LITTLE ROCK - University of Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles testified Wednesday that he considered firing Nolan Richardson two years before the basketball coach actually was given his walking papers.
Broyles said he reconsidered after Richardson's team won four games in four days at the 2000 SEC tournament and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Broyles said his reasons for wanting to fire Richardson then were much the same as in 2002: He felt Richardson had lost faith in the program.
Broyles was the only witness called so far in Richardson's lawsuit against the university, its leaders and the nonprofit Razorback Foundation. U.S. District Judge William R. Wilson Jr. is hearing the case without a jury.
The lawsuit, claiming wrongful termination, went to trial Wednesday. Richardson, who was fired March1, 2002, claims he was terminated because his is black and outspoken. He seeks an order reinstating him to his job.
MIAMI: The team released recruit C.J. Giles from his national letter of intent. The 6-foot-11 center from Washington, considered one the nation's best big men, will be eligible to play in 2005-06. Giles asked for his release after Miami fired coach Perry Clark in March.
COACHING CHANGES: Steve Henson is leaving USF'S staff for UNLV, where he will hook up again with Lon Kruger. Henson played for Kruger at Kansas State (1987-90) and was an assistant to Kruger at Illinois (1999-00) and with the Atlanta Hawks (2001-03).
Coach Robert McCullum also will announce a replacement for former assistant Tommy Deffebaugh by "Monday at the latest." Deffebaugh, who came with McCullum to USF from Western Michigan, was fired in March.
With USF moving into the Big East, McCullum sought to replace Deffebaugh with an assistant from the Northeast.
"It's important that we were able to make some inroads recruiting-wise to the Northeast part of the country," McCullum said.
Elsewhere, former Oklahoma State assistant Glynn Cyprien was introduced as coach at Louisiana-Lafayette. Leon Douglas, who led Alabama to three SEC championships and played seven seasons in the NBA, was named coach at Stillman (Ala.) College.
BASEBALL: Tampa senior infielder Matt Armstrong of Lakeland was named SSC male athlete of the month, batting .429 in April (27-for-63), scoring 11 runs and knocking in 17.
GOLF: FSU senior Katie Quinney and sophomore Caroline Larsson were named to the All-ACC women's team. FSU begins play today in the NCAA East Regional at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort at Howey-in-the-Hills. Duke is the top seed in the 21-team field with Florida No.6, FSU No.13 and Miami No.17.
SOFTBALL: USF's Leigh Ann Ellis (35-4) topped her single-season wins record, pitching six innings, striking out nine and allowing one hit in a 5-0 win against host Jacksonville. The Bulls improved to 51-10, 18-5 in C-USA.
TENNIS: The Florida men and women will host respective NCAA first- and second-round championship matches May14-16. The Gator women, the No.1 seed, face Hampton at 5 p.m. Friday. The men, the No.7 seed, play UCF.
- Times staff writers Pete Young and Brian Landman contributed to this report.
