The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1476803
TRACKING THE PACK 10 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Kareem Richardson is one of three new assistant coaches that Kevin Ke- atts hired for NC State basketball. The two worked together at Louisville be- fore Richardson became a head coach at Missouri-Kansas City. Most recently, Richardson was an assistant last season at Clemson. On the transition to NC State and Raleigh: "I knew a little bit about Raleigh. I played two years at East Carolina a long time ago, so I knew about this city. When I was at UMKC, we played Coach Keatts and the guys … so I had a chance to see it, and we played at Reynolds. "The transition has been great so far." Did his friendship with Keatts make it an easier decision to accept the job? "No question. Being at Clemson, it's an awesome institution, an awesome place. [Head coach] Brad Brownell does a fantastic job. When the opportunity came to work with a guy with as close a friendship as Coach Keatts and I have, it made the decision easier, for sure." On his responsibility at NC State: "I'm more with the guards. Levi [Watkins] obviously with his playing that position is more focused with the bigs. Coach Joel [Justus] and I are more with the point guards. He's more with the wings." On his relationship with former Louisville head coach Rick Pitino: "When I was in college as a player, I worked his basketball camp when he was at Kentucky. Back when I was in college, if you wanted to work in coach- ing, you went and worked basketball camps. "For four of my five years in college, I worked Kentucky's camp. I got to spend time with him at an earlier age. It's al- most full circle to then work with him. "He's a guy that influenced me, be- cause I liked his style of play. Back then, we played fast and trapped, where most coaches were conservative and played things in the half court. He really revo- lutionized the game back then with his style of play." On the roots of his interest in coaching: "My dad was in the military. When he was a little bit younger, he played on the All-Air Force basketball team. When he got a little bit older, he coached. "I was always around my dad, and saw him play and then saw him coach. When I got into college I was thinking I was going to be a coach, too." What was the scouting report on Kareem Richardson the player in college? "Hard-nosed defender who couldn't shoot it. I was a mid-range guy who could get to the rim from time to time, but I was really good on the defensive end." On when he decided to be a coach: "When I got to college, I bounced around in summers. Unlike now, we didn't do summer school. I worked a Kentucky camp and a Five-Star camp, I would spend a lot of time in the Pitts- burgh area between working with Ken- tucky and Five-Star. "Those are the camps I did to master the coaching techniques." On his coaching style: "Honesty and the ability to coach the game. People always talk about how, in this day and age, you have to coddle the guys. I think the opposite. I think you have to be truthful with guys, whether that's good, bad or indifferent. I think guys really respect truth and honesty." On his impression of playing at Reynolds Coliseum: "I asked Keatts, 'Why don't you play in Reynolds more? That atmosphere is unbelievable.' … It was an awesome at- mosphere in there. We made a little bit of a run, but their team fed off the envi- ronment of Reynolds." On whether his friendship with Keatts is the reason why that UMKC game in Reynolds was on the sched- ule: "Yeah, I had a budget, and we needed the money. I told Keatts, 'Take care of us!'" — Matt Carter SITTING DOWN WITH: NC State Men's Basketball Assistant Coach Kareem Richardson Richardson was the head coach at Missouri-Kansas City from 2013-19, then spent two seasons at Indiana State and one at Clemson before joining the Wolfpack's staff in April. PHOTO BY MATT CARTER