By Billy Reardon ‘23

There was a point when Coach Pat Richardson was not a Crusader.  He was a former Redhawk down the street of Pulaski. Coach Richardson graduated from Marist High School and his brother, Donald Richardson, was a physical education teacher at Marist.

Everyone knows Coach Richardson as that “elite” basketball coach on the South Side of Chicago. Throughout his 30 years of teaching and coaching, Coach Richardson has impacted Brother Rice and Marist’s basketball program.

The main subjects Coach Richardson teaches are US History and US History 3/Vietnam. Coach Richardson also teaches several physical education and health classes for our freshmen and sophomores.

However, his main focus was on our basketball program. With 24 seasons that included 11 regional, four sectional, and nine Catholic League championships, Coach Richardson has made quite some history for our basketball program. Many alumni still talk about the basketball team when they were students at Brother Rice just because of the way Coach Richardson handled the team.

One of Coach Richardson’s favorite memories at Brother Rice was the Simeon game because after coming back home the parking lot was jammed packed with people.  Beating Simeon was a huge deal. Then, the students proceeded to party in the cafeteria. The excitement from all the parents, students, and players made him feel proud of their achievement to advance in the state tournament.

When asked what he admires most about Brother Rice, Coach Richardson said, “The students just not only care about sports, but they care about their academic profile as well. They care about what it means to be a Crusader.”