Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/7/2012 at 2:38pm

Image by Rusbradburd.com

Author Rus Bradburd, who explored the life of Nolan Richardson in the book 40 Minutes of Hell, recently appeared on a podcast with the Arkansas Expats.

Nolan Richardson’s tenure at Arkansas seemed to be filled with equal parts triumph and turmoil. All the fury and me-against-the-world attitude that fueled Richardson's success with the Razorbacks also proved to be his undoing, making his 17 years in Fayetteville an intriguing subject for outsiders.

ESPN will explore Richardson's life in a documentary titled “40 Minutes of Hell,” part of the network’s “Storied” series focusing on SEC-related story lines. It airs Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPNU and fans that attend the day's Arkansas-South Carolina game at 12:30 p.m will get a sneak peek following the game.

Much of the subject matter will be familiar to Arkansas fans who lived Richardson’s tenure here. It also feels familiar because the documentary comes two years after Rus Bradburd’s book 40 Minutes Of Hell: The Extraordinary Life Of Nolan Richardson was released.

Bradburd is very familiar with the complex life of Richardson and is among the interview subjects in the documentary. He appeared earlier this week on a 40-plus minute podcast with the Arkansas Expats.

Listen to that podcast to hear Bradburd talk in detail about his book and the life of Richardson. Among the highlights was Bradburd pointing out Richardson was never an assistant coach during his career. He began coaching junior high in his hometown of El Paso, Texas, and eventually worked his way up to junior college and from there to Tulsa and Arkansas.

"Nolan has such a strong personality. I think he’d have been a terrible assistant coach," said Bradburd, himself a former college basketball assistant.

Richardson never took another college job after his time with the Razorbacks but he coached internationally and was head coach of the WNBA's Tulsa Shock.

He has become increasingly visible at Bud Walton Arena this season. Richardson, who has lived in Fayetteville since he began coaching Arkansas in 1986-87, has attended multiple games for the first time since his firing in 2002.

It’s the presence of Mike Anderson on the bench that has helped rekindle Richardson’s interest. Anderson was his assistant at Arkansas for 17 years and having the two in Bud Walton Arena again is proof the healing process is nearing completion for Richardson and the Razorbacks.

“Bringing Anderson back instantly heals all the old wounds,” Bradburd told the Arkansas Expats.

That healing process is explored further in the upcoming documentary. ESPN’s film covers much of the same ground asBradburd’s excellent biography, but it ends showing how Richardson and the program are once again able to embrace each other.

Earlier this week I enjoyed a sneak peek at the film and plan to share my thoughts on it in the coming days. Like the Bradburd book and recent Expats podcast, I highly recommend the film, for a warts and all look at Richardson.

Tagged: Rus Bradburd, Bud Walton Arena, SEC Storried, ESPNU, Nolan Richardson