<table> </table> Hours before his enshrinement into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson fielded the most important telephone call of the day.</p><p>Missouri coach Mike Anderson was checking in after the Tigers&#8217; victory over Southern California in Puerto Rico.</p><p>&#8220;I always get his first call after the press conference,&#8221; Richardson said.</p><p>But Anderson doesn&#8217;t always need to have his mentor &#8212; he served as Richardson&#8217;s assistant for 17 years &#8212; on speed dial.</p><p>Often, Richardson is in the front row at Mizzou Arena.</p><p>If it seems that Richardson feels closer today to other programs than the one that provided his greatest fame, including the 1994 NCAA title, there is a reason.</p><p>The coach left Arkansas on bitter terms. He was fired in 2002 and later lost a discrimination suit against the school. Richardson has remained in the Fayetteville, Ark., area but doesn&#8217;t go to games.</p><p>&#8220;Time heals everything, no question about it,&#8221; Richardson said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve moved on with my life, and I don&#8217;t look back. I don&#8217;t think about what could have been.&#8221;</p><p>His former school reached out to Richardson on Sunday. In attendance was Frank Broyles, who along with the chancellor fired Richardson. The school sponsored a table at the Hall of Fame ceremony.</p><p>&#8220;He was great for us, just great for us,&#8221; Broyles said. &#8220;For 17 years, he brought success and excitement to Arkansas. We sold out every game and had a waiting list a mile long for tickets. People were very grateful for what he brought to Arkansas.&#8221;</p><p>The Razorbacks came in force. Among those attending were current coach John Pelphrey, athletic director Jeff Long, athletic administrator Kevin Trainor and the dynamic nucleus of the national title team: Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman and Clint McDaniel.</p><p>&#8220;My heart grew big when I saw those players walking through the door,&#8221; Richardson said.</p><p>Thurman said: &#8220;We wouldn&#8217;t have missed it.&#8221;</p><p>Those players helped deliver Arkansas&#8217; greatest basketball moment. The Razorbacks defeated Duke 76-72 in the title game at Charlotte, N.C., in a Final Four attended by President Clinton, the former governor and first fan of Arkansas.</p><p>The game was tied 70-70 when Thurman buried a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down and 51 seconds remaining.</p><p>When the Blue Devils missed a deep shot, McDaniel helped clinch the victory with a free throw with 9 seconds remaining. Williamson led the way with 23 points.</p><p>Much of the same group got Arkansas to the next year&#8217;s title game, where they lost to UCLA.</p><p>&#8220;What a great group that was,&#8221; Richardson said.</p><p>Richardson&#8217;s 1990 team also reached the Final Four.</p><p>He was an accomplished coach before arriving in Fayetteville in 1985 to replace Eddie Sutton, who had left for Kentucky.</p><p>Richardson&#8217;s West Texas Junior College team won the 1980 national championship. A year later, he left for Tulsa, where his first team won the NIT.</p><p>Arkansas went through great changes under Richardson, from the Southwest Conference to the Southeastern Conference. From Barnhill Arena to Bud Walton Arena. From conference contender to national champion.</p><p>All of his stops were on his mind, along with his playing career at his hometown college of Texas Western &#8212; now Texas-El Paso &#8212; where Richardson played for coaching legend Don Haskins.</p><p>&#8220;I think of all the players I&#8217;ve had, they make you who you are, along with the assistant coaches,&#8221; Richardson said. &#8220;Anyone who represents Texas Western, which is what it was called when I played there, University of Tulsa, University of Arkansas.&#8221;</p><p>After leaving Arkansas with a college career record of 508-206, Richardson coached the Panamanian and Mexican national teams. He&#8217;s spent much of this year fund-raising, speaking and participating in charity golf events.</p><p>The passion for basketball continues for Richardson. Perhaps one day it will again at Arkansas.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">He said it </span></strong><br /> &#8220;Forty minutes of hell, that was about practice.&#8221;</p><p><strong>| Nolan Richardson</strong></p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">They said it </span></strong><br /> &#8220;He did a lot of great things in college, a lot of great things for us.&#8221;</p><p><strong>| Former Arkansas guard Scotty Thurman</strong></p><p></div>