Cunningham expectant for Richards in NBA draft
Published:Monday | April 20, 2020 | 12:18 AMDaniel Wheeler/Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA COLLEGE (JC) basketball coach Duane Cunningham was confident about the trajectory of Nick Richards during his early days at the school.
Now, the 6’11” JC old boy is on the verge of making his NBA dream come true after he declared last Tuesday for the upcoming draft in June, opting not to return for his senior season at the University of Kentucky. The 22-year-old is coming off a campaign which saw him being named to the first team All Southeastern Conference (SEC), after helping his team to capture the SEC regular-season title.
“I said that this is the next Patrick Ewing,” Cunningham said. “He had all the physical attributes of a pro prospect.”
Cunningham, who coached Richards at JC before he migrated to the United States in 2012, saw at first hand the desire and commitment he showed for the game when he attended a basketball camp one summer.
DEDICATION AND PASSION
“Nick’s mom would drop him off when she would go to work,” Cunningham said. “Nick’s practice doesn’t start till three. I get there at 12 and I work with the younger boys first. Nick would do all his push ups, shoot all his shots all day until practice starts at three. And then practice is very intense. And he doesn’t go home until 6:30 after work. That type of dedication and passion, you see it and you recognise it and you say, ‘Hey, I have a prospect here.’”
Richards became an ESPN-ranked, five-star recruit out of high school in 2017, eventually choosing to play for the eight-time national champions, Wildcats.
He averaged 14 points per game during his junior year and was in contention for the SEC Player of the Year award, having led the conference in field goal percentage (64.4 per cent) and finished in the top three in average blocks per game (2.1) and rebounds per game (7.8). His college career came to an unexpected end when the conference champions and the men’s basketball tournament were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
As Richards prepares for life as a professional, Cunningham believes that teams will be interested in him, given his technical attributes and his attitude for the game. “General managers must be looking at him right now because he runs the floor well, he rebounds well, and he plays very good defence,” he said. “He was lucky to end up with a good situation and his work ethic carried him through.”
Richards has also received praise from Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who said that he would be leaving the programme a “fan favourite because of the way he’s handled himself both on and off the court”.