Jase Richardson surrounded himself with plenty of familiar faces waiting to find out his NBA fate.
Turns out, he’s heading to a pretty familiar place. For him and his family. Yet again.
Orlando took Richardson at No. 25 in the first round of the NBA draft on Wednesday, June 25. It is the same team that his father, Jason, spent two of his 13-year NBA career. Both played their college basketball for Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
“I think that was one of the biggest things that we talked about after,” Jase said of his dad via Zoom on Friday, June 27. “Me and him just kind of shared that moment. And we’re getting able to share a second team, which is crazy.”
The younger Richardson became Izzo’s’ 12th first-round pick (the first since Jaren Jackson Jr. and Miles Bridges in 2018) and 24th overall Spartan selected (the first since Max Christie in 2022) during the Hall of Fame coach’s 30-year tenure.
Izzo was in Miami with Richardson, whose father played two years at MSU before also being a first-round selection in 2001, and the rest of their family. The Hall of Fame head coach once again celebrated one of his guys getting picked in the first round.
And some history, with Jase and Jason his first father-son duo to get drafted.
“It was great,” Izzo said Friday in Okemos at the Drew Stanton High 5ive Foundation golf outing. “It really worked out good.”
After starting his 13-season career in Golden State, Jason Richardson played two of his final four seasons with the Magic from 2010-12. The Saginaw native helped MSU win the 2000 national title and returned for a second season to get Izzo to a third straight Final Four in 2001 before becoming the No. 5 overall pick of the draft that summer.
After making the pick late Wednesday night, Jeff Weltman, Orlando’s president of basketball operations, read a text Izzo sent him about the younger Richardson.
“‘He’s a great person, a better teammate, a great player,’” Weltman told reporters. “‘He has the quality that many don’t have anymore: a high basketball IQ, and winning is very important to him.’”
Richardson said Orlando officials told him they like his 3-point shooting ability, his play-making with the ball and his “defensive energy” as well as “who I am as a person.”
“Going through the process, the majority of the feedback was really good from a lot of teams. So I knew I was going to be in a good position regardless of where I got drafted to,” Richardson said. “And just going into (Wednesday) night, I was worried more about the fit rather than the position I was picked. And I think this was a really good team for me to be a part of, because I feel like it’s a really good, winning culture, and we have a lot of great guys.”
Back in East Lansing, his former MSU teammates took a break from summer workouts to watch the draft and cheer on Richardson. Senior forward Jaxon Kohler likened it to “having a brother in the NBA draft” with all they went through last season.
“For everybody, that’s their dream. And when they accomplish their dreams, you’re nothing but happy for them,” Kohler said Thursday at the Moneyball Pro-Am in Holt. “But to see Jase make it (Wednesday) night, it was was special, it really hit different. You just wish him the best and, hopefully, that I can join him someday.”
Richardson said after MSU was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Auburn in the Elite Eight, he “took two or three days for myself – not even thinking about basketball, just enjoying being a college student, going to class, things like that.” After that, he talked to Izzo and his parents about what made the most sense. Izzo quickly told Richardson he needed to submit his name for the draft at the minimum and at least test the process. His parents and agent pushed it further.
“They thought it would be best if I was just fully committed into the draft,” Richardson said. “And that’s kind of the position that went into it. So I knew going into the combine that I was going to keep my name in the draft.”
Izzo called this year’s draft process for Richardson “a strange situation” with fluctuating reports about when he might get picked. He pointed to some trades earlier in the draft that might have impacted the drop for Richardson, who initially had been projected as a potential lottery pick after he announced his decision to leave MSU on April 8 after the Spartans’ 30-7, Big Ten championship-winning season ended in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
“I don’t think he was close to coming back,” Izzo said of Jase. “I told him, with all the intel I got, he was going 15 or 16. I mean, I think he would have looked at (returning). He didn’t leave because of the money, he didn’t leave because of any of that. It looked like he was going to be close to a lottery pick, but that stuff happens in that league. There’s a lot of guys that were in the second round they thought were (first-round picks).”
At the NBA draft combine in Chicago in April, Richardson also measured in far smaller than the listed 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds MSU listed him at on the roster for his one year. He instead measured 6-foot-½ and 178 pounds, which led to him falling from the late portion of the lottery down many mock draft boards despite averaging 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per games over 25.3 minutes and being named third-team All-Big Ten as a 19-year-old freshman for the Spartans.
That plunge, however, put Richardson in a much better spot with an Orlando team that finished 41-41 and made the Eastern Conference playoffs before bowing out with a first-round loss to Boston. He is expected to be part of the Magic’s NBA Summer League roster when they begin play July 10 in Las Vegas.
“The majority of my my basketball career, I’ve been doubted. So it’s nothing I’m not used to,” Richardson said. “Coming into Michigan State, I was doubted. Some people were asking me if I was redshirting, so things like that. I know that doubt is always going to be there. Especially coming into this next level, there’s a lot of doubt about what I can do. But I’m always willing to prove people wrong.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jase Richardson ready to ‘prove people wrong’ in NBA just like he did at Michigan State
Reporting by Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
