Hog Heaven in the Queen City: Remembering the 1994 Arkansas championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — It was the morning before the biggest game of his life and Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson was fuming.

“We get the wrong shootaround time and wound up only getting three minutes instead of 45 that you are actually allotted,” recalled guard Scotty Thurman.  “Coach lost it. He actually went crazy.”

Once again, it felt like it was the Razorbacks against everyone, which meant once again, Arkansas was actually in its element.

“To me, it was time,” said Richardson. “We call it payback time.”

And so it was with that chip on their shoulder that gave the Razorbacks confidence heading into the 1994 championship game. Never mind that it was in Charlotte, mere miles from the home of their opponents, the Duke Blue Devils. This was their game to win.

“It didn’t bother me where we played,” Richardson explained. “It was kind of like the goal with ten feet high [and the court was] 94 feet long.

Still, Richardson and his team knew this was not going to be an easy task. The Blue Devils came out hot, as they were looking for their third title in four years. And while guys like Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley were gone, they still had a legendary coach in Coach Mike Krzyzewski and a future Hall of Famer in Grant Hill leading the charge.

“The respect factor was still there with Grant because he was a great college basketball player,” Corliss Williamson said. “He had a great career.”

Trailing at one point by double figures in the second half, the Razorbacks countered with Williamson, the two-time SEC player of the year as well as the country’s most influential 6th man, a guy who, as it turned out, never missed a game all season.

“To have the President [Arkansas native Bill Clinton] backing you,” Thurman said. “It was kind of like we were rock stars because we were kind of traveling with him.”

But Arkansas also had another weapon up its sleeve: A team-oriented, defensive style that came to be known as 40 minutes of hell.

“You know, we probably didn’t have all the big names that some of these other schools have but we had some guys on our team that really knew how to play the game of basketball,” Williamson said.

That balance would come in handy with a championship hanging in the balance late in the second half. After all, with under a minute to go, it wasn’t the Razorback’s first or second option who took the big shot, it was their third.

“When I caught that [pass],” Thurman said, remembering catching the ball on the right wing. “I didn’t have time to do anything. I didn’t have time to think about it. It went straight to muscle memory.

And the ball went straight into the basket, breaking a tie and putting Arkansas up 73-30.

Moments later, the celebration was on.

“It felt great,” remembered Williamson. “You are happy you accomplished your goal. Then all of a sudden you have tears rolling down your eyes because you are crying.”

From the start of the day until that moment, the team had gone through the full cycle of emotions.

“That is what the game is all about,” Richardson said.

Against all odds, including a scheduling snafu, they were champs.

“It took us a while but we got it done.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.