Shane Richards: Born Ready

This coming Wednesday will be the LMU Gators' first ever Senior Day, where graduating players from the class of 2009 will be honored in front of their home crowd. But another reason fans will be filling up the seats is to see a Freshman play. Averaging 16 points per game in his first season with the Gators, Shane Richards has lived up to the hype, becoming LMU's number one option on offense. About a year ago today, Richards was an utterly dominant force in Middle School, leading Lab to a city championship. Here is an article that appeared in Gator Nation at the beginning of 2008.

The clock dwindled down in LAB’s semi-final basketball game against I.S. 89, Shane Richards gathered and controlled the ball in his hands with just seven seconds remaining. With the score tied, Richards calmly dribbled past half-court and smoothly crossed over to his left hand at the foul line. Just getting enough space to edge by the 89 defender, Richards took a leaning, one-handed floater towards the basket that swished through the net with just one second remaining on the game clock. As 89’s desperation heave fell short of the basket, LAB middle school students stormed the court, mobbing the Gator team and Richards, whose last second shot eventually led to a MS Basketball Championship.

In a long line of 8th grade phenoms, Shane Richards will be the first to test the waters of LMU Varsity basketball. In 2002-2003, Danny Leventhal (Brother of current LAB SG Adam Leventhal) single-handedly led the Gators to the semifinals, putting up ridiculous statistics throughout the season before being accepted into the Bronx HS of Science. This spring, Leventhal will attempt to walk on to the SUNY Geneseo basketball team. During the 2004-2005 season, Nolan Becker anchored a strong supporting cast all the way to the semifinals against Wagner. After blowing a 12 point, the Gators suffered a heartbreaking loss and had their season end in disappointing fashion. In addition, Becker’s career with the Gators finished, as he enrolled in Stuyvesant, where he averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game as a junior for the Runnin’ Rebels. Most recently, David Henriquez starred with Shane Richards on the 2006-2007 developmental middle school team. Henriquez, like Danny Leventhal, took his versatile game to the Bronx HS of Science, and averaged nearly 14 points a game for their junior varsity team.

Unlike previous middle school basketball stars, Richards will attempt to make the gargantuan leap to LMU varsity basketball. At 6’1”, he plays point guard for the Shaun Hicks’ coached Gators. With the ability to blow by defenders, in addition to an ultra-consistent jump shot, it is no surprise that a lot of people will be watching his progress as he makes his journey to high school. However, playing on the varsity team will be a period of adjustment for Richards, as Karim Obaid, SG of the LMU Gators explains, “He’ll be a great spot-up shooter, and will bring good team chemistry. But he needs to work on his aggressiveness and ball handling if he wants to continue to play point guard.” Rumor has it that Richards will in fact have to play shooting guard, junior Sam Becker will likely be the starting point guard for next season due to his feisty defensive intensity. PG/SG Little Pagoada believes that Richards will play small forward, but will have a difficult time getting minutes, “Shane will probably play the 3 position because he is tall and can shoot, he should have a great impact on the team because of his height and skill level, but it will be tough for him to get minutes because Coach Carmine doesn’t like playing underclassmen.” For Richards, the journey to success on Varsity will be difficult, but for Lab’s first home-grown freshmen phenom, maybe Coach Giovino will make an exception to his rules. Who knows? In four years, Richards could be hitting another game-winning shot, this time with a lot more on the line.