One unnamed college assistant coach thinks Jase Richardson isn’t ready for the NBA.
We are less than a week from the 2025 NBA draft. This week we learned two potentially telling details.
First, Michigan State basketball star freshman Jase Richardson did not receive an invite to the draft’s green room. Second, the Athletic reporter David Aldridge’s NBA Draft confidential article quoted one anonymous college assistant coach who believes Richardson left college too soon.
I don’t think he’s quite ready. It’s one of those cases where he had too good of a year to go back. Strike while the iron’s hot. But he’s not ready for the NBA. He’s going to spend 95 percent of his time next season in the G League. He just doesn’t know how to play. And I love the kid. We recruited him. Know his dad. The mom’s awesome. They’re great people. He’s going to figure it out, but he’s not ready. I hope he doesn’t go to a franchise that’s impatient with him. The reason he’s leaving is he has to leave. It’s not because he’s ready to leave. He has to leave, unfortunately. Because they’re going to draft him. They’re going to draft Jase Richardson. … It’s going to take another year or two before he can help a team, even the bad ones. The best thing he does is make hard shots. He got better as a catch-and-shoot guy, but he shoots hard shots off the bounce. He’s not a great athlete. … Great kid, tremendous kid. I just think it’s too soon.
This echoes the feelings of a lot of Michigan State fans, who were hoping Richardson would come back for another season. However, the coach also noted something I agree with: Richardson probably had too good of a year to come back. As a smaller player, getting to the NBA will always be a challenge. Richardson had a lot of buzz after his incredible season, and it might be best for him to try to capitalize on that hype and get into the league now. There’s always the risk that if he came back, he could have a down year or get hurt. At his size, the NBA is probably only going to stay interested in him as long as he’s producing at the ridiculously efficient level we saw from him in his freshman year. The assistant coach makes valid points, and they are reflected the drop in the mock drafts we’ve seen for Richardson lately.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: An anonymous NCAA assistant coach thinks Jase Richardson is not ready for NBA
Reporting by Andrew Brewster, Spartans Wire / Spartans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
