Lone senior Crusader steps into leadership role

It’s been said that it’s lonely at the top – but Northwest Christian’s Karl Richardson, a returning all-Bi-County League player and the only senior on coach Ray Ricks’ varsity basketball squad, is finding that’s not necessarily true.

Richardson averaged 15 points and six rebounds a game a year ago when the Crusaders finished third in the State B basketball tournament, and he “swung” between the varsity and JV two seasons ago when NWC was runner-up in the State A tourney.

“He’s always been a talented player,” said Ricks recently, “but he was able to fly below the radar, especially last year, because we were so strong inside. He’s 6-2 or 6-3, but plays bigger than that because he’s so quick. At the B level, a quick big man helps you go a long way.”

Richardson concedes that it won’t necessarily be easy being the go-to guy this season. The Crusaders open their season Friday night at Liberty.

“It’s hard sometimes,” he said, “because it’s a different kind of pressure. I’ve never really been in a major leadership role. Last year, our big guys drew so much attention that I was open a lot. I know it’ll be different this year, that I’ll get pounded on a lot more. That’s happening even in practice.”

But his teammates are making it easier for him as he tries to find his niche.

“The other guys are very supportive,” he said, “and Coach is trying to get me not to put so much pressure on myself.

“I may be the only senior, but there are six juniors on the team who’ve also been in the program all along, so we’re really helping each other out and spreading out the leadership responsibilities. We have a couple guys who are vocal leaders, but that’s never been my style. My job is to push myself as hard as I can and set an example for the rest of the team.”

While Richardson won’t blow his own horn, Ricks is willing to send a few kudos his way:

“Karl is really stepping up to the leadership role, and I think he’s beginning to enjoy it. He’s a very humble, team-oriented player who fits in well with the younger players. It’s important to have guys like him in the program – he’s been a big part of our tradition here, of keeping the program at a high level.

“We knew all along he had a lot of talent, but he was behind three guys who went on to play college basketball, and he knew he had to bide his time. But he was very hungry to step up and contribute, and he became a better player by practicing against really good players.”

Richardson, “like half the other guys on the team,” concluded the fall soccer season with a loss in the regional championship game for the third straight season. He was a four-year varsity soccer player, the goalkeeper for the Crusaders.

But basketball is his first love, and it’s not even close.

“I just love the pace and intensity of the game,” he said. “My favorite thing is to go on the road in a packed gym and have everyone screaming at you. I love playing on the road and being the underdog.”

He hopes to continue his education and his basketball career at Whitworth, although he’s aware of the adjustment he’d have to make away from his accustomed post position.

But he’s moved before, when he came to Northwest Christian at the beginning of eighth grade.

“I’d gone to a church camp,” he said, “and felt in my heart that I wanted to make a change. It wasn’t always easy to make the transfer from a big public school to a small private one, but everyone was very accepting of me. When I transferred, I really felt like it was a calling.”

And that would be appropriate, too, because Richardson’s career goal is to become a youth pastor.

Ricks wraps it up best: “Everything Karl’s involved in is positive. He’s involved in student government and theater as well as athletics. He is the epitome of what it means to be a Northwest Christian student.”