Johnnie in the right spot
Johnnie Richardson didn’t miss a beat going to the Niagara College Knights men’s basketball team from the Saint Paul Patriots high school squad.
The 5-foot-11 guard from Niagara Falls credits the coaching he received at Saint Paul from Frank Capretta and Jeff MacDonald for making it a smooth transition.
“Not just on the basketball court but off the court too,” he said. “They always were on me from Grade 9 through 12B. They gave me a lot of insight on what it would take and they helped me a lot.”
Work ethic was the biggest lesson imparted by his Saint Paul coaches.
“They always instilled that in me and my teammates there,” he said. “When I came in here, the stuff wasn’t a big surprise for me because the work ethic was already there.”
Richardson has started all 11 games for Niagara this season and is averaging career highs in minutes played per game (32.5), scoring average (11.6) and rebounding (3.4 per game). He was recently named an Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Star of the Week for the week ending Jan. 12
“He is now a third-year guard and I would call him an elite defender,” Niagara head coach Phil Mosley said. “He has been in our program for three years and he is a three-year starter who is really starting to establish himself as a premier two guard in our league.”
That newfound status is the result of a couple of factors.
“It’s partly because he can defend his position, but also because he has a knack of getting to the rim, his mid-range game is excellent and his three-point range is solid as well,” Mosley said.
He feels Richardson’s biggest improvements are court awareness, basketball IQ and the development of his mid-range game.
“He is pretty much unstoppable once he gets into the lane,” Mosley said. “It’s understanding the nuances of the OCAA and how to defend some of the premier guards in the OCAA. That is where he has used his experience to get where he is now.”
Richardson feels he is a much different player now.
“I have gotten better at everything, to be honest,” he said. “My work ethic is even better as have my toughness, my strength, my shooting and passing ability and my leadership.”
The last item is important given the composition of this year’s squad.
“We have a lot of new guys this year and I am able to tell them how the college game works and the things that it takes to win.”
Richardson loves being referred to as an elite defender.
“I feel like I don’t get as much credit as other teams for that but my coach and teammates know what I am able to do and Saint Paul helped me a lot with that too.”
He is far from the biggest guy on the floor but that doesn’t hinder his play.
“I just use my advantages: my speed; my agility; and, I let the game come naturally to me,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a quarter or two to get in the game but I use my strength and speed to get into it.”
Richardson graduated in the spring with a diploma in fitness and health promotion and he plans to return to Niagara for one more year to complete the police foundations program. His goal is to become police officer.
“This year hasn’t gone as planned so I have some unfinished business to take care of next year,” he said. “We’ve been through some ups and down but the season is not done yet. We want to finish the season strong.”
Niagara heads into a Saturday 4 p.m. home game against Lambton (5-7) with a 4-7 record in OCAA action.
“We would certainly like to have a better record than we have right now,” Mosley said. “In the first half of the season, we have lost some really close games, including overtime to Humber and a three-point loss to Sheridan.
“We have been in games and we know we are competitive enough but you have to win games in the OCAA. We are looking to the second half of the season to continue to build on what we did in the first half.”
Playoffs are still a possibility.
“We are in the playoff chase but we are going to have to win some games that we feel are certainly winnable and we’re going to have to win some games that we know are going to be tough games,” Mosley said. “We are planning to make the playoffs, go to a crossover game and let things happen. The crossover game will be tough — we will have to go to somebody’s place to play — but we feel we are good enough to beat anybody.”
