Nolan Richardson after the 1994 National Championship win.
Photo: Museum of American History, Cabot Public Schools
UPDATE: The official title is indeed “40 Minutes of Hell” and the film debuts at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012 on ESPNU. Watch the official trailer.
The rumors of a documentary on former Arkansas head basketball coach Nolan Richardson are true.
ESPNU spokeswoman Gracie Blackburn said in an email Wednesday that the one-hour film, tentatively titled “40 Minutes of Hell,” is part of the network’s “SEC: Storied” series and will focus on “the Nolan Richardson era” of Razorback basketball.
Blackburn said the film does not currently have an air date, but that it is the third documentary in the series which explores the traditions, people and games unique the SEC.
The first Storied film, a documentary on former Georgia running back Herschel Walker, premiered in September. The second film, which chronicles the 1992 inaugural SEC championship game between Florida and Alabama, is set to air on Dec. 1.
A camera crew was seen following Richardson inside Bud Walton Arena during the season-opener against USC Upstate on Nov. 11. It was the second time that Richardson was spotted inside the arena since the hiring of new head coach Mike Anderson, and likely one of only a few times the former coach has entered the building at all since his controversial departure from the program in 2002.
Anderson, whose style of play is rooted in the high pressure “40 Minutes of Hell” approach made famous by Richardson, served as assistant coach to Richardson for 17 years and was there for the program’s heyday which saw multiple Final Four appearances and a 1994 National Championship title.
Blackburn said ESPNU crews been in town twice to work on the film.
Keep your eyes peeled for more.
