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Monday / January 6.
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    • Kentucky, Recruiting, St. Patrick

    HILLSIDE, N.J. — Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Nick Richards loved competing in soccer, volleyball and track and field.

    He never thought much about the McDonald’s All-American Game until he landed on Long Island in the summer of 2013 ago to pursue his dreams in the game of basketball.

    “I knew what [the McDonald’s Game] was, I just didn’t think that I would get selected for it,” Richards said Wednesday in the gym at The Patrick School.

    Now playing in just his fourth year of organized basketball, the 6-foot-11 Richards proudly slipped on the McDonald’s All-American jersey in front of his mother, his coaches, his teammates and his schoolmates during a ceremony on the stage in the gym.

    Kentucky, Recruiting

    NEW YORK — Nick Richards and Quade Green both attended Kentucky’s win over Michigan State in the Champions Classic last month at Madison Square Garden.

    Four days after that game, the 6-foot Green committed to Kentucky over Syracuse, giving the Wildcats their point guard for the 2017-18 season and perhaps beyond.

    Richards’ immediate reaction when he heard the news?

    “Right away, I thought national championship, to be honest with you,” a smiling Richards told me Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, where he watched Seton Hall edge No. 16 South Carolina, 67-64, in the Under Armour Reunion.

    Breaking News, Kentucky, Recruiting, St. Patrick

    HILLSIDE, N.J. — Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Nick Richards loved competing in soccer, volleyball and track and field.

    But his life changed forever when, in the summer of 2013, a New York City basketball scout named Andre Ricketts discovered Richards at a basketball camp in his home country.

    “He found me in Jamaica and he brought me up here,” the 6-foot-11 Richards told me.

    At that stage, Richards never imagined he could earn a Division 1 scholarship based on his raw basketball abilities.

    “No, when I was there that never really came across my mind,” he said. After initially landing at St. Mary’s High School on Long Island, Richards didn’t realize basketball could get him to college — and maybe beyond — until “probably like the beginning of my junior year.” By that stage, he had transferred to New Jersey power St. Patrick’s, now known as The Patrick School.

    Breaking News, Recruiting

    The NCAA early signing period runs Nov. 9-16 and we will begin to see more and more Class of 2017 recruits come off the board. Here’s an overview of some top recruits who are poised to announce this month. This list will be updated going forward.

     

    11/2: Darryl Morsell, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound combo guard from Baltimore (MD) Mount Saint Joseph and the Team Melo AAU Program, committed to Maryland on Wednesday. Read more here.

    Predicton: Maryland

    Actual: Maryland

     

    11/7: Troy Brown Jr., the 6-7 point guard/small forward from Centennial (NV) High School, committed to Oregon over Ohio State, Alabama, Georgetown and Kansas. Read more here.

    Prediction: Oregon

    Actual: Oregon

     

    11/7: Daejon Davis, the 6-foot-3 combo guard from Garfield (WA) High School, announced his commitment to Washington. Read more here.

    Prediction: Washington

    Actual: Washington

     

    11/9: Garrison Brooks, the 6-9 power forward from Auburn (AL), committed to Mississippi State over Auburn, Georgia, LSU and North Carolina. Read more here.

    Prediction: UNC

    Actual: Mississippi State

     

    11/10: Collin Sexton, the 6-2 point guard from Pebblebrook (GA) High School, committed to Alabama over N.C. State, Georgia Tech, and Kansas. Read more here.

    Prediction: Alabama

    Actual: Alabama

    Kentucky, Recruiting

    NEW YORK — Nick Richards tripped to Kentucky for the second time in a month last weekend for Big Blue Madness and still ranks the Wildcats among those at the top of his college wish list.

    “It was good, I liked it,” the 6-foot-11 Richards told me before scoring 10 points and winning the Sportsmanship Award as the New Jersey Upperclassmen lost to the New York Upperclasssmen, 103-92, in the Sharette Dixon Classic at Gauchos Gym. “It was a nice experience.”

    He added: “It was like a family-type thing. Everybody treats each other like family. I just like the whole vibe, even the coaches.”

    Kentucky, Recruiting, St. Patrick

    HILLSIDE, N.J. — Nick Richards, the 6-foot-11 big man from St. Patrick’s High School, enjoyed his official visit to Kentucky this past weekend and will return to the campus in two weeks for Big Blue Madness.

    Richards also plans to visit Arizona and Syracuse in the coming weeks as he heads toward a college decision.

    “[Kentucky] was cool, I liked it,” Richards told me Tuesday before an open gym. “I got to watch two practices and it was pretty fun. I got to talk to talk to all the coaches, they showed a lot of interest in me. It was a fun visit overall.”

    He added: “I’m going to [Kentucky] Midnight Madness next weekend.”

    Arizona, Recruiting

    Following a home visit Wednesday with Arizona head coach Sean Miller and assistant Book Richardson, Nick Richards will take an official visit to the Pac-12 school the weekend of Oct. 7, sources said.

    The Arizona visit will mark the second official for the St. Patrick’s (N.J.) big man after he takes his first to Kentucky this coming weekend.

    “Yeah, Book keeps it real with me,” Richards, a native of Jamaica who has only been playing organized ball for about four years, told me last month of the Arizona assistant from New York. “He’s probably the only coach out of all of them that keeps it the most real with me.”

    Copyright 2016 Zagsblog. Partner of iOne Digital / Cassius Network
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