[I have to thank Rashad Mobley. He was the originator of 'Hey, Nolan Richardson is coming to town,' idea, which so happened to be the same night President Obama decided to head down the street to the Verizon Center for a Washington Mystics game against the Tulsa Shock. Rashad tackled the evening in the midst of the President and let me cover Coach Richardson, who was kind enough to speak with me for a considerable amount of time after the game. Thus, part one of my piece is below, and part two will follow.]

Nolan Richardson coached his final game as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks on February 27, 2002, an 89-83 loss to Mississippi State on the Bulldogs’ home court. It was a night where 35 points on an efficient 10-18 FGs (7-12 3PT) from Arkansas’ Jannero Pargo couldn’t overcome the efforts of Mississippi State’s Mario Austin and Derrick Zimmerman. In my days working with the men’s basketball team in Starkville, Mississippi, I witnessed Richardson solemnly walk off the court that night and knew it would be the last game he coached for the Razorbacks. It was the end of an era. Flash-forward to almost eight and a half years later …

Now Richardson is much grayer. He’s more calculated and comfortable than my memories of watching him patrol the Southeastern Conference sidelines. But he still has the zest, backed by the experience of a ring he wears representing each of the JUCO, NIT & NCAA national championships he has won as a coach (he’s still the only one to do so). In the coach’s box of the WNBA, the 68-year old clearly gets joy from instruction and spry interactions with the referees, on top of relishing his foray into women’s basketball. I should know, I was afforded the opportunity to sit on press row, mere feet from Richardson as his Tulsa Shock were in the District of Columbia to take on the Washington Mystics on the first Sunday of August, with President Barack Obama in attendance no less.

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