The 1993–94 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

in the

1993–94 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 1993–94 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Arkansas Razorbacks earned their fi ...

. It was Nolan Richardson's ninth season as head coach at Arkansas. The Razorbacks played their home games at Bud Walton Arena in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

as members of the West Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

. Arkansas finished the season 31–3, 14–2 in SEC play to win the West Division and regular season overall championships. The Hogs defeated Georgia in the quarterfinals of the

SEC tournament The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...

before losing to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in the semifinals. The Razorbacks received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the 1 seed in the Midwest Regional, their seventh straight trip to the tournament. Arkansas defeated

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

and Georgetown to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in five years. There the Razorbacks defeated

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

to earn a trip to the Final Four. It was Arkansas's fifth trip to the Final Four in program history. In the Final Four, they defeated

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

before beating

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in the National Championship game. Thanks to

Scotty Thurman Scotty Thurman (born November 10, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach, perhaps best known as the Arkansas Razorbacks' shooting guard who hit the high-arcing go-ahead three-pointer with 50.7 seco ...

's high arching three-point shot with less than a minute to play in the national championship game, the team earned its first national championship in school history. Thurman's shot is known as the "Shot heard 'round Arkansas", and is considered one of the greatest plays in Arkansas Razorbacks sports history. Corliss Williamson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. 1993-94 is considered the greatest single season in Arkansas' ninety-eight year history of men's basketball.

Previous season

The

Razorbacks The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...

finished the 1992–93 season 22–9, 10–6 in SEC play to win the SEC West Division championship. Arkansas defeated Georgia before losing in the semifinals of the

. The Razorbacks received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the 4 seed in the East Regional. Arkansas defeated Holy Cross and St. John's to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in four years. There they lost to 4th-ranked and eventual national champion

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. This team was dubbed "Richardson's Runts", due to the fact that Dwight Stewart was the tallest player on the team at 6'9".

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, SEC Tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament Sources

Rankings

Awards and honors

* Nolan Richardson,

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divis ...

*Nolan Richardson, SEC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year * Corliss Williamson, NCAA Men's MOP Award *Corliss Williamson, Second Team,

1994 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans The Consensus 1994 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, t ...

*Corliss Williamson,

SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the player who has proven himself, throughout the season, to be the most exceptional talent in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The school with the most SEC Play ...

*Corliss Williamson, 1st team All-SEC *Scotty Thurman, Honorable Mention,

*Scotty Thurman, 1st team All-SEC

Team players drafted into the NBA

* Corey Beck and

Clint McDaniel Clinton Eugene McDaniel (born February 26, 1972) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'4" (1.93 m) guard from the University of Arkansas, McDaniel was a key member of the 1994 National Championship team that defeated Duke U ...

played in the NBA as undrafted free agents."Clint McDaniel."
''www.basketball-reference.com.'' Retrieved January 25, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1993-94 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Razor Razor