Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/3/2012 at 2:54pm

Nolan Richardson has often described his teams as being a family. It’s a description he’s used frequently in the past and again in a recent radio interview.

“Our teams were like a family,” Richardson told Hog Sports Radio earlier this week. “It was always one for all and all for one.”

So it seems very appropriate that Richardson’s 1994 NCAA title team — the entire team — is being inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. Members of the squad that went 31-3 with a 76-72 championship victory against Duke are among this year’s class of honorees.

Induction is tonight at Verizon Arena. The banquet will begin at 6 p.m. Dinner tickets are $100 each. Call 663-4328.

Richardson and title team members Scotty Thurman and Corliss Williamson have already been included in the hall, but now the whole team gets its due.

Richardson recalled the championship year and of all the memories said having President Bill Clinton, then the sitting Commander In Chief, attend games was perhaps the biggest thrill. That, Richardson said, is a shared experience no other championship program is likely to enjoy.

“Those were some enjoyable moments in the lives over every player and coach and mine,” Richardson said in the interview with Dave Barr. “We were able to feel some things that no other team during that period or this period [has], to have a chance to have a sitting president at your game was a special treat.”

Clinton offered a video tribute to the team when Arkansas recognized the 15^th anniversary in 2009. His presence is a subject that will be covered in the upcoming 40 Minutes of Hell Documentary on Richardson.

Richardson’s story will be told Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU. Fans who attended Arkansas’ 12:30 p.m. game against South Carolina will get an early look at the film.

“It was incredible,” Richardson said of working with filmmakers and looking back over his career.

Richardson will get to relive the title memories again tonight as the team is inducted. Arkansas’ 1994 championship winners will share the stage with the folks listed below.

Those being inducted from the regular category are former University of Arkansas basketball standout Lee Mayberry, former Oaklawn Park track announcer Terry Wallace, former Newport High School head football coach Bill Keedy, former Razorback basketball star U.S. Reed, former Razorback football player “Light Horse” Harry Jones and Little Rock native and former Oklahoma State University head football coach Pat Jones.

Inducted from the senior category are former Forrest City star athlete Elmer “B” Lindsey, former college coach and NFL scout Bob Ford of Wynne and former Southern Arkansas University women’s basketball coach Margaret Downing.

Posthumous inductees are former University of Central Arkansas head football coach Raymond Bright and 1892 Kentucky Derby winning jockey Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton.

The Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 1959. Andrew Meadors of Little Rock is the organization’s president, and Ray Tucker serves as the executive director. The Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Museum on the west side of Verizon Arena is open each Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. It includes an 88-seat theater with a video highlighting the careers of Arkansas sports greats and a touch-screen kiosk with a database of all Hall of Fame inductees.

More than 1,000 people will be in attendance for the Hall of Fame induction.

Tagged: Nolan Richardson, Arkansas Razorbacks, Bill Keedy, Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman, U.S. Reed, Lee Mayberry, Harry Jones, Terry Wallace, ASU Red Wolves, Elmer Lindsey, Bob Ford, Margaret Downing, Raymond Bright, Alonzo CLayton, Bill Clinton