Life moves pretty fast in the NBA.
At 10:36 a.m on Wednesday morning, the Washington Wizards announced the signing of former Seton Hall men’s basketball point guard Kadary Richmond to a 10-day contract.
And about eight hours later, Richmond made his NBA Debut, logging six minutes in the Wizards’ 138-113 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and newly-acquired Cavs guard James Harden.
In those six minutes, Richmond scored five points, shooting a perfect 2-for-2 from the field. His first NBA points came from a shot from beyond the arc—ironic for a player whose outside shooting limitations hurt his draft stock.
The Brooklyn native also had two rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal, an all-around performance somewhat reminiscent of his time at The Hall under head coach Shaheen Holloway.
“I’m happy for the young man, that’s tremendous for him and his family,” Holloway said about his former player after the Pirates’ 87-80 win over Providence on Wednesday night. “He played a big part for me, a big part for Seton Hall, he won the [National Invitational Championship] championship, so kudos to him.”
Since going undrafted and signing a two-way deal contract with the Wizards in June, the six-foot-six guard is averaging 8.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 45.7% from the field in 23 games (15 starts) with the Go-Go.
With their roster short-handed due to injuries and players traded away in the team’s acquisition of All-Stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis, the Wizards have called up a number of players from their G-League affiliate team, the Capital City Go-Go, Richmond being one of them.
By the time he graduated from SHU, Richmond was considered one of the best point guards in college basketball.
But rather than declare for the 2024 NBA Draft, Richmond decided to utilize his final year of eligibility. As the best available player in the transfer portal, Richmond crossed the Hudson to play a postgraduate season under legendary head coach Rick Pitino at St. John’s, located just a borough over from his native Brooklyn in Queens.
“So excited and pumped for Kadary Richmond being moved up to the Wizards roster,” said Pitino on Twitter / X. “Kill it Kooks!”
Although Pirate Nation rained boos down on Richmond when SHU hosted the Red Storm on Jan. 25, 2025, his impact on the program cannot be understated.
After making his collegiate debut at Syracuse in the 2020-2021 season, Richmond transferred to SHU as a sophomore, spending the next three seasons of his undergraduate collegiate career in South Orange.
During his senior year, as SHU’s starting point guard, Richmond led the Pirates to a 25-12 record, which included a 13-7 record in conference play. Finishing top 11 in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals in league play, while also earning six weekly conference honors, Richmond was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team at the end of the regular season.
That same season, SHU were infamously snubbed from the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first team to ever finish five-plus games above .500 in BIG EAST play and still not to be awarded a spot by the March Madness committee. Playing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) instead, Richmond averaged 13.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game in five tournament games to lead SHU to their second-ever NIT Championship title, being named to the NIT All-Tournament team in the process
By the end of the season, Richmond was also named First Team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as well as to the All-Met First Team. He finished his SHU career as one of seven Pirates to record 1000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists, ranking 39th in program history in scoring with 1106 points and 10th in assists (422) and steals (183).
Having signed a 10-day (or three-game, whichever lasts longer) contract, it's possible that Richmond sees more minutes in the coming days, as the Wizards get set to host the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20, then the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 22.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
