Story Courtesy: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications
Xavier University men’s basketball head coach Richard Pitino announced today he has hired Kareem Richardson as an Assistant Coach. Richardson spent the past three seasons at North Carolina State under Kevin Keatts. Richardson is no stranger to Xavier, having spent the 2011-12 season under Chris Mack, helping lead XU to the 2012 NCAA Sweet 16.
“I am excited about the hiring of Kareem Richardson to our staff,” said Pitino. “Kareem has won a national championship and been to a final four as a coach. He also knows what it takes to win at Xavier from working here in the past. He is a relentless recruiter and terrific basketball coach with great experience.”
In his first season with NC State, Richardson helped guide the program back to the NCAA Tournament as the Pack went 23-11. The Pack deployed one of the ACC’s most lethal offenses as NC State averaged 77.7 points per game. NC State also ranked among the nation’s leaders in turnovers per game, ranking seventh in the NCAA averaging just 9.4 turnovers per game. NC State also led the ACC in steals and turnover margin.
Richardson and the NC State staff helped mentor one of the nation’s top backcourts as Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith both finished on the All-ACC Second Team.
Richardson was head coach at UMKC for 2013-19 and has been an assistant coach at power conference programs such as Louisville, Xavier and Clemson in his coaching career.
Richardson came to NC State after one season as an assistant coach at Clemson. Prior to the Tigers, Richardson spent two seasons at Indiana State (2019-21). The Sycamores finished 33-22 and 22-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference over those seasons while producing four All-MVC players.
From 2013-19, Richardson was head coach at UMKC.
He guided the 2016-17 UMKC squad to the second-most victories in a season (18) in school history. The Roos were selected for a postseason tournament for the first time in the program’s 30-year Division I history, which included a victory over Green Bay in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational. In 2016-17, UMKC set program records for points (2,691), field goals (911), rebounds (1,213), defensive rebounds (860), 3-pointers (315) and free throws (554). The Roos finished second in team history in assists (451) and third in steals (236). UMKC posted the longest winning streak for the program in 12 years from Jan. 31 – Feb. 18, 2017. The Roos got off to the program’s best start in 15 years and advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament for the third straight year.
The 2015-16 team started the season with their best nonconference performances since 2010-11, winning seven games, including a home victory over Mississippi State and against NCAA Tournament participant South Dakota State. Boyd added a scoring punch to the lineup, being named to the WAC All-Newcomer Team, hitting 81 threes. The Roos won a quarterfinal game for the second year in a row in the WAC Tournament, the first time since 2003 and 2004 that UMKC has done it in back to back seasons.
His second season in Kansas City as the head coach was another step in the right direction in 2014-15, and generated several program firsts. The 8-6 WAC record was the first above .500 at UMKC since 2005-06, and its second place finish matched the highest ever in league play. UMKC finished with a 6-1 WAC home record, the best in school history in league play. The ‘Roos picked up a win in the WAC Tournament, the first for UMKC in the postseason since 2007. The Roos also played 33 games, the most in school history.
In his first year with the Roos in 2013-14, he led the team to a fifth place finish in the WAC, and the fourth seed in the conference tournament, both of which were the highest since 2006 at UMKC.
Prior to his arrival at UMKC, Richardson served as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville. He helped the Cardinals to the Big East tournament crown and the NCAA Tournament No. 1 overall seed, on the way to the 2012-13 National Championship.
Prior to his year at Louisville, Richardson made the most of one season at Xavier, helping the Musketeers reach the NCAA Sweet 16 and the finals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament that season while posting a 23-13 record. He helped the Musketeers land a Top 20 recruiting class in 2011.
Richardson has been ranked as one of the top assistants in college basketball according to the basketball website Collegeinsider.com. He earned a reputation as a top-level recruiter during his time at Drake, serving as recruiting coordinator and helping head coach Mark Phelps secure the top-rated recruited class in the Missouri Valley Conference in two of his three years there. In his first year as assistant coach at Drake, Richardson helped lead the Bulldogs to post-season play during the 2008-09 season, in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
As a player, Richardson played in an NCAA Tournament as a freshman at East Carolina University. He then transferred to Evansville in 1995 and quickly established himself as the Purple Aces’ top point guard. Richardson, who was a team captain two years, was selected to the Missouri Valley Conference all-academic team in both 1996 and 1997. In 1996, he received notoriety on the MVC all-underrated team.
He graduated from Evansville with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications and interpersonal communication in 1997 and received his MBA from the University of Indianapolis in 1999.
Richardson, who was born in Tacoma, Wash., was a first team all-state selection at Rantoul (Ill.) Township High School in 1992 and was twice named conference player of the year.
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