CHARLOTTE -- Maybe Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson should have been a preacher.
I thought I had fulfilled my Easter obligation early Sunday morning but following the Arkansas afternoon press conference, I felt like I had been to church twice in one day.
The subjects of yesterday's sermon -- respect and perception.
Richardson, who is African-American, spent parts of his two Final Four news conferences on Friday and Sunday crusading against what he called a lack of respect for black coaches and athletes. With grit in his voice, Richardson turned college basketball's greatest showcase into a platform for arguments that were dubious at best.
"I have known, for all my life, that there has always been a stigma placed on black coaches," Richardson said "The stigma comes out clear, loud: You're a `great motvator.' And then it just kind of stops there.
"And then you listen to them talking about other guys, talking about coaches who happen not to be Afro-American -- they are intelligent.' There's that word. Or they sayYou're a great coach.' That word comes up -- `great coach.' I have a problem with that."
Richardson's problem, he said, is that he and other African-American coaches are never portrayed as master strategists in the line of UNC's Dean Smith, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski or Indiana's Bobby Knight -- all of whom are white. Black coaches are never tabbed "great coaches," according to Richardson -- rather, when they win, the media paints them as collectors of "great talent."
That same media tabbed Richardson the 1994 national Coach of the Year.
He believes that teams such as his, which are comprised of predominantly black players, are called "talented" while other programs which feature white athletes -- like Duke, North Carolina and Indiana -- play "intelligently." What was the spark for these comments? Richardson said that he had seen a Sunday morning television commentator tab Duke the more intelligent team in tonight's title matchup.
"People say that the most intelligent' team will win -- you know what they mean by the mostintelligent' team, don't you?" Richardson asked, glancing to his left and right at five of his players seated with him. "Certainly not these guys. At least that's what they perceive."
As a result, Richardson believes that the college basketball world has denied his Hogs the respect they deserve during the 1993-94 season.
"All that I know is that they've been No. 1 most of the year," Krzyzewski said. "I don't know how much more respect you can give a team than to vote them No. 1. To me, they've been hands down the No. 1 team in the country, Nolan's gotten every coaching award. I think they're getting the recognition they so justly deserve.
"In the profession, they are very, very highly respected."
Ironically, the "intelligence" factor worked against Richardson Sunday.
Of the five Arkansas players present at the news conference -- all African American -- only Scotty Thurman was able to consistently string his words together into coherent comments. Richardson was left to make excuses for their two-word responses to a question about tonight's game plan.
"See, that's very simple -- Play hard,"' Richardson said. "I don't come in and go,These are the keys tonight, we're going to out-rebound . . . ` Hell no. We gonna put the ball in the hole the most, and stop the other team from doing it. If we can do both those things, we're going to win."
Fast forward to the Duke portion of the afternoon, where five Blue Devils -- two white, three African-American -- gave real responses to reporters' questions -- sometimes, with answers lasting more than a minute.
In the end, a conclusion was easy to draw: There was no "perception" that Richardson's players were, in general, less intelligent than their Duke counterparts.
If you looked at what you saw of both clubs, you'd have to say it was a fact.
Pastor Richardson did all the talking Sunday, and when his players were forced to speak, they offered little of substance.
For whatever reason, Duke is perceived as a "white" team -- in spite of the fact that six of the 11 Blue Devils are African-American. And Richardson seems to believe that teams with white players are inherently labeled more "intelligent" by the media. The black players are the "talented" ones.
In reality, both of tonight's national finalists are supremely talented.
Beyond that, it's really not a question of race at all. There are very tangible academic differences between Duke and Arkansas. No one in any touch with reality would deny that. Some players on the Arkansas team would not be able to survive academically at Duke. And on average, the Blue Devils probably are more intelligent than the Razorbacks, no matter what scale you use.
Look at grade point averages and graduation rates if you want -- less than 50 percent of Richardson's players have earned their diplomas in the nine years he's coached at the school. Only four players in Krzyzewski's 14 seasons have not graduated in four years. All but one now have their degrees.
That doesn't mean the Arkansas players are unintelligent. And it's certainly no reason to deny them a chance to go to college and compete in intercollegiate athletics. All it might mean is that this bunch of Razorbacks is not the most talented collection of public speakers ever assembled. And when the ball goes up, that won't matter -- the national title isn't awarded to the fastest bunch of talkers.
I respect Richardson for the job he has done this season and the positive role model he has been for his players. Most of the nation, I believe, shares that admiration.
But he made a big mistake by twisting almost every basketball question the media asked him into a personal indictment of his players' worth. Many members of the media genuinely believe that Duke plays a smarter brand of basketball. Richardson is free to disagree -- but it's a question of X's and O's, not black and white.
Richardson and his crusade have become the storyline of the Final Four rather than the 1994 national championship, a title to be won on the basketball court between two teams of college student-athletes.
Hopefully, a team of athletes -- Blue Devils or Razorbacks -- will reclaim the spotlight this evening. After five months and five grueling tournament games, they deserve it.
Amen.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.