Richardson follows UAB

Former Arkansas coach keeping eye on protege

St. Louis ? He’s on his own now, but Alabama-Birmingham men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson still speaks fondly about Nolan Richardson, his longtime mentor at Tulsa and Arkansas.

“He’s always been involved helping people and giving to others,” Anderson said Thursday. “For that, I’m very appreciative.”

Richardson, former coach at the University of Arkansas, has re-emerged in college basketball’s spotlight — albeit in a smaller, undefined role.

While coaching the Razorbacks, Richardson led talented players in a chaotic, in-your-pants style of play dubbed “40 minutes of hell.” It earned him three Final Four appearances and the 1994 national title.

Now, he’s watching over Anderson, a former player and assistant coach under Richardson, as Anderson brings a similar style into tonight’s 6:10 p.m. game with Kansas University at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

“Mike played for me, he coached for me,” Richardson said. “He’s such a competitor. I think Mike’s taken this style to another level. That’s why I call it, ‘Part Two.'”

Regardless of whether it has evolved to be more successful than Richardson’s style, Anderson likes having his mentor around.

Richardson isn’t a member of UAB’s staff, though it’s certainly hard to tell. He sat on the Blazer bench during Thursday’s open practice.

He teamed with Anderson to do an interview with CBS.

Richardson

He talked to dozens of interested reporters, sharing the similarities of this year’s UAB team to last decade’s great Arkansas teams.

He seemed to enjoy every moment of it. He reminisced, offered insight and even spoke out on what annoyed him about today’s game.

“All those TV timeouts,” Richardson said. “They get to go over and rest. Back in the old days, when I first started doing this, we never called timeouts. I would finish the game with five timeouts.”

His complaints are understandable, yet biased. Any team playing a fast-paced, pressing style doesn’t like the opponent getting any sort of break, especially the extended breaks CBS insists on giving for television commercials.

But UAB — like Arkansas 10 years ago — still has come out on top in this year’s NCAA Tournament so far, beating Washington, 102-100, and Kentucky, 76-75, last weekend.

UK, the top-seeded team in the tournament, had just one day to brace for UAB’s madness.

“I think the toughest is when they don’t have time to prepare,” Richardson said. “KU had a little time to prepare, and I’m sure they did over and over and over.”

Richardson continued to chat happily with reporters, as if he missed the media attention in which he basked before he parted ways with the Razorbacks in 2002. When Anderson’s news conference began after UAB’s practice, Richardson’s presence was the first subject brought up.

“There’s no question he’s an inspiration,” Anderson said. “He’s the teacher, I’m the pupil. He’s watching the student at work to see what he obtained. Maybe he’s grading me.”

While making those comments, Richardson was in the back of the room, in the shadows, watching over his student. If this NCAA Tournament is any indication, Anderson’s grade card probably will look pretty good.