Ian Clark
March 17, 2022
Ken Richardson
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 24/05/50
- Place of Birth: Zanesville, Ohio (USA)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 198
- Weight (KG): #N/A
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: Ohio Dominican (1970–1973)
- NBL DEBUT: 25/02/79
- AGE AT DEBUT: 28
- LAST NBL GAME: 18/07/82
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 32
- NBL History: West Adelaide 1979-82
- Championships: 1
- West Adelaide (1982)
BIO: Ken Richardson was born in Zanesville, Ohio (USA).
A player with great vision, from growing up in Ohio, he also had the skills to be a expert tracker. He could always tell where people had walked in the bush, a skill which made him invaluable in Vietnam as a soldier leading men into battle when he and his team weren’t being dropped into the surrounds of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to report back on enemy advances.
Richardson was the last and best of the great 70s imports, handing the baton on after helping to establish the NBL as the competition it still is today in its 35th year.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Ken Richardson made his NBL debut with the West Adelaide Bearcats at 28 years of age. He scored 32 points in his first game.
Richardson would play his entire NBL career as a player/coach for West Adelaide. During the league’s first season, Richardson averaged 26.2 points for the West Adelaide Bearcats to lead the team in scoring (second behind Brisbane’s Cal Bruton) and earned the league’s first Most Valuable Player award.
The Bearcats finished with a record of 12-6 and in fourth place, however, the first champions of the national league would be decided in a Grand Final match played between only the first and second team’s ranked team’s. This saw St Kilda (1st) defeating Canberra (2nd), 94 to 93.
1980
In 1980, Richardson averaged 23.5 points as the Bearcats finished with a record of 17-5 and in second place during the regular season.
1981
After losing to St Kilda and the team’s superstar import Rocky Smith in Grand Final by a significant margin, Richardson noted he needed to find a player to counter him. This resulted in New York guard Al Green making his way to Australia to play for the Bearcats.
West Adelaide started the season with a surprise loss to Forestville Eagles (74-94), which would be the only loss the Bearcats suffered at home this season.
Green (26.0 points per game) was forced to quickly become the primary focus of West Adelaide’s offence when player/coach Richardson (14.8 points per game) suffered a season-ending injury after just four games. Rick Hodges (13.4 ppg) and Peter Ali (13.1 ppg) were relied upon to fill the gap left by Richardson, who remained with the team in the role of head coach.
Although nearly unbeatable at home, West Adelaide struggled to win on the road (3-8) and finished the year in third place with 13 wins and 9 losses.
Ray Wood (13.2 points) went on to win this season’s Best Defensive Player award, while Green earned a spot on the All-NBL First team.
In 1981, the playoff format saw a single elimination semi-final propel the winners into a one game decider for the championship. Despite the tournament being held in Adelaide’s Apollo Stadium, the Bearcats’ season would end with a loss to the Nunawading Spectres in the semi-final (71-74).
1982
Bolstering the squad prior to the 1982 NBL season, player-coach Ken Richardson recruited Leroy Loggins from the Brisbane Bullets and added him to the team’s already impressive roster. This season the Bearcats would start Loggins (25 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), fellow import Al Green (26.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists), Australian Boomers veterans Peter Ali (8.1 points and 3.5 rebounds) and Ray Wood (8.2 points and 2.1 assists) and young centre Brad Dalton (8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds) with Richardson (14.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 58.8% from the field) coming off the bench.
Behind a MVP season from Green, the Bearcats finished the season with a 21-5 record, blitzing the competition, averaging 97.1 ppg as a squad and allowing opponents only 83.7 ppg (a winning differential of 13.4 ppg).
Behind stars Ken Richardson and Leroy Loggins, West Adelaide would dispose of Coburg (94-74) in the semi-final, setting up a NBL NBL Grand Final against the Geelong Supercats, led by player-coach Cal Bruton.
The grand final would be played at the neutral venue of Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium (Newcastle), which West Adelaide entered as the clear favourites. Of the Bearcats’ fives losses that year, two had been by one point and another by two points, and in addition to this, West Adelaide had thrashed Geelong by 29 points at Apollo Stadium during the last round of the season.
West Adelaide would resist a courageous second-half challenge by Geelong to win the Grand Final 80-74. Although no NBL Grand Final MVP was named in 1982, Loggins was named player of the match, being the game’s top scorer with 32 points.
West’s 1982 NBL title is the only one to include three league MVPs, Richardson the inaugural winner of the outstanding individual player award in 1979, Green (1982) and Loggins (1984 and 1986-87).
