Kansas Jayhawks: Basketball Recruiting Index
By Ryan Noel
Nick Richards – Expressions Elite – Nike EYBL
#18 Overall, #2 Center
Richards is one of a handful of top level 7’0″+ centers in the class, and he’s the best one not named Deandre Ayton, by our estimation. He looks to be the full 7’1″ he’s listed at, and he had a very good week at Peach Jam.
What’s his game like?
Richards is a very good defender and rebounder, as you would expect from an elite 7’0″ center. He has good timing around the lane on defense and his long arms seem to always get a hand on the ball off the rim. In fact, he seems to have an inordinate amount of his points come from tip-dunks, and quite a few of them were nothing short of spectacular last week.
Richards also has very good athleticism for his size, as he’s a pretty smooth runner down the floor. He gets around the lane very well for help-side defense and even shows some ability to shift his feet when defending off screens.
His main issue moving forward will be developing offensively. He relies pretty heavily on brute-force play, getting most of his points on put-backs and dump-offs. He has a rudimentary post game to work with, and his size will always be an advantage (and it looks to us like he can add a significant amount of good weight).
Rumor Central
It’s been nothing but Kentucky through the grapevine in this one, and it seems like he’ll be the choice if/when they lose out on Deandre Ayton (if they really are truly getting back in there). Kansas has watched a few of his games (Norm Roberts watched at least two of them last week), but it’s tough to imagine they’ll want to bring him in when they’ll already have a sophomore Udoka Azubuike – who is a very similar player – on the roster. Seton Hall was an early leader, so they’re a name to watch here as well.
Next: Collin Sexton