Uno, Dos, Tres, The Bears Are Back!
On September 24, Saturday morning, a ceremony was held at Bowie’s main gym in honor of coach Nolan Richardson. The ceremony was held for the official dedication to the gym, unveiling of the new name: the Nolan Richardson Gym.
Richardson has received many honors before the renaming of the gym, including college-level championships, numerous Hall of Fame inductions, and even a middle school named after him. But according to Richardson, he says that this honor is very special to him.
“Of all the awards, I’ve been in 13 Hall of Fames. This is more important to me. Why? Because this is where it all began. This is my roots. They asked a question about where it all started, I talk about Bowie High School,” said Nolan Richardson, Class of 1959. “Uno, dos, tres, the Bears are back. That was our saying. It’s something that I’m proud of. It’s something that goes high on the pedestal of my accomplishments.”
The decision to rename the main gym was first brought up by the Memory Lane Committee, then later approved by El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees. The Memory Lane Committee is an organization that was first started by Juan De Santiago, Bowie’s Business Agent, in order to give recognition to past students and athletes that are deserving of being honored. Being a very successful athlete and coach at Bowie High School, the committee felt that the Mr. Richardson should receive a very special honor, that of which most people felt is long overdue.
“We formed the committee last year. This is part of what we do, trying to remember the past athletes and people that did great after graduation,” said Fede Castillo, member of the Memory Lane Committee. “It’s great. I’m surprised it took so long to name any part of the school for him. And of course, the basketball gym was the best thing that we can come up with.”
But of course, when an honor like this comes around, it isn’t at all that easy as most people might think it is. There are always requirements to get and steps to take.
“It wasn’t that easy. We had to get letters from important people. There had to be three people nominated for the name. We did all the leg work, and we were able to get it approved,” explained Castillo.
Among the people who were in attendance for the ceremony were Richardson’s former players, students and very close friends, who all came in support of the new Nolan Richardson Gym.
“I think it’s well deserved. I think that it’s probably one of the best of all that he’s received over the years. Because this is home. This is where he grew up, this is where actually I grew up,” expressed Melvin Patridge, Class of 1977.
Melvin Patridge, one of the many people here at the ceremony, was a former basketball player of Coach Richardson here at Bowie. With Richardson as the head coach, he and his teammates won All-District and All-City championships.
“I played college basketball, won championships. But right here, the championships that we won here, means more to me than any other. This floor means more to me than any other place that I’ve played. This is home, this is Bowie. The Bears are back,” said Patridge.
Other than his former players here, there were teachers that taught here with Richardson. Former art teacher Gaspar Enriquez attended the ceremony to see the unveiling of the new gym.
“I was a teacher here for ages, and I was here when Nolan was teaching here,” explained Enriquez. “I’m very happy that he’s getting the honor of having the gym named in his place.”
During the ceremony, speeches were made by Nolan Richardson, Bowie Principal Dr. Michael Warmack, members of the Memory Lane Committee, and others as well. All of which had very great things to say about the school and it’s students, both past and present.
For the ceremony, the committee asked Pastor Alfredo Sanchez to give a special prayer. Alfredo Sanchez is also a Bowie Bear, graduating in the Class of 1977.
“Even the prayer that I mentioned (in the ceremony) was preordained, followed by the words of Mr. Richardson, it followed through. Because only the divine God could do it. Even after the prayer, when he said the athletes are what made him, he said it in a few words,” said Pastor Alfredo Sanchez, Class of 1977.
Before receiving the honor of having the gym named after him, Richardson had numerous awards and honors for him. These accomplishments not only occurred here at Bowie High School, but also at universities that he coached at.
Richardson was an athlete even before high school, excelling at Little League Baseball. He then started as a student in Bowie High School in 1955, where he participated in basketball, football, and baseball, earning all district honors. After graduating in the Class of 1959. he left Bowie to play basketball at Western Texas College (now known as the University of Texas at El Paso), where he was coached under the future Basketball Hall of Famer Don Haskins.
