Chris Dokish, Pittsburgh Recruiting

PITTSBURGH LOOKS AT TEXAS FORWARD

Panthers and Oklahoma State among high majors interested in JJ Richardson

by Chris Dokish

Names on the 2009 recruiting trail such as Aaric Murray and Thomas Robinson had Pittsburgh fans dreaming of a powerful front line in their future.

Already with a verbal commitment from Dante Taylor, the 6-foot-9 power forward from National Christian Academy in Fort Washington (MD) and with current 6-foot-6, 280 pound star sophomore center DeJuan Blair on the roster, adding a player like Murray or Robinson had Panther fans giddy over the thought of Pitt demolishing other teams down low. While Murray and Robinson may no longer be considering Pitt strongly, they were only two of the big men the Panthers coveted. There was another that they have been falling in love with, and he’s a sleeper, from of all of places, the suburbs of Houston, Texas.

J.J. Richardson, of Hightower HS in Missouri City, TX, is the prototypical Pittsburgh forward at 6-foot-7 and 238 pounds. But despite his size, Richardson has the athletic ability and skills to be a combo forward.

“My strengths are my rebounding and my inside game,” says Richardson, who also admits that he must work on his perimeter game “just a little”. But it’s the fact that he has already improved his perimeter game a lot this summer that’s making teams start to pay even more attention to him.

The extremely polite Richardson, who answers every question with “yes, Sir” and “no, Sir”, plays AAU basketball for Houston Elite, the same team that current Pitt freshman forward Dwight Miller played for. But it wasn’t until Pitt saw him at the Reebok All-American camp this summer did they have visions of a 6’7” 238 pound small forward dancing in their head.

Richardson has been getting a lot of offers this summer, but other than Pitt, Oklahoma State, and Minnesota, most have been from programs that aren’t high-majors. The idea of playing in the Big East, as well as having a friend in Miller already on the team, could go a long way when Richardson makes his decision. But first, he wants to get down to a final list.

“I’m going to meet with my coach, probably this weekend, and get a final list,” says Richardson. He wants to start taking visits as early as the end of August, and as for who will get those visits?

“I don’t know all of them until I talk to my coach,” says Richardson, “but Pittsburgh is one for sure. And also Oklahoma State and Santa Clara.”

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