FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas has 25-30 candidates in mind as a replacement for Nolan Richardson, but a state Appeals Court judge said Saturday the school could have a hard time attracting a new coach to campus.

Arkansas fired Richardson on Friday after he refused to resign. School officials mulled Richardson's fate for a week after he criticized fans and reporters and said he was treated differently because he is black.

The trouble for Arkansas, a Court of Appeals judge said, is that the university didn't fire Richardson for cause. It relied on a no-excuse-necessary clause in the coach's seven-year, $7 million-plus contract.

"Nolan Richardson isn't being fired because he threw a chair or tried to choke a player or stole some money. He's not being fired because he has engaged in some kind of NCAA impropriety," Judge Wendell Griffen said. "He's basically being fired because folks basically don't like how he came across, and he's being fired after he apologized for it."

Griffen, who is black and an Arkansas graduate, is one of the state Court of Appeals' best writers. His frank opinions cut through legal mumbo-jumbo to get to the point.

Off the bench, the judge last month criticized Gov. Mike Huckabee for replacing the only black member of the Arkansas board of trustees with a white former gubernatorial aide. Huckabee later switched choices and named a black Little Rock doctor to the position.

Griffen said the university failed to send the proper signal to blacks.

"People of color want to go and send their children to places where they will have strong positive role models," Griffen said. "If the school, when confronted with a strong positive role model, fires the person, that's a message to the community about how the school relates to strong positive role models."

Chancellor John White said Richardson wasn't fired for his outspokenness.

"In no way was it an action based on him speaking his mind ... more because of a feeling that a time had come for a change," White said at Saturday's Arkansas-Vanderbilt game, which the Razorbacks won 81-67.

Asked if he was sensitive to how blacks would react to Richardson's dismissal, White said one of his goals as chancellor was to create more diversity on the Fayetteville campus. "I am very concerned that African-Americans in this state don't think this is any way a step back in regard to that agenda," White said.

About 16 percent of the state's population is black, but only about 6 percent of the campus population.

Athletic Director Frank Broyles said Richardson assistant and interim head coach Mike Anderson was among 25-30 candidates who he would like to present to a search committee. He also hoped to attract someone who already is a head coach.

"I want somebody with a dynamic personality who can recruit and serve the university," Broyles said.

White said he expected 10-12 people to serve on a search committee. "We have to get out of the box very quickly," said White, who pointed out that other schools will soon be searching for a coach.

He described Anderson as a strong candidate.

Anderson called the shots during the Vanderbilt game. "It has been my dream to become a head coach," he said. "Under the circumstances, who knows what will happen.

"If you've been in this business long enough, you know you can never tell, but Brandon Dean told me I'm undefeated as a head coach," he said.

He also said he would either call Richardson or go by and see him.

Richardson was making slightly more than $1 million a year.

As far as the Arkansas players are concerned, Anderson is a unanimous choice to succeed his old friend and boss Nolan Richardson as Razorback coach.

As soon as it was official, there was speculation about a successor. Mentioned immediately were Rod Barnes of Mississippi, Ben Braun of California, Tom Crean of Marquette, Dennis Felton of Western Kentucky, Kelvin Sampson of Oklahoma, Bill Self of Illinois and Porter Moser of Arkansas-Little Rock. Also, Tim Floyd, formerly of Iowa State, and Leonard Hamilton, formerly of Oklahoma State.

Griffen said he felt Richardson's dismissal would cause black male students, not just athletes, to hesitate about attending Fayetteville.

"Athletes are taught to handle challenges and take risks and to accept responsibility to admit their mistakes," Griffen said. "Do you want to go to a school where you make a mistake even if you are successful and you admit your mistake, you're fired? This is what the head of the school does. This is what the athletic director does."

Before Richardson was fired, Leonard Shanklin -- father of Arkansas signee Andre Iguodala -- said that his son would not attend Arkansas unless Richardson was the coach.

"If in fact he does leave, we're going to find some way to get out of it," he said.

Iguodala, of Springfield, Ill., was considered the premier player among the five Richardson had signed for next year.

Jonathon Modica, a player of Smackover, said Saturday he did not want to comment on the firing of Richardson. He said he still planned to play for the Razorbacks, but that "I'm kinda hurt by the situation."

Three basketball recruits from Florida said they planned to be Razorbacks. "I signed with Arkansas, not the coach, but he was certainly a big part of me signing with Arkansas," said Brandon Tobias of Fort Lauderdale.

Rashard Sullivan, also of Fort Lauderdale, said he hoped Anderson would succeed Richardson.

"We want coach Anderson as our head coach, not just for the rest of the season, but for years to come," said Arkansas junior Blake Eddins. "It's not knocking any other coaches around the country, but we strongly, strongly, strongly feel that coach Anderson is the best man for the job and could step in and do as good or better than any coach in the country."

Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said Saturday that Richardson's dismissal is a "huge loss, not only for the conference but for college basketball." He called Richardson a tremendous man and a tremendous coach.

In the days before Richardson was fired, he received encouraging phone calls from other coaches around the country. Former Georgetown coach John Thompson was among those who called, but Thompson on Saturday declined to make any comments about Richardson's situation.