Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint.
By David Cordova.
In 2021, the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference was created to showcase some of the best prep powerhouses around the country, many of whom are usually ranked via Sports Center Next, which is a subsidiary of ESPN. Now in its fifth season of existence, the league is now the Nike EYBL Scholastic League, named after the grassroots basketball league that is played in the summer and is run by Nike.
Night in and night out, there are no easy games in this league. A lot of the games are live-streamed on League Ready’s YouTube channel or on the NBA TV channel and some are nationally-televised on ESPNU. It is something that a high school kid can’t pass up, especially if they’re good enough to play high-level basketball.
One of the newer high school programs in this flourishing league is making their presence felt on the scene and has a coach that has had experience on the grassroots sene and is also on the college basketball scene and some of the most underrated players nationally.
The program in question is the St. James Performance Academy, which is based out of Springfield, Virginia, which is just outside of Washington, D.C. Now in its second year of existence, the program is an academy designed to prepare the best young talent from grades sixth through twelve, and also has a post-grad programs.
The Academy believes in holistic development and has a rigorous education model that will help the youth in the classroom moving forward once high school is over. As for the athletics, they’re trained by the best of the best.
One thing that they have that some of the best prep school programs may not have is a facility. The Sports Complex, which was opened in Sept. 2018, is a 450,000-square foot facility and has a water park, a health club and venues for a variety of sports, including basketball, and is the official training center for the MLS team, the D.C. United.
In regards to basketball, there are several events held at this facility, including grassroots events, there are also high school events such as the MLK Classic, which takes place during Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend, and also the She Got Game Classic. There’s also a summer league that takes place there, as well as basketball camps, including one run by two-time NBA champion Quinn Cook and one of the Wooten Basketball Camps, which are run by Joe Wooten, the head coach at Bishop O’Connell High School, a national powerhouse out of Arlington, Virginia, and also the son of the legendary Hall of Fame coaching figure in Morgan Wooten, who led DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland to 1,274 wins from 1956 to 2002.
But simply, this place is a great oasis of sports that is just outside of the nation’s capital, literally just a train ride away on the Amtrak train or the local WMATA subway system. And also, The St. James is a true example of the quote immortalized by the 1989 movie, “Field of Dreams,” when it was said that, “If you build it, people will come.”
It’s been built, but there’s one person that’s holding down the reins of the program as the head coach of the boys National program.
A couple of things that can be said about Emmanuel “Book” Richardson is that he a kind soul and a man of the people. He’s the type of person that will give you the shirt off of his back and one that will go to bat for those that he loves.
Everywhere he’s gone, he’s left an impact on the lives of many. And today, he’s still doing so today. Even in his first season as the director of boys basketball & head coach of the National team at The St. James. But his journey hasn’t been filled with crystal stairs. He’s seen triumphs, but also seen the lowest of the low and been through things that the average person couldn’t come back from. However, when you’ve dealt with adversity, it’s how you come back from it that matters.
Thus far, he’s managed to rise above the madness.
A native of New York City, Richardson lived in Harlem, and also lived in the Morrisania section of The Bronx as a youth. A 1991 graduate of St. Raymond High School in the Parkchester section of The Bronx, and was one of the torchbearers of the program, which was coached by the legendary Gary DeCesare. As a senior, Richardson, who played with several Division I players such as Orlando Antigua (Pittsburgh), Terence Rencher (Texas), Danny Basille (Marist), Dana Dingle (UMass) and Tyler Brown (South Carolina State), was a part of the program’s first-ever city championship team, when the Ravens knocked off Bishop Loughlin in the CHSAA title game that year.
He went to play collegiate basketball at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida during the 1992-93 season, where he was a part of the all-conference freshman team and then went on to Monroe College (now Monroe University) during the 1994-95 season, where he led the Mustangs to a record of 28-3 and averaged 11.3 assists per game. After that, he did two seasons at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown for two seasons, and graduated in the spring of 1998 with his bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing & Management.