Ken Richardson played four seasons the West Adelaide Bearcats. He averaged 20.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 71 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 32 | West Adelaide | 21-5 (1) | 28 | 0.0 | 407 | 173 | 38 | 68 | 105 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 63 | 157 | 271 | 58% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 93 | 125 | 74% | 62% | 58% | 27 |
| 1981 | 31 | West Adelaide | 13-9 (3) | 4 | 0 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 45 | 51% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 13 | 16 | 81% | 56% | 51% | 19 |
| 1980 | 30 | West Adelaide | 17-5 (2) | 21 | 0 | 493 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 182 | 364 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 129 | 175 | 74% | 55% | 50% | 41 |
| 1979 | 29 | West Adelaide | 12-6 (4) | 18 | 0 | 472 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 191 | 382 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 90 | 129 | 70% | 53% | 50% | 39 | Totals | 71 | 0 | 1431 | 173 | 38 | 68 | 105 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 160 | 553 | 1062 | 52.1% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 325 | 445 | 73.0% | 57% | 52% | 41 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 32 | West Adelaide | 21-5 (1) | 28 | 0.0 | 14.5 | 6.2 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 5.6 | 9.7 | 58% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 3.3 | 4.5 | 74% | 61.6% | 58% | 27 |
| 1981 | 31 | West Adelaide | 13-9 (3) | 4 | 0.0 | 14.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 5.8 | 11.3 | 51% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 3.3 | 4.0 | 81% | 56.1% | 51% | 19 |
| 1980 | 30 | West Adelaide | 17-5 (2) | 21 | 0.0 | 23.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 8.7 | 17.3 | 50% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 6.1 | 8.3 | 74% | 55.1% | 50% | 41 |
| 1979 | 29 | West Adelaide | 12-6 (4) | 18 | 0.0 | 26.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 10.6 | 21.2 | 50% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 5.0 | 7.2 | 70% | 53.2% | 50% | 39 | Total | 71 | 0.0 | 20.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 7.8 | 15.0 | 52.1% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 73.0% | 57% | 52% | 41 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 41 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- West Adelaide 1975
He arrived in Australia to play for the West Adelaide Bearcats club in 1974. He would take West to the 1974 grand final, finishing runners-up.
In 1975 he took the Bearcats one step further, winning the SA Championship, defeating Glenelg Tigers in the grand final while also becoming the first American to claim the Woollacott Medal.
For the next two years he transferred to the St Kilda Saints in Victoria. In 1976 he led them to the Victorian State Championship. He also famously led South Australia to a dramatic victory over the 10 Victorian Olympians at Apollo Stadium.
In 1977 he led St Kilda to the Australian Club Championship title and led the scoring at the tournament in Sydney.
In 1978, Richardson was lured back by his beloved Bearcats after being offered a playing-coach role. As player/coach he took West to a unprecedented five straight championships while overseeing the "changing of the guard" as icons such as Werner Linde, Glenn Marsland, Roger King and Alan Hughes steadily made way for Peter Ali, Ray Wood and a new era of national league play.
FIBA EXPERIENCE
In the late 1970s, Richardson considered taking out Australian citizenship. On the assumption he would, then Boomers coach Lindsay Gaze suited him up for Australia to play against a visiting US college team, making Richardson the only American who was solely a American to officially play for Australia.
NBA EXPERIENCE
In 1973 he was invited to attend Houston Rockets camp, albeit at his own expense.
COLLEGE
Richardson played college basketball at Ohio Dominican, As a freshman in 1970–71 he was already one of the program’s leading players after arriving from junior college in Florida.
In 1970–71 and 1972–73, Richardson played for Ohio Dominican University's men's basketball team. In 1970–71, he earned first-team All-MOC honours, and in 1972–73, he was named NAIA All-District 22 Honorable Mention.
Richardson scored 1,207 points in two seasons at Ohio Dominican, earning him a place in the school's 1,000-point club.
During the 1970–71 season he emerged as the Mid-Ohio Conference’s leading scorer at 23.6 points per game and helped Ohio Dominican secure its first NAIA tournament berth.
He produced several major scoring games that season, including 39 points in a January 1971 contest, 29 points in a 104-91 win over Walsh in early February, 37 points against Findlay in early March, and 20 points in the NAIA-berth clinching win over Central State.
Richardson’s Ohio Dominican career then resumed in 1972–73, giving him two recorded varsity seasons with the Panthers across the 1970–71 and 1972–73 campaigns.
By January 19, 1973, he was leading Ohio Dominican in scoring at 22.5 points per game, rebounding at 14.8 per game, and field-goal percentage at 61.4, underlining how central he was to the team at both ends of the floor.
By February 9, 1973, Ohio Dominican held a 6-14 record, and Richardson remained the team’s standout performer as the Panthers played through another heavy schedule.
Across his two Ohio Dominican seasons, the combination of 1,207 career points, first-team All-MOC recognition in 1970–71, and NAIA All-District 22 Honorable Mention in 1972–73 placed him among the program’s notable players of that era.
AWARDS
- 1x time NBL Most Valuable Player (1979)
- 1x All-NBL First Team- 6× SA State League champion (1975, 1978–1982)
-
Woollacott Medalist (1975)
-
NAIA All-District 22 Honorable Mention (1973)
-
First-team All-MOC (1971)
COACHING HISTORY
Richardson acted as West Adelaide's player/coach for the first four years of their NBL tenure. Over that time his win-loss record was 67-27 (71.3%), the best record of any coach at a single club. West finished 4th, 2nd, 3rd and 1st respectively.
In 1986 he coached the Geelong Cats to a 14-12 record, missing the playoffs on percentage. That year, the team won the VBA championship. He coached the team again in 1987.
His overall NBL coaching record is 98-58, 63%, the second-best all-time mark for any coach who coached at least 100 games, behind only his one-time assistant at Geelong, Brian Goorjian.
LIFE AFTER BASKETBALL
Post-basketball, Richardson worked on oil rigs and on the Princess of Tasmania, his love of the ocean and the open sea and support of the Maritime Workers' Union.Ken Richardson passed away on 22 October, 2013 in Darwin after a long battle with cancer, aged 63
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