A year ago, many basketball enthusiasts in the state did not know his name. Many others had heard the name but had not seen him play much. Now, a year later, as a talented rising senior prospect in the state, Dobson High School's 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior shooting guard prospect Ryan Richardson has emerged nicely as one of the top prospects in Arizona's 2014 class.
After a solid sophomore season for Perry HS and helping lead the team to a strong 21-9 overall record, Richardson decided to transfer high schools for his junior season and landed at Mesa's Dobson HS where he played for long-time successful head coach Rick McConnell.
Richardson would compete with a very loaded team last season, which included sharp-shooting guard prospect Kodi Justice (Arizona State commit) and the state's top 2013 prospect, Jaron Hopkins (Univ. of Colorado signee). While playing with such other top-rated prospects on the team, Richardson would shine - averaging 16.9 points, 1.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds per/game. While the team would finish with a subpar 19-12 overall record on the season and fall to a loaded Mesa HS team in the state playoffs, Richardson would make a strong case for himself among the state's top 2014 prospects.
Richardson had a solid spring performance while playing with his club program, the Arizona Power Black - a team comprised of some of the state's top 2014 prospects. Richardson would play well on a loaded team of 2014 prospects - showing a strong ability to shoot the basketball from the perimeter, as he did during the high school season.
Richardson is currently rated as our #3 shooting guard prospect in Arizona's 2014 class, and he has received scholarship offers from the University of Denver, Weber State and Grand Canyon. He is also receiving serious interest from UC-Irvine, UC-Davis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC-Santa Barbara.
Richardson is a lengthy shooting guard prospect that has a solid skillset at this point in his young career. He is an excellent shooter with very good range on his shot and is able to get his shot off effectively in the half-court set, as he finds the open spot on the floor and is able to stretch the defense. He will need to become more effective off the dribble to raise his overall play, and also show a better ability to finish strong at the basket over bigger defenders. Richardson is a good team defender but needs to continue to develop in his ability to defend quicker guards one-on-one. He is a solid ball handler and passer and is a very good looking prospect physically. He is a good athlete for his size, although he does not always play athletic.
Richardson does have excellent upside as a college prospect, and should develop nicely over time into a serious college player. He will need to pick the right college program that will be a good fit for his skillset.
There have been rumors that Richardson may have found a new club program for the busy recruiting month of July, so it will be interesting to see who he will be playing with this July, but, either way, he is among the state's top prospects in a loaded 2014 class.
Richardson is also an excellent student and carries a 3.4 CUM GPA.