It was at Pitt-Johnstown that he had over 200 assists for two consecutive seasons, and also led the Mountain Cats to a record of 55-11 and two appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
After his playing days ended, his coaching journey started. The season after his graduation (1998-99), he became an assistant at his alma mater. After that, it led to a number of opportunities, such as being an assistant at Monroe College for three seasons, and helped lead the Mustangs to a 31-3 record during the 2002-03 season, in which they went all the way to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
He then went on to be an assistant coach at St Ray’s, when they won the CHSAA city championship in 2004.
In 2004, Richardson would hit the jackpot, as he would get to coach on the Division I level for the first time at Marist College (now Marist University), where he would go on to last for a season.
After that, he would go on to be the director and coach of the famed New York Gauchos AAU program. Back in 2003, he was in his first stint with the program, as he coached their 15’s and 16’s. This time around, he would oversee the 17’s age group.
2006 and 2007 would be great years for the program, as they reached national acclaim nationwide, winning the Nike Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina multiple times. It was also around this time that the program produced various talents that would go on to play Division I basketball in future NBA star Kemba Walker (UConn), Jordan Theodore (Seton Hall), Chris Fouch (Drexel), Durand Scott (Miami), Darryl “Truck” Bryant (West Virginia), Dan Jennings (Long Beach State), Dorvell Carter (Marist) and Devin Hill (DePaul).
As many knew then and many know now, Richardson is a great teacher of the game, not because of his affinity for recruiting, but also molding his players and getting them to buy in to his vision. When playing for Book, it’s all about family. That’s what that group of players were: a family.
His next act would be a major step up as he joined the staff led by Sean Miller at Xavier University in 2007, where they led the Musketeers to two straight seasons of excellence in the Atlantic 10 Conference as they compiled a record of 57-15 overall and 26-6 in conference play, and would go to the NCAA Tournament two straight seasons, finishing with appearances in the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16, respectively.
When Miller took the job at Arizona in April 2009, Richardson went along with him. It would be a great run for eight years, as the Wildcats were one of the premier Division I teams in the nation and dominant in the Pac-12 year in and year out.
Despite missing the NCAA Tournament the first year, the Wildcats would go on to make the NCAA Tournament from 2010-11 to the 2017-18 season, except for one season, which was the 2011-12 season, when they finished 23-12 and made it to the first round of the NIT. The furthest they would go during that time was the Elite Eight, which happened three times (2011, 2014 and 2015). The program also won three Pac-12 conference championships
Also during that time, the Wildcats produced 10 NBA Draft picks, including lottery picks such as Derrick Williams, Solomon Hill, Aaron Gordon, Stanley Johnson, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Lauri Markannen and DeAndre Ayton.
Life seemed to be good for Richardson, as he was the lead recruiter for one of the nation’s top college basketball programs. He had gotten to the promised land. He had come a long way from New York City. But then in one fell swoop, everything changed dramatically.
On Sept. 26th, 2017, his world came crashing down, as he was one of four college coaches that was arrested for federal bribery, fraud and other corruption charges. Sadly, everything was different now, as he faced the prospect of serving time in prison. Just four months later, he would be fired by the University of Arizona and was now without the game of basketball.
He went on to trial and then pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery on Jan. 22nd, 2019. He went on to be sentenced to three months in Otisville Correctional Facility in upstate New York, just 90 miles away from the city, and had to serve two years of probation.
When he got out of prison, things were different now for him, as he went back to coaching on the grassroots level once again with the New York Gauchos. Due to everything that happened during his time at Arizona, the NCAA instItuted a 10-year show cause ban on him, meaning that he can not be hired by a university until the ban has been lifted.
Now back into humble beginnings, Richardson went back to coaching middle school youths, many of whom played on the MADE Hoops scene and then later went on to prominence in the New York City high school basketball scene. Two of the players, Brandon Stores, Jr. and Tai Turnage, had storied high school careers at the same school that Richardson came out of, St. Raymond, and are currently both first and second, respectively, on the school’s all-time scoring list. Both are now freshmen playing Division I basketball, as Stores is currently at Georgia Tech and Turnage is now at Quinnipiac University.
