From the SI Archives: 1985-86 Basketball Preview

by John Expat on Mar 26, 2009 10:49 AM CDT in Arkansas Razorback Basketball

Every Razorback fan over a certain age surely remembers Nolan Richardson's first season as head coach as being confusing (those polka-dot shirts), transitional (suddenly the players were running a lot more) and ultimately very dispiriting (that 12-16 final record after 11 years of success under Eddie Sutton was pretty shocking).

But, there was a brief period of time before the season started when optimism was running high and experts actually thought the Hogs would be good that year. As proof, we take you back to November 20, 1985...a time when Starship's "We Built this City" ruled the pop charts, Ronald Reagan was summitting with Mikhail Gorbachev and Sports Illustrated ranked Arkansas #16 in their college basketball preview issue.

Nolan was quite the quote machine even back then:

* On Andrew Lang: "In two years he could be the No. 1 pick in the professional draft."
* On William Mills: "There's no difference between him and Michael Jordan."
* On Mike Ratliff: "He could be a first round pick."
* On Scott Rose: "He could have been the most valuable player in the Missouri Valley Conference."

SI writer Hank Hersch gets into the act too, describing Stephan Moore as "the school's first legit power forward" and, my personal favorite, referring to the well-coiffed Eric Poerschke as "do it all."

Hersch closes by saying "This season won't be famine, but with just one senior, Arkansas real feast is probably a year away." Of course, we know how that story turned out, but if you're in the mood for a fun trip down memory lane, definitely go read the full article. Good stuff.

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hey, william mills was legit.
coulda been a beast.
had one of the nastiest, no-sports illustrated cover-dunks in UofA history.
i remember loving william mills.

by UK coaching quag on Mar 26, 2009 12:43 PM CDT reply actions

No question that he was gifted athletically (although troubled personally)…still, you have to admit that saying there’s no difference between him and Michael Jordan is just a bit of a stretch.

-John

by Razorback Expats on Mar 26, 2009 1:04 PM CDT reply actions

Andrew Lang was coveted as the next great Arkansas Center. The only problem was that he was recruited by Eddie Sutton to play in the halfcourt style of the game.
He showed some promise under Nolan, but I believe he would’ve thrived under Sutton by his 4th season, had Sutton stayed.

William Mills was a fantastic athlete. His attitude problems were also just as fantastic as his athletic ability. really too bad. He could have been a real stud for Nolan.
Saying that there was no difference between Mills and MJ was just a little over the top, but i’ll cut Nolan some slack, considering MJ was an NBA rookie in 1985.

by GonzoHog on Mar 26, 2009 9:50 PM CDT reply actions

Gonzo is exactly right. In retrospect that comment about Mills is crazy but MJ wasn’t MJ yet and that dunk that Mills had against Koncack’s SMU team and the subsequent high fiveof Eddie was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen live. I thought that team would be so good, but they were so bad. Sounds familiar.

by Carolina Hog on Mar 27, 2009 11:18 AM CDT reply actions