2B
Wednesday, April 5, 1995
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
'Hogs coach examines options after big loss
Players, assistants may not return
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — The morning after his team's championship loss to UCLA, Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson talked about the possibilities that lie ahead.
He spoke of the likelihood of losing his best two players to the NBA and why he might be tempted to join them. He talked of retirement. And he mentioned the talented newcomers who would be playing for the Razorbacks next season.
There was no bitterness when Richardson met the media
m o m e n t s
before his
team left Seattle
to return to
Favetteville.
He had only praise for the team that, in two seasons, had 63 victories, won one NCAA tournament and finished second in another.
"I told them if I could go 32-7 every year I'd be a happy man for the rest of my
careers on such a sour note.
But Richardson said yesterday that those words were spoken in the emotion of the moment, and both players could well change their minds.
"I'm not going to put pressure on
to put pressure on them to make a decision in the next few days because I know there's a lot of hurt," he said. "We've got some guys who love to win, and right now they're probably in a mourning stage."
By mid-April, he said, he hopes they will have made a decision. Whether he recommends they skip their senior season to turn pro will depend on how much
career," Richardson said.
money they
Corriss Williamson and Scotty Thurman, who had miserable games in the 89-78 loss to UCLA, said after the game that they intended to come back for their senior season because they didn't want to end their Arkansas
money they can get.
As for Richardson's own future,
he said that he'd listen to offers from the NBA primarily because of the money involved.
He acknowledged that it would be difficult for him to handle the egos of those who play professional basketball.
"But sometimes they pay you enough to deal with those egos," he said.
Richardson said no NBA team had contacted him this year, but added. "I'm sure there's one."
teams.
Besides, Richardson said, there would be the challenge of trying to succeed at the NBA level after his success with high school, junior college and major college
added, "I'm sure there's some interest in me."
If Richardson stays, he could lose his top two assistants, Mike Anderson and Brad Dunn.
Anderson is a candidate for the coaching job at Tulsa. Dunn is known to want a NCAA Division I job and could get one, Richardson said.
If the assistant coaches leave and if Williamson and Thurman go to the NBA, Richardson still has plenty to look forward to at Arkansas. His incoming recruiting class is considered one of the best in the country.
It includes guards Jesse Pate and Marcus Saxon of Chippida Junior College in Florida. Pate was the nation's leading junior-college scorer at 33.5 points a game. Saxon averaged 23.5 points and seven assists a game.
There are two other junior college transfers, and two of the country's top prep players have signed with the Razorbacks.
"We think with those kids there and with what we've got returning and possibly with another recruit, it will put us in a position where we'll still have a pretty good basketball team." Richardson said.
And the pressure to win will continue.
"Even though you're starting all over again, they rank your recruiting high so the expectations continue to remain high," he said. "I don't see our expectations dropping very much. It won't be as intense maybe, but it will be there."
Tulsa searches for coach
The Associated Press
Kansas assistant among prospects
TULSA, Okla. — One of at least two coaches Tulsa has contacted about replacing Tubby Smith already is out of the picture.
Murray State coach Scott Edgar, a former assistant at Tulsa, has told his team he is taking the job at Dugesne.
Another prospect is from Kansas. Kansas coach Roy Williams said he spoke with Judy MacLeod, Tulsa's assistant athletic director, about one of his assistants, Steve Robinson.
"I think they had a lot of interest in Steve," said Williams, who called him an outstanding prospect.
Meanwhile, Arkansas-Little Rock coach Wimp Sanderson also has confirmed his interest in coaching the Golden Hurricane, which has reached the Sweet 16 the past two years.
Sanderson, ousted at Alabama
"I think they had a lot of interest in Steve...(He is an) outstanding prospect."
Roy Williams Kansas basketballcoach
because of sexual harassment charges by his secretary, said he had contacted MacLeod.
"I don't know if I am in their picture or not," Sanderson told the Tulsa World in today's editions. "But I am interested, and I considered it important because of my situation, that I visit with the lady to explain my situation and see where I stood."
MacLeod and athletic director Christopher Small could not be
reached for comment.
The World also had reported Texas Tech coach James Dickey was interested.
Dickey later told the newspaper he has not expressed any interest in Tulsa.
Dickey told the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal he was tired of fending off rumors about his future. He had a similar response last week when rumors tied him to the basketball opening at Southwest Missouri State.
"I don't want this to hurt recruiting," he said. "That's what bothers me.
"I'm not looking for a job."
Another assistant who has drawn wide speculation is Mike Anderson of Arkansas. Anderson played under Richardson at Tulsa in the early 1980s.
Anderson has said he is interested but wanted to delay talking about it until the Razorbacks' season ended.
Arkansas lost to UCLA in the national-championship game Monday night in Seattle.
Jackson retires from pro sports
Star athlete wants quality family time
The Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Bo Jackson, once a star in both the NFL and major league baseball, says he has retired from baseball.
the Los Angeles Raiders from 1987-90 before leaving because of a bad hip, which eventually required replacement surgery.
Jackson, 32, is quoted in yesterday's editions of USA Today as saying he had been thinking about retiring for months as the strike dragged on and he spent more time with his family.
"It was great while it lasted," Jackson, a free agent, told USA Today from his Chicago home. "But it's over now. As of April 3, I'm retired from pro sports."
Jackson played in the NFL with
During the baseball dispute, Jackson
told USA Today he got calls from five or six clubs.
Bo Jackson
"I got to know my family," he said. "That looks better to me than any $10 million contract."
The Heisman-Trophy-winning running back from Auburn began his baseball career with the Kansas City Royals in 1986 and spent four plus
seasons there.
He was released by the Royals on March 18, 1991, when it looked like his hip injury would keep him out for up to nine months.
Jackson signed with the Chicago White Sox soon after and spent time in the minors rehabilitating before returning to the majors Sept. 2, 1991.
He was waived by the White Sox and then resigned. He had hip replacement surgery, came back in 1993 and spent one more season in Chicago before signing with the California Angels last season.
Once a starting outfielder, he was limited at the end to a designated hitter role.
Jackson hit 141 home runs and drove in 415 runs in his big-league career.
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