DiDi Richards gives Texas another in-state star in the Longhorns recruiting pipeline. *Courtesy of Richards family.
When class of 2017 wing Deauzya DiDi Richards of Houston, Texas, made a verbal pledge to stay close to home and attend the University of Texas, the Longhorns were able to keep another highly regarded in-state prospect close to home. The No. 6 prospect in the sophomore class chose the Longhorns over finalists Connecticut, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
Since their arrival in Austin, Texas coach Karen Ashton and her staff have made serious inroads in the State of Texas recruiting landscape and it has paid off for the Big 12 school. Last year the Longhorns scored the No. 4 overall recruiting class, which was led by the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2014 class, Ariel Atkins.
'17 ELITE 25 wing DiDi Richards.
*Courtesy Richards family.
This fall Texas inked another top 10 recruiting class with ELITE 25 prospects Lashawn Higgs and Jordan Hosey headed to Austin next fall. They are also building for the future. Richards verbal pledge this week gives Texas commitments from prospects in the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 classes.
In Richards, Texas is getting a young wing prospect with an abundance of athleticism, the ability to defend multiple positions, as well as a developing offensive skill set. During the October evaluation period we saw Richards game take another step as she was able to make major impacts on the game on both offense and defense. As a 6-foot-1 wing, Richards has the size and athleticism to play a variety of roles for Texas a few years down the line. Given that she is still very young with a lot of long term upside she has yet to tap into, a lot of her potential assets are still a work in progress. In a lot of ways, Richards ability to be a go-to perimeter scorer, a lockdown perimeter defender or both is still in her hands right now.
What can be said of Richards is that she has the potential to be a special player both as a high school prospect and in uniform at the Frank Erwin Center. Follow @KeilMoorePSB
