NCAA Basketball: Ranking the last 25 national title winning head coaches

An innovator and excellent coach, Nolan Richardson shined for nearly two decades at Arkansas, leading the Razorbacks to their first national championship in 1994. His high-pressure defenses were coined ’40 Minutes of Hell’ and he brought that intensity every day to his teams. The final result was an outstanding era of basketball not yet matched by Arkansas.

Richardson played under legendary coach Don Haskins at Texas Western, though before they won their national title in 1966. He spent 10 years as a high school coach before landing a junior college gig.

He was named head coach of Tulsa in 1980 and made three NCAA Tournaments with the Golden Hurricane. In 1985, he accepted the head coaching job at Arkansas, beginning an impressive streak for the Razorbacks.

The Hall of Famer needed just five years to make Arkansas a Final Four team. With Corliss Williamson, the Razorbacks played in back-to-back title games, winning in 1994 and falling to UCLA in 1995.

Their defensive intensity was unmatched, as was the success of this program. The last few seasons at Arkansas featured a few more NCAA trips, but never the same high quality of teams. Richardson was dismissed in 2002 after a racial controversy with the school.

Richardson briefly coached the Tulsa Shock of the WNBA and at the international level, though obviously, that stretch at Arkansas was the highlight of his career. For that stretch, there wasn’t a defense more impressive or steadfast than his Razorbacks and his legacy will live on as a result.

The current Razorbacks are far from becoming a national contender again. It will take a long time for someone to match Richardson’s 390 wins at the school.