‘Q’uick change
By David Brown
Managing Editor 

     Two years in, with the DePaul basketball revolution incomplete, Quentin Richardson is jumping to the NBA draft.

     “I’ve decided to move to the next level,” Richardson said in a statement. “I appreciate all of the support the DePaul community and fans have given me and my family the last two years.”

     Speculation for weeks was that Richardson would make the move, which had to be made official by May 14. Tuesday, Richardson contacted the NBA, applying for early entry to the June 28 draft. He has also reportedly signed with David Falk’s SFX Sports Group agency, meaning he will not be able to change his mind and return to DePaul for his junior year. Falk represents, among others, Michael Jordan and Elton Brand.

     Richardson joins ex-DePaul guard Paul McPherson, who has also declared himself eligible. While McPherson’s draft prospects are murky, Richardson could be drafted anywhere from 10th to 20th. Richardson, who has polled about 15 NBA personnel men, even heard from one Eastern Conference general manager who said he was a top five pick.

     This, despite having what many called a down year, one in which Richardson scored 17 points and 10 rebounds.

     Richardson was coming off a celebrated first season in which he was named a consensus national freshman of the year. He was the linchpin of coach Pat Kennedy’s first recruiting class, which included three of Chicago’s best high school players. Lance Williams committed first, then Bobby Simmons, but it was Richardson’s signing in 1997 that let the world know DePaul men’s basketball meant business once again.

     The men’s team swelled its victory total from seven wins to 18, and played in the postseason for the first time since 1995. Richardson was the toast of the town as a freshman, earning the respect of the fans with a hard-nosed attitude under the basket. Every rebound was Q’s, Richardson thought.

     But there are few 6-5 power forwards in the NBA, Richardson reasoned. After one of the more successful rookie seasons in college history, Richardson wanted to bolt for the NBA, according to Kennedy.

      “People don’t realize how close Q was to going,” Kennedy recently told a Chicago newspaper.

     He would come back, but only if something was changed: He wanted to move outside.

     He began this season as college basketball’s poster boy, gracing the covers of several preseason magazines-including the visually stunning EPSN the Magazine, which decked out Q as “Pinhead” from the “Hellraiser” film series.

     Switched from power forward to shooting guard before the year, Richardson struggled to shoot, score or rebound as consistently as he did as a freshman. DePaul’s season was complicated further by the foot injury suffered by Williams before the season began. Richardson-and many of the other Demons, for that matter-never seemed quite comfortable with the offense.

     There were some highs, like a 71-69 win over eventual national runner-up Florida on Jan. 26. But there were maddening shooting performances, including a 3 for 13 afternoon on a rainy Sunday at Cincinnati and a 2 for 14 game against repeated Richardson nemesis Nate Johnson and Louisville.

     And with the inconsistent shooting, came heavy criticism from Chicago media. One major newspaper writer wrote three columns in one week detailing-and exaggerating-Q’s troubles. Richardson took it well, at least publicly.

     When it became clear the Demons were better off with Richardson playing closer to the basket, he moved back in.

     Even when Richardson shined, there always seemed to be a downside. When he seemed to be ready to take over the Demons’ NCAA first round game against Kansas, Richardson sprained his ankle-a recurrent problem throughout his two years here-and was hobbled the rest of the game. He scored 21 in the collegiate career-ending defeat.

     But the mark Richardson made on the program was indelible.

     “What Quentin has accomplished at DePaul has been nothing less than remarkable,” Kennedy said. “A lot of players have stayed home, but few have had an impact on a school and city like Q did.”

     Despite his notoriety, Richardson was generally regarded as one of the more approachable student-athletes on campus. Richardson might not have stayed four years, but most acquaintances will tell you he comported himself with class.

            His father, Lee, wishes Richardson had stayed in school, but is not standing in Q’s way.

     “Personally, I would have liked Q to stay in school, but I support his move to the NBA 100 percent,” Lee Richardson said in a statement Wednesday.

     Richardson’s teammates by and large support his move as well.

     “He’s getting a chance to do what he always dreamed about,” Williams said. “This is what he wanted when we were growing up on the South Side.”

     Point guard Rashon Burno added that he thought Q was on solid footing with his agent of choice. of agent.

     “People are overlooking David Falk,” Burno said. “It’s a very important factor in the decision.”

     In hiring Falk to be his agent, Richardson has retained one of the more respected-if feared-agents in sports. While his decision to jump may strike some as premature, Falk is notorious for getting his clients good deals, both on and off the court. While the rules of the NBA collective bargaining agreement will “slot” Richardson’s salary (negotiating NBA deals has become almost passe), the credibility Falk brings to Richardson solidifies the 20-year-old’s stock in the draft.

     “They like his ability to create scoring opportunities underneath,” Kennedy said. “They like his ability to finish.”

     But Kennedy added that the scouts think Richardson needs to work on his midrange game, his defense and his ballhandling.

            Richardson reportedly will not try to improve his stock in a June 9 predraft      at Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute.

     Kennedy, meanwhile, is left to replace Richardson and McPherson and integrate new players Andre Brown and Imari Sawyer into the lineup.

     But it seems like yesterday that Richardson arrived on campus. The last two years have been successful, especially when you compare them to the immediate pre-Kennedy years.