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Sunday / January 5.
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    • Kentucky, Recruiting

    NEW YORK — Nick Richards and Mohamed Bamba are teammates here on the West team in the Jordan Brand Classic.

    And if Richards has any say, they will be teammates next year at Kentucky, too.

    “Nobody not gonna score any layups if we go to Kentucky,” the 6-foot-11 Richards told me here this week in advance of Friday’s Jordan Brand Classic at Barclays Center. “Blocking shots all day, every day.”

    During his run to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title with The Patrick School, Richards would say that he wasn’t sure what Bamba was doing recruiting-wise and that he wasn’t getting involved. Now he’s actively trying to get the Harlem native to join him.

    “Of course, every day,” Richards said.

    Kentucky, Recruiting, St. Patrick

    TRENTON, N.J. — Nick Richards celebrated a New Jersey Tournament of Champions title by laughing, shouting and dancing with his Patrick School teammates inside a locker room at Sun National Bank Center on Monday night.

    He only managed 7 points and 7 rebounds while battling foul trouble in the 69-55 win over Don Bosco Prep but you wouldn’t have known that based on the size of his smile after winning the title with his teammates.

    “I thought the best thing they did was push Nick out of his comfort zone,” Patrick School co-coach Mike Rice said. “Over the last two months, Nick has been as consistent as I’ve seen him since I’ve been with him the last two years. He’s been incredible.”

    “But did you notice the smile on his face? It doesn’t matter. And sometimes in college, it matters because they’re mad, they’re angry. No, Nick was as happy as when he had 28 and 18 and that’s the purity and fun of high school basketball.”

    Kentucky, Recruiting

    Kentucky-bound big man Nick Richards of The Patrick School (N.J.) and future Wildcats guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander highlight the 12-member World Select Team for the 2017 Nike Hoop Summit.

    The 20th annual Hoop Summit will take place at 7 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, April 7 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

    The 6-foot-11 Richards is also a McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American, and his team is currently in the New Jersey Tournament of Champions, a six-team event featuring each of New Jersey’s public and non-public group winners.

    The 6-5 Alexander, meantime, expects to play for Canada this summer in the U19 World Championship, where he could face his future coach John Calipari, who is coaching the U.S. team. He averaged 7.8 points and 5.4 assists for his country at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship this past summer.

    Kentucky, St. Patrick

    ROSELLE, N.J. — After serving a two-game suspension last week for an altercation in a game a week ago, Nick Richards was anxious to get back on the basketball court on Sunday.

    “Yeah, it was frustrating, I don’t like missing games that much,” the 6-foot-11 Richards said of missing two games, including last Sunday’s big matchup with Trevon Duval and IMG Academy.

    Richards returned to play for The Patrick School in front of his future college coach, Kentucky’s John Calipari, and managed eight points and 11 rebounds before fouling out as the Celtics handled junior big man Moses Brown and Archbishop Molloy, 86-74, in the Primetime Shootout at Roselle Catholic.

    “Yeah, we played against each other a lot of times,” Richards said of the 7-1 Brown, who finished with 19 points. “Whenever we go against each other, it becomes a little crazy, the whole New York-New Jersey rivalry starts to come in, who’s trying to be the best big between the two [states]?”

    Kentucky, Recruiting, St. Patrick

    The Patrick School (N.J.) will be without Kentucky-bound McDonald’s All-American big man Nick Richards for two games after he was ejected from Saturday night’s 42-38 victory over Union Catholic.

    Richards and Dayton-bound power forward Jordan Pierce were involved in an altercation and both players were ejected. Pierce grabbed Richards by the neck while the two battled for a rebound, Richards responded by taking a swing that didn’t connect, some pushing and shoving ensued and the two players had to be separated near midcourt.

     

    The 6-foot-11 Richards has to sit out two games, including Sunday’s 75-66 loss to Trevon Duval and IMG Academy at Roselle Catholic and Wednesday’s game against Plainfield which was originally slated for Tuesday.

    Richards is eligible to return to practice on Thursday and for next Sunday’s game against 7-foot-1 junior Moses Brown and Archbishop Molloy in the Primetime Shootout at Roselle Catholic.

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