For the second time in recent weeks, a 2025 prospect from the state of Virginia visited Grounds for an unofficial visit. And once again, the Wahoos left a lasting impression.
After Paul VI big man Christian Gurdak visited a couple weeks ago, Collegiate School guard Donovan Richardson was in town on Thursday.
“It was a nice visit,” Richardson told CavsCorner. “I got to watch practice and I was able to have a really good conversation with Coach (Tony) Bennett and Coach (Jason) Williford. As I said, It was a really good conversation, those two coaches are really good people and practice was really good.
“Seeing the practice I could see how they really emphasize defense,” he added, “and I just really enjoyed it.”
Yesterday’s trip was the first time Richardson has had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with Bennett and Williford and they were able to tell him a few different things.
“It was mainly a conversation about my strong suits and what I can improve on,” he explained. “They gave me a lot of words of wisdom and they were telling me how they are going to be tracking me over the next few years and they are looking forward to seeing how I progress.”
Before Richardson’s conversation with Bennett he did not know that much about him but learned a lot about the coach as a person during his visit.
“Before my visit, I did not really know what type of guy Coach Bennett was,” Richardson said. “He is a really nice guy and a really good coach. He is intense but he also smiles with the guys and he has a great personality and he is really easy to talk to.”
During his visit on Thursday, the Richmond native got to watch the Cavaliers practice and see first hand how much they really value defense.
“It was a really intense practice,” he recalled. “They really get after it on the defensive end. Guys dive after loose balls, they do a great job hedging ball screens, and everybody is just very active and physical.”
Being from RVA, Richardson has known about UVa for a while and has always enjoyed following the program.
“I have watched Virginia a lot while growing up,” he said. “I have been to a couple of games and it is always a fun time. It was really cool seeing them win a national championship and that was the talk around town for a while. I grew up watching all of the Virginia schools.”
It is obviously still very early in Richardson’s high school career and recruitment, which gives him still a lot of more time to determine if location will matter when making his college decision.
“Right now I am really open to anything and location really does not mean anything to me right now,” he said. “I just want to go to a school where I am valued as a player, play me for what my strong suits are and continue to improve on what I need to get better.”
To this point Richardson has not picked up an offer from Virginia but thinks he could potentially land one if he works on a few different aspects of his game.
“I have to continue to get in the gym and continue to work consistently,” he said. “I have to continue to work on my leadership, I want to continue to work on my shot, I want to work on my confidence, I want the ball in my hands and just try to win a lot of games.”
So far Richardson has visited UNC Greensboro, Virginia Tech and now UVa and is looking to set up visits to East Carolina and Radford in the near future.
