Then I noticed one of his fellow classmates is going to be our old buddy, Billy Packer.  Somebody at the Hall of Fame must have a sense of humor.

Richardson’s famous “Hell, Billy…even a blind man could see that!” comment after the Hogs disposed of Arizona in the 1994 NCAA Tournament semi-finals remains one of the best jabs in recent sports history.

Packer didn’t respond at the moment, but later tried to save face in an April, 5, 1994 New York Times article:

Packer said yesterday that Richardson was firing away at him off the air before the interview.  “He’s saying: ‘I’m tired of you giving credit to Michelangelo and the General, but you never give credit to black coaches,’ ” Packer said, referring to nicknames used by ESPN’s Dick Vitale for Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Indiana Coach Bob Knight, respectively.  “At that point, I realized it was an agenda,” Packer said.  “Nolan can take tapes of everything I’ve ever said about black coaches, and he won’t see what he’s saying.  This just became his forum to vent.”

So get your tickets now for the November 23rd ceremony in Kansas City…it should be a good one.  No word yet on whether the bout will be on HBO or pay-per-view.  We’ll keep you posted.

Anderson, now 23-15 at Missouri, has his Tigers at 5-1 with quality wins already over Central Michigan and Maryland.  Mizzou’s lone loss came at the hands of then tenth-ranked Michigan State (86-83) in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.  With marquee opponents Purdue, Illinois and Mississippi State still looming on the Tigers schedule, the tussle with Arkansas is an important one for both teams.

Famous for the running and trapping style of play that he learned from Nolan Richardson, Anderson has his team scoring 85 points a game, while enjoying a turnover margin of plus 9.8.  The fact that the Tigers are forcing 20 turnovers and 10.8 steals per game is not good news for the Razorbacks.  The Hogs have been way too generous so far this season, committing 19.6 turnovers per game with a turnover margin of minus 2.8.

The Tigers are led by a familiar face to Hog basketball fans — DeMarre Carroll, a 6-8 forward who transferred from Vanderbilt last year (and is also Anderson’s nephew).  Carroll averaged 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Commodores in 2005-06, and is putting up big numbers so far this season (16.4, 7.2).  He was also voted by Big 12 coaches as the pre-season Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Missouri has played nine players for an average of 14-29 minutes each.  Forward Leo Lyons (6-9, 13.2 pts) along with guards Stefhon Hannah (6-1, 13.2 pts) and Keon Lawrence (6-2, 11.4 pts) also sport double-figure scoring stats so far this season.

Coach Anderson, along with former Razorback player and current Missouri assistant coach T.J. Cleveland, will no doubt get a warm welcome back to Bud Walton Arena.  An integral part for 17 years as an Arkansas assistant, Mike probably should have gotten his shot to be the head coach here when Nolan crashed and burned in 2002.  But his ties to Richardson made that an impossibility.  Most Arkansas fans still like Mike, however, and have cheered for his UAB and Mizzou teams since his departure.

But what everyone wants to know is, “Will Nolan make an appearance to support his long-time assistant?”  Well, earlier this month Nolan said he wouldn’t be going to the game.  But is it still possible that the man Nolan dubbed, “the white-haired devil” will be sitting on press row watching Richardson cheer for Mizzou in the ‘House That Nolan Built?’

Either way, it should be fun to watch tonight.  The game will be televised by ARSN and tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Bud Walton Arena.

If you know anything about Richardson, you know that he is not the type of person to bite his tongue if he believes he has been slighted. [...] Instead, he sounded sanguine about UTEP’s decision — and not just because [Tony] Barbee is the first African-American head coach in school history.

“I just didn’t get the impression that I would be their guy. That’s the bottom line,” Richardson said. “They couldn’t afford to hire me, so it never got to a point where they might offer me the job. I told them I certainly wish them the best. [...]“

Source: Little Rocking