Arkansas to honor 1990 Final Four team Saturday
The 1989-1990 Arkansas basketball team that advanced to the Final Four will be honored on Saturday during halftime of the game against Missouri at Bud Walton Arena, the school announced Monday.
A press release from the university said approximately 20 former players, coaches and support staff are expected to be present, which includes Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson and Arkansas’ all-time leading scorer Todd Day.
Saturday is the 35th anniversary of the trip to the 1990 Final Four, which was played in Denver, Colorado. A special poster commemorating the team will be available for fans at the game.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Nolan Richardson and his 1990 Razorbacks back to campus on the anniversary of their Final Four run,” athletics director Hunter Yurachek said in the press release. “This is the team that helped lay the foundation for the ‘Forty Minutes of Hell’ brand of basketball that brought unprecedented success to our program in the 1990s and built momentum that eventually led to the construction of Bud Walton Arena. We look forward to celebrating this historic team this weekend.”
The 1989-1990 Arkansas basketball team finished the season 30-5 overall and 14-2 in the Southwest Conference and won the SWC regular season title as well as the conference tournament. Day led the Hogs in scoring that season with 19.5 points per game, while Lee Mayberry Jr. added 14.5 and Lenzie Howell averaged 13.9 per game.
Oliver Miller was the team’s leading rebounder and shot blocker that season at 6.3 boards and 2.4 blocks per game.
During the NCAA Tournament that year, the 4-seed Razorbacks beat Princeton in the first round, Dayton in the second round, North Carolina in the Sweet 16 and Texas in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four, where they lost to the Duke Blue Devils to end their tournament run.
In the win over Texas, Howell scored 21 points while Miller hauled in nine boards and Mayberry dished out seven assists to win 88-85 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas.
The 95.6 points per game the team averaged was a school record that was broken just one year later, which included many of the same players and finished 34-4 overall, won the SWC regular season and conference tournament and made an Elite Eight appearance.
Tipoff for Saturday’s game against Missouri is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2.
1989-1990 Arkansas basketball roster
Players:
— #3 Warren Linn
— #10 Todd Day
— #11 Lee Mayberry
— #14 Ernie Murry
— #15 Lonnie Jordan
— #20 Arlyn Bowers
— #21 Darrell Hawkins
— #22 Cannon Whitby
— #23 Michael Hogue
— #24 Lenzie Howell
— #25 Oliver Miller
— #31 Ron Huery
— #33 Clyde Fletcher
— #34 Roosevelt Wallace
— #42 Larry Marks
— #44 Shawn Davis
— #55 Mario Credit
Coaching and Support Staff:
— Head Coach: Nolan Richardson
— Assistant Coaches: Mike Anderson, Wayne Stehlik, Ron Cottrell
— Student Assistant: Clark Morris
— Admin. Associate for Academic: Jerry Welch
— Academic Coordinator: Kim Wood
— Head Trainer: Dave England
— Fitness Coordinator: John Stucky
— Equipment Manager: Kent Caulfield
— Office Manager: Terry Mercer
— Secretary: Jeri Lynn Kuster
— Student Managers: Kevin Pitts, Mike Hackbart, Price Ransom, David Schlesinger, Matt Zimmerman
— Sports Information: Rick Schaeffer and Bill Rogers
— Radio: Mike Nail, Paul Eells
