Nolan Richardson was back in town this morning at a speaking engagement, and we had a chance to sit down with the former Razorbacks coach to talk about his recent jump into the WNBA.

Richardson, 67, was introduced as the coach and general manager of a proposed WNBA team in Tulsa, Okla., on Tuesday. Investors are hopeful they can start an expansion franchise or move a current team to the city by next season. Richardson says he expects to hear word one way or the other about the franchise by Oct. 15.

Nolan Richardson

Until then, it’s marketing the team and getting people to buy tickets to show the WNBA that Tulsa is a valuable market.

Richardson leaves for Tulsa tomorrow to start work with investors. Right now it’s all about drumming up support and selling tickets.

“I’m in the groundwork and that’s what maybe intrigued me more,” said Richardson. “… If it doesn’t happen, at least they gave their best shot and I’m going to try to give my best shot.”

In addition to general manager and head coaching duties, Richardson will also be vice president of the proposed franchise, he said.

On the court, Richardson is looking forward to getting back to his coaching roots. He’s still the only coach to ever win an NIT, junior college and NCAA national championship. The former Hogs coach won a national title at Arkansas in 1994 and coached the UA to three Final Fours.

After spending seven years away from coaching full time, he realizes his men’s coaching career is “over with.”

“I still love the game, and since I still love the game and they’re asking me if I can do some things on the women’s side, well, I’ve got the time,” Richardson said. “I feel I can do what I did in my career on the men’s side, on the women’s side.”

There are other positives for Richardson. Living so close to Tulsa was certainly a selling point. He has property in Tulsa as well and will live there, but isn’t looking to leave Fayetteville anytime soon.

“That’s a huge factor,” Richardson explained. “This is home. We’ve got a ranch here and it makes it a little bit easier if I can get back and forth.”

If Tulsa does get a WNBA franchise, don’t expect Richardson to change his coaching style. There will be plenty more 40 minutes of hell at the BOK Center once the season starts next May.

“I don’t want a game where we play half-court basketball and six girls play,” Richardson said. “I haven’t done that since my first two years as a coach in high school. After that, I changed. I have to have athletes who can run and trap, pitch the ball and hopefully you find some with [basketball] IQ.”

Last December, when Richardson took part in a press conference announcing that he and the 1994 national championship team would be honored in March at Bud Walton Arena, he faced plenty of questions. Most notably was whether the coach would attend more games at the arena after, it seemed, some wounds had been healed after his firing at the school in 2002.

Well, if Richardson and the Tulsa investors secure a WNBA franchise, you can expect the coach to be in the house he helped build on a regular basis.

Why?

He’ll be there to scout talent.

“I’ll probably be up there quite a bit now,” Richardson said. “All the teams in the Southeastern Conference, they’ve got players. I’m in the backyard of the players. It’ll eliminate a lot of traveling. I just go out my backyard and in 10 minutes I’m at the campus. That’s a plus for me.”

After seven years of avoiding Bud Walton Arena, Richardson joked last December that he almost parked his car in current Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Pelphrey’s parking spot prior to a press conference. If Tulsa secures a WNBA franchise, the UA may just have to set aside a parking spot for the former Hogs coach.

Video of Richardson explaining his decision, and his thoughts on the women’s game is below.

— Brandon Marcello