BIO: Jacob Richards was born in Hobart (TAS)

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jacob Richards made his NBL debut with the Tasmania JackJumpers at 22 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

After finishing 16-12 and reaching the NBL23 semifinals, Tasmania lost Sam McDaniel (to Brisbane), Isaac White (to Brisbane), Matt Kenyon (to South East Melbourne), Jarrad Weeks (retired) and Josh Magette (retired). Scott Roth added Anthony Drmic (via Adelaide), Junior Madut (via South East Melbourne), Marcus Lee (via Melbourne), Jordon Crawford and Majok Deng (via Cairns) around a returning group led by Milton Doyle, Jack McVeigh, Will Magnay and Clint Steindl.

After spending the JackJumpers’ first two seasons as a training player while playing with the Hobart Chargers, Richards (via Hobart) was rewarded with a development player contract. He had averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds for the Chargers and received their Coaches Award before joining Tasmania’s roster. “This kid has been showing up every day for two years with no expectations for a spot and he just gives everything and constantly wants to be better every day,” Roth said.

Richards made his NBL debut against Adelaide on February 4, where Richards (0 points in 1:55) appeared late as Tasmania defeated the 36ers 109-86 behind McVeigh (26 points and 8 rebounds) and Doyle (17 points and 10 assists), while Trey Kell III (29 points and 10 rebounds) led Adelaide.

Richards (0 points across 2 games) made one further regular-season appearance and remained a development player for the remainder of the campaign. He did not enter a postseason game as Tasmania defeated Melbourne 3-2 to win the first NBL championship in club history.

2025/26
After previously spending the 2023/24 season with Tasmania as a development player, Jacob Richards returned in October as a nominated replacement player for injured import David Johnson. The Hobart Chargers captain earned another NBL opportunity after averaging 20.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists during the 2025 NBL1 South season.

Richards made his first appearance of the season against Brisbane on October 4, collecting a season-high 4 rebounds in 12:47 as Tasmania defeated the Bullets 84-82.

Five days later, Richards scored his first NBL regular-season points when he knocked down a three-pointer during Tasmania’s 98-89 loss to Adelaide.

Richards’ best scoring performance came against Brisbane on February 6, when he finished with 6 points and 1 steal as Tasmania recorded a franchise-high scoring total and its largest winning margin with a 114-70 victory.

Richards (0.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.2 assists across 12 games) averaged 5.5 minutes while providing additional depth during an injury-affected season.

Bryce Hamilton (18.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists) led Tasmania in scoring, while Josh Bannan (15.5 points and 9.4 rebounds), David Johnson (12.8 points and 3.8 rebounds), Majok Deng (10.8 points and 4.9 rebounds), Nick Marshall (10.4 points and 5.3 rebounds), Tyger Campbell (10.4 points and 3.9 assists), and Will Magnay (10.4 points and 7 rebounds) were the other major contributors. Bannan was named Tasmania’s Most Valuable Player, Marshall received the Coaches’ Award and Players’ Player Award, Magnay was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Deng received the Fan Favourite Award.

Tasmania finished sixth with a 14-19 record before its season ended with an 82-68 loss to Melbourne in the Play-In Qualifier.

Jacob Richards played two seasons with the Tasmania JackJumpers.