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SEC: Remembering The Career Of Tennessee Volunteers’ Josh Richardson

By DJoumbarey A. Moreau

Feb 26, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Josh Richardson (1) dribbles the ball against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Josh Richardson (1) dribbles the ball against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Tennessee Volunteers have a rich tradition when it comes to their basketball program.

With that being said because the Volunteers have a 15-15 record this season and are most likely not going to make the 2015 NCAA tournament (unless they win the SEC tournament), it’s tough to know that their star shooting guard Josh Richardson won’t get a chance to continue to play.

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In a less than two weeks Richardson’s collegiate basketball career will be coming to a close.

This season Richardson has solidified to the rest of the SEC that he’s one of the premier players within the conference, and has shown the value of what working hard will do. His team might not have had the success that many expected, such as becoming a legitimate contender in the SEC, but his senior season has been amazing to say the least.

Richardson’s latest example of dominance in his senior year came against the LSU Tigers where he put on a complete show, and fascinated everyone as he led his Tennessee Volunteers to a huge 78-63 road victory.

Richardson did it all, including nailing shots with the shot clock winding down, getting to the free-throw line, and locking up LSU’s guard Tim Quarterman. Richardson finished the game with great numbers across the board as he had 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, and five steals against a future NCAA tournament team on the road.

Richardson was a marvel and it only made people realize that his time playing in the Volunteers’ crispy orange jersey is almost at a finale.

It’s been so wonderful to see the progression of Richardson’s game over his career at Tennessee.  Richardson started off his career primarily as a defensive player, and four years later he’s still one of the better defenders within the SEC. Richardson this season leads the SEC in steals per game, averaging two steals per contest.

Against South Carolina on Saturday, he finished the contest recording four steals. The result of his defensive prowess was that Richardson was able to say that he had his 19th game where he’s had more than two steals in his senior year.  In addition to the steals, when Richardson plays defense it’s easy to see how he impacts the game. 

Richardson’s the type of player who can harass guards all night because of his length, quickness, and athleticism which makes him a versatile perimeter defender. This season he’s been guarding the opponents best perimeter player, regardless of what position they may play on the court. 

For as good as Richardson has been defensively in his senior season, his game has significantly matured offensively. Richardson has finally started to put together his complete game and because of it he’s putting up career numbers across the board.  

Richardson is averaging a career-high in points averaging 15.7 points per game, which is a big increase from when he averaged 10.3 points in his junior season. Additionally he’s also averaging 4.2 rebounds, and a career-high 3.6 assists. What’s also been extremely pleasing to see is the way that Richardson has turned himself into a reliable jump shooter in his senior season.

This season Richardson has made 40 three-pointers, the most he’s ever made in a season, en route to shooting a career-high 36 percent from the three-point line.

According to Will Shelton of Rocky Top Talk, Richardson’s production has been off the charts as he averages nearly 24.9 percent of the Tennessee Volunteers points. That number is good enough for first among star players in the SEC.

Because of his maturation on the basketball court it was expected that Richardson would become the leader for a young Volunteers program that had a lot of success last season. Richardson last year helped lead Tennessee to the Sweet 16.

Last season’s team had more talent on their roster as they had two players in Jordan McRae and Jarnell Stokes that went on to play professional basketball. When contrasted to this season, Richardson was the only player out of the big three that came back to school, so going into the year he knew that his role would be much different.

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    • In an interview with David Climer of The Tennessean, Richardson said:

    “I knew I had to take on a lot of responsibility this year. Last year, we had so much talent and so many guys that could score across the floor. I knew I would have to become more of a scorer.”

    For everything that Richardson’s done for the Tennessee program he should be honored. Richardson’s a prime example of what hard work can do, and he’s one of the players that has worked on his game religiously to get better.

    Even though we most likely won’t see him play for Tennessee in the 2015 NCAA tournament, his career has been a great one to watch blossom.

    Thanks for the awesome memories.

    Next: SEC: Aaron Harrison Has Woken Up ... It Must Be Tournament Time

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