]. I'm into education. It's the times. When I left Tulsa, I had five of them graduate – all on time ... You cannot blame the coach for your kid not graduating. If that's the case, then you need to also put emphasis on the professors that teach them.

Why aren't you doing your job? We all have to do a job. That's the problem nowadays in this country with our kids. Our kids are out of control. There is no supervision at home ... My players, some of them had kids already. You have no clue. If you live in a white ivory tower looking down, you have no clue. So now, when they get through, they want to make a dollar. I did it. When I graduated from college, I already had two kids. I needed another year in college – I left, tried the pros, tried football, to make a dollar. Then I came back and got my degree.

What about the ones who come back later on and graduate?... Because you can always graduate, but you can't always play [pro] basketball. So the window of opportunity is what we're looking at ... Look at Ron Brewer, everybody in the world thinks the world of him – it took him 28 years to graduate, but he graduated. He had an NBA career ... Corliss left [early]; he was counted against me. Scotty left, he was counted against me. They both got degrees now ... Even Ron Huery got a degree. They counted him against me, but he got a degree...

Lee Mayberry just moved back to Fayetteville to get his degree. I'm as happy about him saying he's gonna get his degree as I was happy when he said he was going to the NBA. He's got five girls; he'd made a pretty decent living, told me 'I can go back to school and get my degree.' He's coming this year – he's commuting – he got him a house in Fayetteville...

Q: OK, that's not a regret of yours. But do you have any regrets from your days at Arkansas?

Nolan: The only thing I regret is that I should have worked the [expletive deleted] out of them harder. [The former players] are laughing at me now that I worked them so hard. That was always the complaint about how hard I worked them – on the floor, in the classroom.

More here: http://www.sportinglifearkansas.com/evin-demirel-one-on-one-with-nolan-richardson/

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rooster Hogburn]

Had a great, long talk w/ Nolan before his HOF induction. I asked him for his take on Mike Anderson's superior player graduation numbers (so far) and about Bobby Portis:

Q: You've seen Bobby Portis play. He's up to 6-11, put on some muscle, been to the camps, I assume developing skill-wise. Does he have the tools to be the best big man the program has ever produced?

Nolan: I don't see him as a center, which is good, because he can put it on the floor, he's very agile, he can run ... I wouldn't say he'd be the best of all of them. He'd be up there with them. I don't get to see him every day – Mike [Anderson] does. Mike got to see Oliver Miller develop every day. Eddie got to see Joe Kleine everyday. I'm kind of old school. I don't think the players of today are as good as the players of yesterday. I think it's a "me" mentality more than anything else.

Q: But with Bobby specifically I don't see that. Do you?

Nolan: No, I don't. That's why I would say he would rank up there with those guys, because he's not selfish. And that's unusual.

......

Q: Six of Mike Anderson's players graduated last March. He had nine players with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Looking back on your time in Arkansas, do you wish you had focused more on your players' academics and making sure they graduate?

Nolan: There's no coach in America who put more focus on education than I did. That's why this school is named after me [points to "Nolan Richardson Middle School Jaguars" logo on his shirt]. I'm into education. It's the times. When I left Tulsa, I had five of them graduate – all on time ... You cannot blame the coach for your kid not graduating. If that's the case, then you need to also put emphasis on the professors that teach them.

Why aren't you doing your job? We all have to do a job. That's the problem nowadays in this country with our kids. Our kids are out of control. There is no supervision at home ... My players, some of them had kids already. You have no clue. If you live in a white ivory tower looking down, you have no clue. So now, when they get through, they want to make a dollar. I did it. When I graduated from college, I already had two kids. I needed another year in college – I left, tried the pros, tried football, to make a dollar. Then I came back and got my degree.

What about the ones who come back later on and graduate?... Because you can always graduate, but you can't always play [pro] basketball. So the window of opportunity is what we're looking at ... Look at Ron Brewer, everybody in the world thinks the world of him – it took him 28 years to graduate, but he graduated. He had an NBA career ... Corliss left [early]; he was counted against me. Scotty left, he was counted against me. They both got degrees now ... Even Ron Huery got a degree. They counted him against me, but he got a degree...

Lee Mayberry just moved back to Fayetteville to get his degree. I'm as happy about him saying he's gonna get his degree as I was happy when he said he was going to the NBA. He's got five girls; he'd made a pretty decent living, told me 'I can go back to school and get my degree.' He's coming this year – he's commuting – he got him a house in Fayetteville...

Q: OK, that's not a regret of yours. But do you have any regrets from your days at Arkansas?

Nolan: The only thing I regret is that I should have worked the [expletive deleted] out of them harder. [The former players] are laughing at me now that I worked them so hard. That was always the complaint about how hard I worked them – on the floor, in the classroom.

More here: http://www.sportinglifearkansas.com/evin-demirel-one-on-one-with-nolan-richardson/

Thanks for sharing!

[Medic821]

Miss him.

[Arazorbackguy1]

Just wish he would have retired and handed the reigns directly to Mike. Stan and Pel would have never happened!