Richardson began his outstanding coaching career right here at Bowie as a basketball coach for 10 years, starting in 1968. Here, he won All-District and All-State championships. In the middle of this 10-year coaching career is where he came up with the saying “uno, dos, tres, the Bears are back.” He came up with the saying around ‘73, ‘74 in order to achieve a championship. Bowie hadn’t won any district championships ever since Richardson himself was a player.
“We started the idea of uno, dos, tres, the Bears are back, but it became very popular with team of ‘76, ‘77,” explained Richardson. “T-shirts were made, posters were made about the Bears are back. And they brought it back, they brought it back to an undefeated conference season, back-to-back. It’s time for the Bears to come back, that’s where i got the idea. We been down for a long time, but it’s time to come back
Richardson later went to coach at Western Texas College where he won the National Junior College championship in 1980 with a 37-0 record. Soon after, Richardson moved to Oklahoma to coach at the University of Tulsa, from 1981 to 1985. There, he lead Tulsa to the NIT championship in his first year, with a record of 199-37.
After coaching at Tulsa, Richardson soon became the head coach at the University of Arkansas, where he would become very known throughout the nation, introducing his intense pressure defense known as “40 Minutes of Hell.” Here, he led the team to the Final Four three times. His team lost to Duke University in the semifinals in 1990, won the National Championship in 1994 against Duke, and lost the Championship game to UCLA in 1995.
In 1994, Richardson was named the National Coach of the Year in 1994. Coach Richardson was the first and only coach to have won a championships on all college levels. He is also the most successful coach in Arkansas history, with a record of 389-169 in 17 seasons.
In the years 2005 to 2007, Richardson became the head coach of the Panamanian basketball team. Soonafter, Richardson became the head coach for the Mexican basketball team in the March of 2007.
Richardson has also been inducted into many Hall of Fames, 13 to be exact. This includes the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. Richardson has had so many accomplishments throughout his life, but of course, with all this, there is always a start to everything.
“I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve been blessed, to tell you the truth, to have so many young men to be a part of my life. What makes a coach is how many good players and how many good people he has. And I surely think that that it’s starting at Bowie, is the first part of me getting what I need to be a success. We have to have a starting point,” according to Richardson.
Richardson has received many honors before the renaming of the gym, including college-level championships, numerous Hall of Fame inductions, and even a middle school named after him. But according to Richardson, he says that this honor is very special to him.
“Of all the awards, I’ve been in 13 Hall of Fames. This is more important to me. Why? Because this is where it all began. This is my roots. They asked a question about where it all started, I talk about Bowie High School,” said Nolan Richardson, Class of 1959. “Uno, dos, tres, the Bears are back. That was our saying. It’s something that I’m proud of. It’s something that goes high on the pedestal of my accomplishments.”
The decision to rename the main gym was first brought up by the Memory Lane Committee, then later approved by El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees. The Memory Lane Committee is an organization that was first started by Juan De Santiago, Bowie’s Business Agent, in order to give recognition to past students and athletes that are deserving of being honored. Being a very successful athlete and coach at Bowie High School, the committee felt that the Mr. Richardson should receive a very special honor, that of which most people felt is long overdue.
“We formed the committee last year. This is part of what we do, trying to remember the past athletes and people that did great after graduation,” said Fede Castillo, member of the Memory Lane Committee. “It’s great. I’m surprised it took so long to name any part of the school for him. And of course, the basketball gym was the best thing that we can come up with.”
But of course, when an honor like this comes around, it isn’t at all that easy as most people might think it is. There are always requirements to get and steps to take.
“It wasn’t that easy. We had to get letters from important people. There had to be three people nominated for the name. We did all the leg work, and we were able to get it approved,” explained Castillo.
Among the people who were in attendance for the ceremony were Richardson’s former players, students and very close friends, who all came in support of the new Nolan Richardson Gym.
“I think it’s well deserved. I think that it’s probably one of the best of all that he’s received over the years. Because this is home. This is where he grew up, this is where actually I grew up,” expressed Melvin Patridge, Class of 1977.
