DePaul University Athletics
Richardson Stayed Home and Brought Back the Glory to DePaul
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
(Third in a series of feature stories portraying the Class of 2015 honorees being inducted Saturday into the DePaul Athletic Hall of Fame)
CHICAGO - Two of the most dramatic advancements in the history of DePaul men's basketball took place after a local high school basketball phenom decided to stay in Chicago.
The first of those was when the legendary Mark Aguirre led the Blue Demons to the NCAA Final Four in 1979 after the former Westinghouse great stayed close to home.
The next big ripple effect occurred in 2000 when Quentin Richardson finished his two-year career by leading DePaul back to the NCAA tournament after a seven-year hiatus from the Big Dance.
The Blue Demons were 7-23 before Richardson arrived from Whitney Young and 21-12 in his sophomore season.
The player affectionately known as "Q" did much more than just return DePaul to national prominence. Along with help from fellow Public League standouts Bobby Simmons and Lance Williams, Richardson in effect changed a culture and reversed a trend of the best city players leaving town to begin their college careers.
Even to this day, Richardson is an outspoken critic of top recruits saying no to Chicago.
"I want to see one of the big-name Chicago guys---someone like Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor---come to DePaul and really take charge," said Richardson who is being inducted into the DePaul Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday. "Stay home, bring up your status and do it for Chicago.
"I don't understand why we don't get the top players. There are so many great talents in the city, we should be getting one or two every year. All it takes is for somebody to say I'm not afraid to be different and become the person that leads the charge.
"There's nothing wrong with going to Duke, Kentucky, Kansas or the other top schools. I like those schools, too. But all of them had to start somewhere with one or two guys making a stand and turning the program around.
"Going to a place like Duke is not as special as coming to DePaul because Duke brings in the top players all the time. If you want to be a part of something unbelievable, come to DePaul and build a national power. Nobody will ever forget what you did, and you'll be a legend in Chicago."
Richardson will be taking his place among Blue Demon greats such as Aguirre, George Mikan, Terry Cummings, David Booth, Dave Corzine and Tommy Kleinschmidt. In his two seasons before entering the NBA Draft, Richardson averaged 17.9 points per game---the fifth-best scoring average in DePaul history. He also averaged 10.2 rebounds. The 73 three-pointers he made in in the 1999-2000 is the second-best season mark in school history.
After leading Young to a state basketball title, Richardson chose DePaul over Kansas and made an immediate impact being named the Conference USA Player of the Year and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year. He led the Blue Demons to the NIT as a freshman and the NCAA tournament as a sophomore.
Richardson is being inducted into the DePaul Athletic Hall of Fame along with men's tennis standout Ray Cahnman, women's basketball star Kim Williams, women's softball star Eric Hickey Dransfeldt and the 1999 Women's College World Series softball team.
The formal induction ceremony and banquet takes place at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
The Class of 2015 will be honored at halftime of the 1 p.m. men's basketball game Saturday against Butler at Allstate Arena and at halftime of the women's basketball game Sunday against Marquette that tips off at 3 p.m. at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
For information on ordering tickets to the Hall of Fame ceremony and banquet, please contact Katie Ramsey at cramsey1@depaul.edu or (773) 325-7504.
"This is an unbelievable honor and it is unbelievably humbling," Richardson said. "I'm very proud of my decision to stay in Chicago and go to DePaul.
"I learned so much at DePaul about the strength of relationships and connecting with people. One of my best friends to this day is Jeremiah Fitzgerald who was a walk-on with us. We still talk all the time and send each other photos of our kids.
"DePaul taught me how to connect and become a people-person who could relate to everybody. I have this job with the Pistons (Director of Player Development) because of my relationship with Detroit president and coach Stan Van Gundy. Plenty of guys I talk to who are ex-players are trying to get back into the NBA. It's all about relationships and who you know.
"DePaul prepared me so well for the next level and with what I needed to succeed in the NBA on and off the court. DePaul prepared me for life. I came into the NBA better prepared than most of the other players."
The versatile 6-foot, 6-inch swingman was a first-round pick (18th overall) of the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000 NBA Draft. He played 13 years with the Clippers, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. He averaged 17.2 points for the Clippers in 2003-04 and 14.9 points for the Phoenix Suns in 2004-05.
