NEW YORK — Nick Richards, a 6-foot-11 center from The Patrick School (N.J.), said Kentucky head coach John Calipari calls his family about once or twice a week.
Richards is ranked No. 8 on the ESPN Top 100 recruits for the Class of 2017. He’s received offers from Kentucky, Syracuse, UConn, Kansas, Villanova, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Oklahoma, to name a few.
Still, he said he hasn’t given any school the upper hand yet.
“I treat them all the same,” he said. “Each school has the opportunity to get me right now.”
The big man originally from Jamaica stuffed the stat sheet in his team’s 82-52 victory over the Chinese 18U National Team on Saturday at Baruch College, recording 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals in an exhibition match as part of the Rumble in the Bronx AAU event.
Richards and Expressions Elite will compete at the Nike Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C. next month, which will feature the 24 best AAU teams in the nation.
Richards attended St. John’s Elite Camp on June 8, a showcase featuring the best players from the next five high school classes who play in the tri-state area. He was put on the same team at Jose Alvarado and Sidney Wilson, two, class of 2017 recruits that are being highly recruited.
“It was fun,” he said. “I got to see some of my friends. It was a good experience to be at St. John’s and play in front of their coaches and show them some of my talents and all of that.”
At the Brooklyn Nike EYBL stop in April, Calipari, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and UConn’s Kevin Ollie were among the coaches on hand to watch the junior.
Richards planned to narrow his list down by now, but said he hasn’t done so yet and is not sure when he will.
Calipari visited Richards twice this year at St. Patrick’s, a school where the Kentucky coach has found a lot of success. The Wildcats snagged guards Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Dakari Johnson from the New Jersey Catholic powerhouse that also produced former Duke star Kyrie Irving.
Richards said he will take his unofficial visit to Kentucky over the summer, and plans to take official visits during the school year.
Syracuse assistant Adrian Autry watched him at practice in February.
Richards is a native of Jamaica and has only been playing organized basketball for about three years. He is long, athletic, moves really well down the floor and can sometimes stretch the floor with his mid-range jumper.
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