Syracuse, N.Y. -- Kadary Richmond came to Brewster Academy last fall with a particular task. He would play point guard for Jason Smith on a team loaded with teammates destined to play at high-major Division I colleges. He would learn how to hone and harness his ball skills and his passing acumen to figure out which teammates needed the ball in which situations and which game situations allowed the chance to score himself.
By last fall, Richmond had committed his basketball future to Syracuse. Orange assistant Allen Griffin had recruited the Brooklyn native and offered him a scholarship after Andre Jackson decided on Connecticut.
At Brewster last season, Richmond averaged 12.5 points, 3.8 assists and 6.0 rebounds on a powerful prep team that included Terrence Clarke (Kentucky), Matt Cross (Miami) and Jamal Washburn, Jr. (Minnesota). He made the move from shooting guard to point guard. And he flourished enough in his new role to earn All-NEPSAC first-team honors.
With Buddy Boeheim out on his own personal Covid pause because of contact tracing, Richmond has inherited a wealth of opportunity during SU’s 3-1 start. His offensive rating (114.2 via KenPom) is second only to Quincy Guerrier thus far. (Guerrier’s offensive rating is a whopping 137.0 at this point; that’s what making 3-point shots does.) Richmond has, in his first four collegiate games, done a little bit of everything: he has the best assist rate on the team, he’s shooting .769 from the free throw line (and getting there a lot) and .643 from inside the 3-point arc. On defense, he’s rebounding and making steals.
Syracuse made him available to reporters Thursday afternoon via Zoom. He was asked a couple times what he expects in terms of basketball minutes now that Buddy Boeheim has returned. He said he has no expectations, but plans to compete as hard as he can whenever he’s called upon.
Here’s the crux of the Thursday conversation (On the whole, Richmond is a pretty quiet guy):
Rider Broncs guard Rodney Henderson Jr. (3) shoots over Syracuse Orange forward Kadary Richmond (3) in the first half of the Syracuse-Rider game at the Carrier Dome Dec. 5 2020, in Syracuse, New York. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com
On his initial reaction to the start of play: “The past few games have been real fun. It’s my first year of college, getting up and down and getting a feel for it. Just going out there and competing every night, so it’s good.”
On his defense, particularly his team-leading number of steals: “It gets easier once you get up and down, pushing the ball. I just feel if I get a steal, we can get out in transition and score.”
On what his team learned from Rutgers in terms of defense: “Just keep guys in front of us and making it harder to get around us and penetrate.”
On how his season as a Brewster playmaker helped prepare him for this year: “There’s good players here also so it wasn’t a big transition. It was pretty easy getting guys shots last year so I just took the same mindset this year: When I get on the court make plays. Make plays for myself.”
On how the big minutes have helped him thus far: “I feel like it gave me a lot of confidence. The coaches trust me to go out there and play those type of minutes. That’s big.”
On what he’s learned from the four games: “Things I can take away from the first few games is it’s very fast-paced, very intense, nothing like high school. I’ve figured out what my role is here in these first few games.”
On what he’s learned most about his game since he arrived on campus: “I feel like I’ve grown in decision-making and play-making because the guys are older than me so they can help me through certain situations and then know where to be on the court.”
On his defense at the top of the zone: “There’s a few changes from high school, so sometimes I forget some of the things. But I’m getting better as we continue practicing and playing.”
On playing on the ball and off the ball: “I think I can make a play on and off the ball. Being on the ball is pretty easy for me, I can say, because there’s not a lot of pressure. You’re just playing basketball.”
On what it means to him to play at Syracuse: “It means a lot because people from my area don’t get opportunities like this. I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to go out there every night and compete.”
On what he needs to work on: “I think I need to work on picking my spots on the court, knowing when to attack and when to make plays and being a little more aggressive at times.”
On his conditioning: “I feel like with practice and getting the opportunity to play minutes my conditioning is improving every time I step on the floor.”
On why he cut his hair: “I just felt like it was a new start. College. First day of college, new start. That’s why I really got rid of the hair. And I couldn’t see.”
On which upperclassmen he’s leaned on: “Buddy helped a lot. Joe helps a lot, Marek and Bourama. The older guys helped a lot.”
Donna Ditota is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? Reach her at dditota@syracuse.com.
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