Overdue or not, it was outstanding news Sunday to hear that Nolan Richardson had been selected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Richardson's induction will be Nov. 23 at the College Basketball Experience and Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Over the last seven years since he was dismissed as the Arkansas Razorbacks' head coach, one began to wonder when or even if his induction would happen.

Don't take that thought the wrong way.

Richardson unquestionably belongs in the hall of fame with more than 500 career victories and being the only coach to win NCAA, NIT and junior college national championships, but sometimes when politics and short memories are involved, those who deserve such honor and credit can be forgotten or overlooked.

Thankfully, among coaches Richardson remains a well-liked and respected figure for his accomplishments.

Richardson's success coaching the Hogs is unmatched at Arkansas before and after him.

From 1989-1996, the Razorbacks averaged 27. 5 victories a season, won a national title in 1994, was national runner-up in 1995, went to six Sweet 16 s, four Elite Eights, and three Final Fours.

It will be difficult, if not near impossible, for any basketball coach to approach that type of sustained success at Arkansas in the future.

Richardson's style was uptempo when up-tempo wasn't cool. Prior to the shot clock and 3-point line being added to the college game, IBC basketball was considered smart basketball from Tobacco Road throughout the Southwest, and an any other style was considered " rat" ball or worse.

But Richardson saw the light prior to most coaches and proved that a routine 85-80 triumph was much more pleasing than a 39-38 tennis-match victory any day of the week.

Today mixing and matching zone defenses with man-to-man and pushing the ball on offense is a common part of the game, although few teams trap with opportunity the way Richardson's best Hog squads could.

But his success with the Razorbacks is only part of the story. Richardson was a trailblazer during his coaching career in more ways than one.

Richardson often said he came to the head coaching game late and that is a fact. He literally pulled himself up by his own boot straps.

Instead of having the benefit of starting out as graduate assistant at a major program under a respected mentor as many of his contemporaries did, Richardson got his start coaching junior high ball in his hometown of El Paso, where he began formulating his style of play.

Richardson used principals espoused by John Wooden along with necessity to invent his scrambling, trapping style of defense that operated perfectly with the up-tempo style of offense he pre- ferred.

As he perfected his style and motivational skills, the wins began to pile up and he matriculated to Bowie High School, where he had a 180-90 record over a 10-year period, and then to Western Texas Junior College, where he had a 98-14 record including a juco national title in three seasons.

It was at the age of 40, when he coached his first college game at Tulsa and led the Golden Hurricane to the National Invitation Tournament Championship. Four seasons later, after going 119-37 at Tulsa, he succeeded Eddie Sutton as the Razorbacks' head basketball coach.

Richardson's hire was both socially and professionally significant as the first African-American head coach in the Southwest Conference and the first head coach of color at a state university in the South.

While Richardson's first two seasons as the Hogs' coach were among the most trying of his life because of the illness and subsequent loss of his daughter, Yvonne, to leukemia and the outside pressures of rebuilding a proud basketball program amidst an impatient fanbase, the victories came in droves starting with his third season.

His success at Arkansas opened the doors for other African-American coaches in the South such as Larry Finch at Memphis, Wade Houston at Tennessee, Tubby Smith at Georgia and Kentucky and others.

Not to say that racism has vanished, but today doors are open to African-American coaches in South that weren't before Richardson's success with the Razorbacks.

No doubt, Richardson takes special pride in the success that his protégé Mike Anderson has had first as the head coach at Alabama-Birmingham and now in the same position at Missouri.

Richardson always believed his position as one of the more successful basketball coaches at the time not only gave him the opportunity to speak out on issues of importance to his race but also the responsibility to do so.

Richardson was one of the only coaches to step out and speak about the abuses by rogue AAU coaches who began brokering players to various programs for personal gain, calling it prostitution and likening it to slavery.

He also stood at the forefront when the Black Coaches Association challenged the NCAA on rules concerning standardized tests that could have been racially biased.

As a coach, there was little conventional about Richardson from his style of play to his stylish fashion sense. Within his program, he made no compromises. It was his way, only.

Richardson, who no doubt had his faults, was a unique figure as a coach, a true American original, and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame would not be complete without him.

Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.