This figures to be another busy week for Nick Richards and his teammates at St. Patrick’s High School in New Jersey.
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim is due in on Tuesday to see the 6-foot-11 Richards, while Arizona coach Sean Miller is expected Wednesday.
“I’m considering every school,” Richards told me last week, referring to a group that includes Kentucky, Indiana, UConn, Syracuse and Arizona.
On Friday, Richards is poised to take his first official visit to Kentucky. Wildcats coach John Calipari has met with Richards twice in the last two weeks, including a home visit with Richards’ family.
“It’s probably going to be me and mom going, just check it out,” Richards said of the visit.
Asked what Kentucky’s message was, Richards said, “Basically just come to the school. They told me about the environment of the school, how it is before games, after games, during the games. They showed me a video of what happens. It was pretty exciting.”
Kentucky could lose several bigs to the NBA after 2017, most notably projected Top-10 pick Bam Adebayo.
“Yeah, we was talking about the NBA for a little bit,” Richards said. “He was just telling me what Kentucky can do for me as a person and develop my game.”
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a current NBA player whose jersey is retired at St. Patrick’s, has known Richards for some time and also been recruiting him to Kentucky.
Most importantly, Richards said his mother, Marion Tenn, likes Kentucky.
“She likes Cal, he keeps it real with her,” he said. “She likes the energy that they give to us.
Syracuse has long been involved with Richards, but no visit date has yet been set.
Arizona, meantime, has come in recently and Richards has had good things to say about Arizona assistant Book Richardson.
As for a timetable on a decision, Richards said: “Whenever I have that feeling, I’ll just commit.”
ST. PAT’S GUYS TAKING VISITS
On top of Richards’ visit, newly committed shooting guard Jamir Harris takes his official to Minnesota this weekend, while uncommitted 2017 guard Marcus McClary visits Monmouth and 2018 guard Jordan Walker trips to Georgia.
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