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The most coveted recruiting class since 1991 was sitting right in front of Pat Kennedy’s face. The talent was just pouring out in the state of Illinois. Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson, Michael Wright, Joey Range, Bobby Simmons, Lance Williams, Frankie Williams, Cordell Henry, Rod Thompson, Kevin Frey, Lucas Johnson, Marlon London and Travon Davis were all major Division I recruits.
Kennedy couldn’t go the wrong way with this class. There weren’t any players that needed developing-these guys were ready to be put in the fire right away and Maggette, Richardson and Wright were the three guys that could put a program on top right away. Kennedy did not waste any time getting started. As soon as the fall signing period came around he had Lance Williams and Simmons signed up to attend DePaul before any other programs could blink, and the wait would begin for Richardson-who would later be known as “Q” around the Lincoln Park campus. Richardson would later hold a press conference at the Rainforest Café announcing his decision to attend DePaul and the rebuilding project would begin. But Richardson had other ideas. He thought with the additions of himself, Simmons and Williams, DePaul would be making a trip to a national championship game very shortly. “I don’t like to be compared to the ‘Fab Five,’” Richardson said. “They didn’t win the whole thing.” As soon as Kennedy heard those words from Richardson, Kennedy thought damage control-warning the press and the fans that the team is very young and a .500 record would be fine. As a veteran coach Kennedy knew that he might never see a Final Four appearance with Richardson on the floor, but what he did know was that DePaul was on their way to the upper echelon of the college basketball world, thanks to Richardson. Richardson can now be compared to Ray Allen not for what he was able to do on the court, but what was able to do off it. Allen, who left after his junior year, helped bring UCONN to the next level. His star power helped bring Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin to the program. Allen was a major piece of last year’s championship team, even though he was not a member of the UCONN roster. Allen stamped his approval on the UCONN program, and other top players followed. When UCONN won the national championship last year, Calhoun could be found hugging Allen shortly after the game. Kennedy
will never stop thanking Richardson for playing for two seasons. Richardson
opened the doors for Imari Sawyer and Andre Brown-and soon Eddy Curry,
who is rated as the top high school junior in the country, may follow.
This would then allow Richardson to start talking national championship again. Patrick Rose’s opinions are his own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the DePaulia |