Talk about coming full circle. Prior to becoming an assistant at Xavier and Arizona, and before serving a 90 sentence as the face of bribery in college basketball, Book Richardson grew up playing basketball on the blacktops of New York City.
Now, according to Forbes, the 49-year-old has landed a job as the head coach of an upstart NYC academy team called The Program, starting in 2023. Where he’ll be tasked with keeping that New York talent home.
The Program has plenty of big name backing as well, considering Carmelo Anthony a partner. With additional advisement from former NBA players Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Allan Houston, J.J. Redick and Cavs GM Koby Altman.
Breaking on @ForbesSports
The Program Taps Carmelo Anthony And Book Richardson To Restore New York City Basketball via @forbes https://t.co/Vkvkbi4z8C @carmeloanthony @richardson_book
@— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 20, 2022
In a recent interview, Richardson spoke on what the job means to him and his mission statement going into it.
I would love to win a national championship and that’s the end goal. But I think daily, winning battles each day, meaning getting the best and trying to make sure that New York City can stand on its own from the standpoint of talent and knowing that this is the closest thing to college in terms of how you view it, whether you recruit locally, nationally or internationally.
But having an opportunity to try to win a national championship and starting day by day by trying to win each borough and each section of the city…The goal is to conquer your surrounding area.
Book Richardson’s past is well-documented.
And since his release, he’s reportedly been working with the New York Gauchos, an AAU program based in the Bronx that has produced more than two dozen NBA players.