LSU Women’s basketball freshman guard Jada Richard has accomplished two impressive, yet vastly different feats upon graduating from Lafayette Christian Academy.
2024 Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year and valedictorian of her graduating class from high school.
When attempting to pursue these extremely tedious lifestyles, her motivation to thrive in academics was instilled from her parents during her childhood.
“I would just say you have to be very committed and determined,” Richard said. “My mom always preached to me since I was young [that] you have to get your grades first. The ball will stop bouncing one day, but your degree can take you wherever.”
Boasting an impressive 4.08 GPA, many sacrifices would have to be made along the way to obtain this hard-fought achievement.
“I definitely had to give up a lot of time with my friends, even time with my family,” Richard said. “People asked me to go to parties… I didn’t go to homecoming freshman [or] sophomore year, so a lot of time for sure giving in to this game and also my books.”
Focusing on Richard’s performance on the court, one can make an educated guess and say that she’s also a student of the game.
Take, for example, her performance during one of her doubleheaders in high school.
Upon the conclusion of both games, Richard finished with an unfathomable score of 107 points.
“It was a crazy chain of events,” Richard said. “My teammates all had got COVID at around the same time, so everyone wasn’t feeling well. And I was only one that could go really.”
This takes the saying “putting the team on your back” to another level.
“I’m a winner at heart and I’m a competitor,” Richard said. “I really just had to find a way to win and whatever it took that day, I guess, it took 107 points.”
When looking at an unbelievable performance like Richard’s, one question arises:
Do you believe that anyone can guard you?
“I always have the attitude [that] no matter who we’re playing, no matter what type of game it [is], every time I step on the court, I feel like no one could guard me,” Richard said. “But in that moment, I knew for sure, nobody on the court could guard me.”
Coming out of high school, Richard was rated a 4-star prospect and in the top 100 prospects by ESPNW.
However, early into the recruitment process, Richard envisioned herself playing for only one team.
“I’ve always been that competitive person, and it’s just like the environment here, like the culture here at LSU,” Richard said. “I knew even before I committed here… [during] my very first LSU game. It’s just something [different] about the PMAC.”
Additionally, having the opportunity to play for a head coach of Kim Mulkey’s caliber made this decision even more of a no-brainer in Richard’s eyes.
“I mean, playing for someone like Coach Mulkey, you can’t ever turn that down,” Richard said. “Every day on the court, whether starting or coming off the bench, I just have to bring it.”
With being the only freshman on this current, star-studded roster, Richard is faced with the challenge of adapting to the limited opportunities of playing time on the court.
“I think patience is a thing that has been the biggest challenge since coming to college,” Richard said. “I have started, all four years of high school, so it’s definitely a big difference. But I’m also enjoying the process of just learning from the players ahead of me.”
Receiving wisdom and guidance from veterans on this team, such as superstar junior guard Flau’jae Johnson and senior guard Shayeann Day-Wilson, Richard is grateful to be able to learn from those on the team who possess valuable experience.
LSU Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kim Mulkey believes the ceiling for Richard’s potential is extremely high, but one characteristic about her playstyle sticks out to her the most.
“Jada is a young lady that when you go to practice, you enjoy going to practice because she’s got basketball IQ,” Mulkey said, “She’s won all those state championships in high school, [yet] she’s still a freshman.”
During her time at Louisiana Christian Academy, Richard led her basketball team to four state championships across three divisions, captured three state championship game MVP honors, was selected four times to the first-team all-district selection, and many more outstanding awards.
Whew, that’s not too shabby of a high school career.
“We have to be careful on what we expect her to do at this level too soon,” Mulkey said.”I know that she understands the game, she does things I ask her to do. She just doesn’t have the experience [yet].”
In her first career start in the purple and gold against Charleston Southern, Richard finished with 11 points (4/4 FG) and connected on all three of her three-point attempts in 26 minutes of playing time.
She also finished with six assists.
With only four games into the season, don’t be surprised if you see Richard have more opportunities to show flashes of her intelligence under the lights of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.