He set a new Suns record for three-pointers that season (226) that eclipsed the 199 set by Dan Majerle. He tied Kyle Korver for most threes in the NBA. `Q' set another Phoenix record with nine 3-pointers against the New Orleans Hornets.
That was also the season Richardson won the Three-Point Shootout during NBA All-Star Weekend. He helped lead the Suns to a league-best 62-20 record and into the Western Conference Finals where San Antonio ended their season.
"I'm not going to lie---my college choice was all about the NBA," Richardson said. "Where could I go that would be the quickest route to the NBA?
"Well, Chicago is one of the three biggest markets in the country, and I liked the visibility of it all. Michael Jordan had just retired, so we had a chance to grab some headlines."
And that opportunity is still out there, according to Richardson.
"If you're a top player, don't be afraid to take a chance and start something special at DePaul," he said. "Once you come here, other talented guys are going to follow you. Everybody wants to play on the same team with the best.
"Back then, Lance committed first, then Bobby, who talked to me just before he made his announcement. I told him it was down to Kansas and DePaul, and that I was leaning towards DePaul."
Richardson appeared in 783 career games and averaged 10.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He played for coach Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic during the 2010-11 season.
Before arriving in Orlando, Richardson played with the Heat and scored 15 points against the Boston Celtics in an 85-76 loss in the 2010 NBA playoff opener. In game four, he finished with 20 points in a 101-92 win that saw fellow Chicagoan Dwyane Wade score 46 points.
Maintaining a close relationship woth Van Gundy resulted in his new career.
"After playing in the 2013 playoffs with the Knicks in my final season, I stayed in contact with coach Van Gundy," Richardson said. "I have a couple of restaurants in Orlando and he came down to have lunch with me at one of my restaurants.
"He said he liked the way I handled myself in Orlando, what I did and who I was every day. He liked what I showed him as a person and wanted me to be a part of his staff in Detroit.
"I wasn't sure if I'd like the coaching side or working in the front office. He created the position Director of Player Development so I could see both sides of it. I deal with a lot of front-office people, both with the team and with the NBA. At the same time, I travel with the team and do a lot of work with the players.
"Stan is both the head coach and also President of Basketball Operations. The only person higher than him is the owner. I just answer to Stan, and that makes it a lot easier to learn about the team and this league. He told me he likes the way I carry myself and to be that same person I was in Orlando."
Richardson said he became that person thanks to a strong family bond enhanced by going to college in his hometown.
"Adjusting to Division I basketball, you have your ups and downs," Richardson said. "But by staying home, I had my family there to help me with any situation. I could always rely on my Pops, my sister and brother---especially with stuff that I didn't necessarily want to talk about. Nobody knows me better than my family.
"When I think about it, DePaul was like another family for me. From day one, Jeanne (athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto) was looking after me. Jeanne and everyone in the basketball program were very instrumental in my growth. I had all kinds of great academic resources. Jeanne was always there to help with anything, and she is still there for me today.
"I talk to (ex-DePaul great) Wilson Chandler, and he says there is no way he would've been able to make it through school without Jeanne. She knows your name and genuinely cares about her student-athletes.
"To this day, she is still on me about graduating. Anytime I talk to her, she brings that up. I've begun working towards getting my degree. It's like Jeanne has taken over for my mom (Emma Richardson), who passed in 1992. She is my DePaul mom."
Richardson fondly recalled sitting in the front room of his South Side home with his mother watching DePaul games when he was eight years old.
"She loved DePaul," Richardson said of his mom, who died of breast cancer when he was 12. "My mom would have loved to come see me play at DePaul."
And Emma Richardson would have enjoyed seeing her son team up with his high school buddies.
"We were three kids from the inner city who went to Chicago public schools," Richardson said. "We came in, made a difference and proved it can be done.
"We all talked about going to DePaul together. It was kind of like LeBron (James), D-Wade (Dwyane Wade) and Chris Bosh teaming up in Miami.
"If we all go to DePaul, we can change the city. We can put our stamp on DePaul's basketball history. It was something we could always be proud of---that we made people sit up and take notice of DePaul again."
And on Saturday night when Richardson makes his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, everyone in McGrath-Phillips Arena will sit up and take notice.
"I'm happy with the choice I made," Richardson said. "And because of that, I'm very happy with the person I am today."
(Thursday: Ray Cahnman, men's tennis)
