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Published Friday September 13, 2002 Chicago-area guard commits to Nebraska BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN - Two months before the start of the early signing period for basketball, the Nebraska men now have nothing left to do but wait.

Third-year Coach Barry Collier secured the Huskers' second and final oral commitment Thursday night from Charles Richardson of Maywood, Ill. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound point guard joins 6-6 swingman Gerald Stegall of Stone Mountain, Ga., to form Nebraska's scholarship-freshman class of 2003.

Richardson and Stegall say they plan to sign letters of intent during the early period, which runs Nov. 13 through 20.

"I was just ready to make the decision before somebody else took it," said Richardson, who told Collier of his decision Thursday during the coach's visit to suburban Chicago. "Coach was surprised, and he was excited. I guess he really wanted me as a player."

Both recruits visited Lincoln last weekend, meeting for the first time away from the basketball court. They played against each other several times in summer competition, and Richardson said he had already developed a respect for his future classmate.

Ranked No. 10 in his high school class of 476, Richardson picked the Huskers over Florida State, DePaul, Wyoming and Mississippi State. With his 3.8 grade-point average, he also received several academic offers but decided late this summer that NU was his top choice.

Troy Jackson, his coach at Proviso East High School, sent a tape of Richardson to Lincoln about two months ago after the point guard's performance as one of the top players at a July showcase in Atchison, Kan.

New NU Assistant Doug Novsek soon responded. Richardson said he knew little about Nebraska until recently, other than his desire to emulate ex-NU guard Tyronn Lue, a 1998 NBA first-round draft pick now with the Washington Wizards.

Jackson, too, had little knowledge of the Huskers. But he quickly heard good things from one of Collier's coaching friends, Tom Izzo at Michigan State. Izzo has also landed a Proviso East star in Shannon Brown, ranked as the nation's No. 1 shooting guard by ESPN.com. With those two plus Dee Brown, now a freshman at Illinois, the school finished 26-3 last season in Illinois' largest class.

"Nebraska's getting a great kid," Jackson said. "As a point guard, he sees the court very well. He's a great distributor, and this year he's going to step up his scoring."

Entering his third season as a starter, Richardson averaged nine points, seven assists and seven rebounds last year.

"A lot of people tell me that I play like somebody who is more mature and older than I really am," Richardson said. "I'm going to try to even take that up a level now."

Richardson's pledge appears to end the Huskers' recruitment of Kansas City, Mo., point guard Quinton Day, who committed to Nebraska last week but later changed his mind. NU coaches are not allowed to comment on recruits until after their letters of intent have been received by the school.

A third available scholarship this year is scheduled to go to a walk-on player already in the program.