Player Bio

Nicholas Richards was born Nov. 29, 1997 in Kingston, Jamaica. He has one sibling, Sharique, and credits his mother, Marion Tenn, as the biggest influence in his life. Outside of basketball, Richards is a bigger soccer fan who lists Cristiano Ronaldo as his favorite athlete of all-time. In high school, Richards was a consensus five-star prospect while playing for The Patrick School. The accolades started pouring in early, as he was named 2017 Mr. Basketball in the state of New Jersey, in addition to participating in the McDonald's All-American Game, the Jordan Brand Classic and the Nike Hoop Summit. He received interest from several elite programs before ultimately choosing to attend school at Kentucky. While there, he majored in Community and Leadership Development. You can follow Richards on social media at @iamnickrichards (Twitter), @nickrichards_ (Instagram) and @nicholas.p.richards (Facebook). A five-star prospect with a mountain of accolades, Richards started 37 games for coach John Calipari and the Wildcats in his freshman season. That year, he put up 5.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks before Kentucky was bounced by Kansas State in the Sweet Sixteen. Richards also appeared in 37 games his sophomore year, but only started three. His averages dipped to 4.0 ppg and 3.3 rpg, but he still led the team in total blocks and posted a career-high 19 rebounds Nov. 8 against SIU. Richards had a massive leap in his junior year, increasing his averages to 14.0 points and 7.8 rebounds. He also shot a career-best 64.4 percent from the field, leading the team in that category along with rebounds and blocks (again). His career high of 27 points came in a victory over Mississippi State on Feb. 4. While the season was cut short due to COVID-19, Richards still had personal success, getting named first-team All-SEC and making the All-SEC defensive team before declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft.