Former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson talks with former NBA player Mitch Richmond, right, during the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2014 announcement, Monday, April 7, 2014, in Dallas.ARLINGTON, Texas – As Kentucky and Connecticut readied for Monday night’s NCAA basketball title game, the sport they play has spent most of the season being beaten down for all that’s wrong with it. The one-and-done debate. Too many games. Too much television exposure. Questionable officiating. Dwindling crowds.
Given such problems, it’s a wonder that more than 79,000 fans — the largest Final Four crowd ever — filed into AT&T Stadium on Saturday night for the national semifinals.
But Monday morning also brought a reason to admire college basketball. The fab four of Alonzo Mourning, Nolan Richardson, Mitch Richmond and Gary Williams were all officially voted into the Hall of Fame, their admittance — particularly for Mourning and Richardson — exemplifying the positive power of opportunity.
Mourning’s path was obviously easier than that of Richardson, who grew up in a three-room home with eight other children in El Paso, Texas. Mourning came to Georgetown in the late 1980s, after fellow big man Patrick Ewing had brought the school a 1984 NCAA title and national acclaim.
But the impact college has had on his life stretches far beyond his professional basketball riches or NBA championship ring he won with the Miami Heat. Mourning is also on the board of trustees of his alma mater.