LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The University of Arkansas' top executive upheld the dismissal of basketball coach Nolan Richardson, saying Thursday that he concurred in a campus chancellor's decision to fire the basketball coach.

President B. Alan Sugg said he reviewed 80 pages of material submitted by Richardson and interviewed a number of people while doing his own research. In the end, he agreed that the coach should be replaced.

"Based on my review, I am firmly convinced that the termination of your employment agreement by (Chancellor) John White in consultation with (athletic director) Frank Broyles was legal and fair," Sugg wrote Thursday in a letter to Richardson. "I find no evidence of discriminatory conduct or motive in the making of this decision by John White and Frank Broyles."

It wasn't whether Richardson would sue. The appeal to Sugg was seen as a prerequisite for any action through the courts or government agencies.

"We're not going to move in haste. We'll consider all options carefully and in due course," said Richardson's lawyer, John Walker. "It'll be awhile before we choose to do anything. We won't make any announcement about it. We'll just do it if we do it."

For a time, and with input from several others, Richardson tried to develop a variety of conditions under which he might stay at the university, Walker said. One set of suggestions, obtained by The Associated Press, demanded that Broyles resign and that Richardson be allowed to take a year off.

"We were asked by emissaries, purportedly representing the university, what conditions would be appropriate in order to resolve this matter," Walker said.

Walker and university lawyer Fred Harrison said Richardson never presented the demands to Arkansas.

"They were never presented because our settlement discussions broke down," Walker said.

White terminated Richardson's contract March 1 and said the coach had asked privately and publicly to be bought out.

Richardson said Feb. 23 and Feb. 25 that if the university bought out his contract, he would leave. He said later, however, that he wanted to stay and asked Sugg to review White's decision.

White had said after Richardson's initial public statement that he believed Richardson was just blowing off steam amid a dismal season. Later, however, he said he decided to buy out the last six years of the seven-year $1.03 million-per-year pact.

A buyout clause in Richardson's deal allows the university to buy out the contract for $500,000 a year without giving a reason.

Sugg said in his letter Thursday that he interviewed a number of people to follow up on issues Richardson raised at a three-hour meeting with the system president on Monday. He said he found that Richardson had told a radio announcer and a Bud Walton Arena official privately on Feb. 22 that he wanted out.

"Your privately making similar remarks ... supports my conclusion that your public remarks were not spontaneous, but were made after thought and deliberation," Sugg wrote.

"The damage of these remarks was compounded by your similar comments on Feb. 25, 2002," Sugg wrote. "Therefore, I am upholding the decision of Chancellor White to terminate your employment as the head coach of the Razorback basketball program at the University of Arkansas."

He said he had personal and professional respect for Richardson, which made the decision difficult.

He closed, "I wish the best for you and Rose," Richardson's wife, who accompanied her husband to Little Rock for Monday's meeting.

Richardson coached at Arkansas for 17 years, winning the 1994 NCAA title and losing the championship game to UCLA in 1995. In 22 years as a head coach, including five years at Tulsa, Richardson has a 508-206 record.

At his Feb. 25 news conference, in addition to making remarks about his contract, Richardson criticized the media and fans and said he was treated differently because he is black.

He hired a civil rights lawyer as talk of his departure grew, and apologized to fans and reporters before saying in a Southeastern Conference teleconference Feb. 28 that he wanted to remain as coach.

In a televised news conference Monday, he referred to the Razorbacks as "my team" and criticized the decision to release him, saying Arkansas could have won the SEC tournament if he had remained.

The coach also released more than 80 pages of documents that he had given Sugg to review.

University lawyers went over the material in a 10-point review prepared for Sugg. Their review, which the president released Thursday, included elements in which Richardson: