Richardson Ready for the Challenge

One thing at a time. That’s the mantra Chris Richardson is repeating to himself right now. That, and remember to breath.

Family and friends joined to watch Richardson officially accept the position of head men’s basketball coach during a news conference Monday morning at Wheeling University. He’s the 11^th head coach in Cardinals’ history and follows Will Ryan, whose successful first year led to an opportunity at Division I Green Bay.

“The advice someone told me was that when you get that first opportunity to be a coach, just do one thing at a time,” said Richardson, who spent the previous six seasons as an assistant at Division II’s Central Missouri. “There is so much coming at you that you have to do one thing at a time. Right now, I have to be organized and get done what I can get done every day.”

Right now, the hour is late. It’s mid-July and the Cardinals have not completed their 2020 recruiting class. Richardson is getting a late start in general, and then throw in the pandemic restrictions that have plagued every coach and program to some degree.

It’s an interesting time to be sure, but that’s where another of Richardson’s mantras comes into play.

“I told the guys coming back that we can’t control when the season will start, nor can we control how it will play out,” Richardson said. “But two things we can control is our conditioning and our communication.

“As (Boston Celtics) coach Brad Stephens says, you have to control your controllables.”

So, for Monday, Richardson can enjoy the pomp afforded introducing someone in his position. The university certainly rolled out the red carpet, but when the gym lights go out and the dignitaries leave, it’s time to get back to work.

Building from Last Season

With the uncertainty surrounding the school last season, most picked WU to finish in the basement of the MEC.

Ryan’s lone season resulted in a 14-13 record and a fifth-place finish in the MEC. Four players averaged in double figures—three of those return, led by centerpiece Jordan Reid, a second-team all-MEC guard who average 18 points per game.

That’s a fine place to start, but Richardson noted there were some deficiencies last season that will need addressed.

“We need some size, and another guy of any size that can make some shots,” Richardson said. “The two areas we struggled in last year is we didn’t have a ton of size and we struggled at time from the 3-point line.

“We need someone to come in and fill the role as a shooter and also someone to be an inside presence.”

Stat-wise, Wheeling was a decent rebounding team, finishing fifth and fourth in offensive and defensive rebounding, respectively, in the conference.

But the team’s leading rebounder, Emmanuel Ansong, hit the transfer portal and join Ryan at Green Bay. The next leading rebounder? That’d be Reid at 5.9 per game. Rebounding by committee is not what Richardson is looking for.

Building the Roster

Keeping this successful program heading forward is Richardson’s task. But that task first starts with the players who are returning and retaining the ones still on the fence.

After the season, seven Cardinals’ freshman hit the portal. Two, Ansong and Bluefield State transfer Shawn Esajas, already made their choices. Five others remain.

“Couple guys are in the works and we’ll need to add a piece or two,” Richardson said. “Our current guys have been unbelievable. They are a great group of guys. I don’t believe in coming in and running everybody off. I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to look at anybody as Will’s guys vs. my guys. They are our guys now.

“We need to add some pieces, but we have some great pieces coming back and if we can add the right people to the mix, I think we have the chance to be a good basketball team.”

That brings Richardson to the recruiting trail. Again, the hour is late, but he had already begun talking to potential Cardinals prior to Monday’s official announcement.

He’s also been in communication with players that Ryan targeted who were still available.

“Coach Ryan is highly organized and efficient, we are similar in that way, not just schematically but in how we go about things,” Richardson said. “He left things in a great spot. There are some guys he was recruiting that I am continuing to recruit. The program has been built up well the last couple of years and it’s my job to build on that and keep it going.”

Doing It with Defense

Richardson knows the Mountain East Conference teams well. He’s a Charleston native, and spent one year apiece as an assistant at Fairmont State and UC. He’s watched the conference form and grow into the offensive juggernaut it is today.

And the conference bellwether for offensive firepower is a short jaunt up Route 88.

Richardson knows scoring is important. But he’s a defensive minded coach and he’s utilized that philosophy to success at each of his stops along the way.

Wheeling will be no different. He wants his players to play with the intensity and the work ethic of the community they represent.

That’s why defensive intensity figures to be the Cardinals calling card.

Call it a pack line defense if you want. Both Butler and Virginia have used to great success. It requires a lot of on-ball pressure and a lot of movement.

Movement requires energy and energy, conditioning. Guys will need to be in proper shape to run it. But we’re not just talking cardiovascular fitness here. There’s a mental component.

“A lot of teams run the same scheme, but it’s not the scheme that makes it a separator, it’s the mentality,” Richardson said. “It’s the absolutely buy-in that you’re not going to score on me.

“The scheme will be introduced and taught and refined on a day-to-day basis, but that mindset is what we’ll concentrate on. When we need a stop, we’re getting a stop.”

Defense Wheeling can do. Last season, the Cardinals were third in the conference in both scoring defense and field goal percentage.

The trick is getting the current guys, and the new, to buy in completely.

“The old adage of you recruit offense and teach defense, every coach does to a degree,” he said. “But if we have a couple of guys that really embrace that defensive mentality, that can permeate throughout the rest of the team.

“We have to celebrate that, just as much as we do a dunk, or three, of an and-1. That’s how we grow that mentality.”