FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A week before saying publicly he was frustrated in the job, Nolan Richardson privately said he was looking for an end to his time as Arkansas' coach, according to the school's chancellor.

Chancellor John White said Richardson's remark about being willing to accept a buyout got his attention. White said the day the remark was published that Richardson was the most competitive person he had known and that he thought the comment was made in the heat of the moment.

But White said Saturday he also heard that Richardson had made a similar statement in private the previous week.

"So the thought that occurred to me was that Nolan was in a very difficult position because he had a long-term contract and that the only way that he could get out of it and have any kind of a financial payoff was if he got fired," White said. "And I thought that was really unfortunate.

"If, in fact, he's at the point in his career where he's thinking about retiring ... he should know that we could make that available to him."

White said he asked athletics director Frank Broyles' advice, and that Broyles told him when a coach makes that kind of statement, "It's time for a change."

Richardson was unavailable for comment. His lawyer, John Walker, declined comment on Sunday.

Richardson's leaving two weeks before the NCAA Tournament is likely to delay the search for his successor.

Most major college teams have a conference tournament this week and many of the 25-30 coaches on Broyles' list of candidates probably will be in the NCAA Tournament the following week.

"That's the reason not much will be done until after the NCAA tournament," Broyles said.

However, White said the Razorbacks "have to get out of the box very quickly." He pointed out that other schools also will be searching for a coach.

Broyles would not be specific about candidates, but made it clear that he would prefer a proven head coach.

"That's where we would start at any time," he said. "There's probably 25 or 30 out there that we'll pursue.

"I want somebody with a dynamic personality who can recruit and serve the university in many, many ways other than coaching. We want a good team player for the university that can coordinate all of our coaches and be a part of a program."

Mike Anderson, who played for Richardson at Tulsa and followed him to Arkansas 17 years ago, will be the coach when Arkansas plays in the Southeastern Conference tournament this week at Atlanta and Broyles admitted that a tournament championship would put Anderson in prime position. Such a run seems unlikely.

If the Razorbacks beat Tennessee in the first round of the tournament, they would play Alabama. Anything past that would likely include Georgia or Kentucky.

Broyles said a committee of former Arkansas basketball players would help find a replacement for Richardson.

"We'll have players from the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s on an interview committee," Broyles added. "It will be the same process we used to select (football coach) Houston Nutt. They will bring a recommendation to a facility committee and then to myself and John White."

It is not clear how much weight would be attached to such a recommendation.

Information from the Associated Press is included in this report