Richardson Decision Will Be Known By Thursday

The federal judge in former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson`s discrimination trial against the university says he will issue his ruling no later than Thursday. U.S. District Judge William Wilson announced he will render his written decision probably Wednesday but no later than Thursday. Wilson heard 18 days of testimony during May and June and lawyers gave their closing arguments on June 16th. Arkansas fired Richardson as its basketball coach on March 1, 2002, he said he would leave the university if it would buy out the remaining years on his seven-year, seven million dollar contract. Arkansas administrators say the remark indicated Richardson had lost faith in his program. Richardson sued the university, athletic director Frank Broyles, Chancellor John White and system President Alan Sugg, claiming discrimination and that his free speech rights had been violated. In his lawsuit, Richardson is seeking almost nine million dollars, which would cover back pay, other lost compensation and two million dollars in damages. Richardson won 389 games at Arkansas, leading the Razorbacks to the 1994 N-C-A-A title and the 1995 championship game. The coach said he wanted his job back before the trial, but said at the end he couldn`t work for the same people who fired him and he didn`t want to displace current coach Stan Heath.