Melvin Patridge, one of the many people here at the ceremony, was a former basketball player of Coach Richardson here at Bowie. With Richardson as the head coach, he and his teammates won All-District and All-City championships.
“I played college basketball, won championships. But right here, the championships that we won here, means more to me than any other. This floor means more to me than any other place that I’ve played. This is home, this is Bowie. The Bears are back,” said Patridge.
Other than his former players here, there were teachers that taught here with Richardson. Former art teacher Gaspar Enriquez attended the ceremony to see the unveiling of the new gym.
“I was a teacher here for ages, and I was here when Nolan was teaching here,” explained Enriquez. “I’m very happy that he’s getting the honor of having the gym named in his place.”
During the ceremony, speeches were made by Nolan Richardson, Bowie Principal Dr. Michael Warmack, members of the Memory Lane Committee, and others as well. All of which had very great things to say about the school and it’s students, both past and present.
For the ceremony, the committee asked Pastor Alfredo Sanchez to give a special prayer. Alfredo Sanchez is also a Bowie Bear, graduating in the Class of 1977.
“Even the prayer that I mentioned (in the ceremony) was preordained, followed by the words of Mr. Richardson, it followed through. Because only the divine God could do it. Even after the prayer, when he said the athletes are what made him, he said it in a few words,” said Pastor Alfredo Sanchez, Class of 1977.
Before receiving the honor of having the gym named after him, Richardson had numerous awards and honors for him. These accomplishments not only occurred here at Bowie High School, but also at universities that he coached at.
Richardson was an athlete even before high school, excelling at Little League Baseball. He then started as a student in Bowie High School in 1955, where he participated in basketball, football, and baseball, earning all district honors. After graduating in the Class of 1959. he left Bowie to play basketball at Western Texas College (now known as the University of Texas at El Paso), where he was coached under the future Basketball Hall of Famer Don Haskins.
Richardson began his outstanding coaching career right here at Bowie as a basketball coach for 10 years, starting in 1968. Here, he won All-District and All-State championships. In the middle of this 10-year coaching career is where he came up with the saying “uno, dos, tres, the Bears are back.” He came up with the saying around ‘73, ‘74 in order to achieve a championship. Bowie hadn’t won any district championships ever since Richardson himself was a player.
“We started the idea of uno, dos, tres, the Bears are back, but it became very popular with team of ‘76, ‘77,” explained Richardson. “T-shirts were made, posters were made about the Bears are back. And they brought it back, they brought it back to an undefeated conference season, back-to-back. It’s time for the Bears to come back, that’s where i got the idea. We been down for a long time, but it’s time to come back
Richardson later went to coach at Western Texas College where he won the National Junior College championship in 1980 with a 37-0 record. Soon after, Richardson moved to Oklahoma to coach at the University of Tulsa, from 1981 to 1985. There, he lead Tulsa to the NIT championship in his first year, with a record of 199-37.
After coaching at Tulsa, Richardson soon became the head coach at the University of Arkansas, where he would become very known throughout the nation, introducing his intense pressure defense known as “40 Minutes of Hell.” Here, he led the team to the Final Four three times. His team lost to Duke University in the semifinals in 1990, won the National Championship in 1994 against Duke, and lost the Championship game to UCLA in 1995.
In 1994, Richardson was named the National Coach of the Year in 1994. Coach Richardson was the first and only coach to have won a championships on all college levels. He is also the most successful coach in Arkansas history, with a record of 389-169 in 17 seasons.
In the years 2005 to 2007, Richardson became the head coach of the Panamanian basketball team. Soonafter, Richardson became the head coach for the Mexican basketball team in the March of 2007.
Richardson has also been inducted into many Hall of Fames, 13 to be exact. This includes the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. Richardson has had so many accomplishments throughout his life, but of course, with all this, there is always a start to everything.
“I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve been blessed, to tell you the truth, to have so many young men to be a part of my life. What makes a coach is how many good players and how many good people he has. And I surely think that that it’s starting at Bowie, is the first part of me getting what I need to be a success. We have to have a starting point,” according to Richardson.