Another thing that came into effect that changed for the game was the evolution of the NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) wave, which came into effect on July 1st, 2021, which meant that student-athletes were allowed to be compensated. While this was great for the players of today, whom are still reaping the benefits of this movement, it came at a cost for those like Richardson, who suffered mightily as a result of the FBI scandal.
In the documentary, “Open Book,” directed by Fresh Focus Sports, you see the part of Richardson that the world didn’t get to see: a coach that had gone through something life-changing, something that was detrimental to even his mental health, and was wondering what was next. All that he had left was the game and it continues to get him through even today.
Right before being hired at The St. James, he got an opportunity to coach at Pro Development Institute in Urbana, Ohio, where he got a chance to be a head coach at the high school level. He coached in one of the best high school/postgrad leagues in the country in The Grind Session.
Now, in a new setting, he is able to build something special and start anew again, in another one of the best high school leagues in the country, the Nike EYBL Scholastic League. His program gets to play amongst the best of the best, including those teams that are ranked in the SportsCenter Next Top 25 national rankings.
It may not be college basketball, but that’s alright. The Book is where he’s needed at the moment, molding young minds and helping them get to a place where he’s already been. Although he has six more years on the show-cause ban, the question is: “Will he want to go back to coaching on the college level when it is all said & done?” Time will tell. But as was mentioned before, he is where he needs to be, and that’s what counts more than anything.
This year’s EYBL team, or National team, as many would prefer to call it, has had a huge national schedule, as they have played powerhouses in the DMV, such as Bishop O’Connell, a powerhouse from Arlington, Virginia that plays in WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference) and also Fairfax Christian out of Reston, Virginia.
They also played in various events, such as the Thanksgiving Hoopfest in Duncanville, Texas, the National High School Hoops Festival in Hyattsville, Maryland, The Battle in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the Governor’s Challenge in Wicomico, Maryland, the Memphis Hoopfest in Memphis, Tennessee and the LaPorte Invitational in LaPorte, Indiana. As of recently, they hosted their annual event, the MLK Classic on their campus.
So far, in the Nike EYBL Scholastic League, they have had a dismal record of 2-9, only beating CATS Academy at the LaPorte Invitational on Jan. 9th and last week in their annual event on their campus, when they knocked off the Christ School
This weekend, they’ll be heading to the mountains of Arden, North Carolina to play two games at the aforementioned Christ School. And then the final game will be on Feb. 27th against Long Island Lutheran out in Brookville, Long Island.
On the subject of the team, there are some talented gems on the roster of The St. James, as all of them are from different areas on the East Coast.
From the Maryland area, there is Malachi Terrell, a 6-foot-2 junior guard from Seat Pleasant, which is in Prince George’s County. Then there is 6-foot-6 forward Jacoby Briscoe out of Washington, D.C. Both Briscoe and Terrell are scorers that are known for making their presence felt and have been the anchors for the St. James in many of the games.
Other contributors are 6-foot-10 junior forward David Massengo from Burlington, New Jersey, 6-foot-8 senior forward Emmanuel Kamara from Orlando, Florida and 6-foot-3 junior guard Jayden Betz from Woodbridge, Virginia.
But there are other guys who hail from the New York City metro area that are also putting in work down there in Springfield, Virginia. Four of them held their own in the city and decided to seek out a different level of competition.
The four in question are:
- 5-foot-11 junior guard Judah “Juice” Bontemps, a dynamic, diminutive player from Hempstead, Long Island that starred at Christ the King High School in Middle Village, Queens and made a name for himself in the Catholic League as a sophomore last season.
- 6-foot-5 junior guard Joe Nunez, a native of Queens who formerly played at St. Francis Prep and played for Richardson at PDI Prep and with the New York Gauchos on the Adidas 3SSB circuit and the New Balance P32 circuit. He is a player that is skilled, has nice footwork and is definitely a high-level scorer.
- 6-foot-8 junior forward Luis Carillo-Moss, a Harlem native that also played for Richardson on the Gauchos and also played at the same alma mater, St. Raymond, and was one of the key forces in helping the Ravens make it to the CHSAA “AA” championship game last season. He is a solid forward that is very versatile, but is also a force in the post.
- 6-foot-4 senior guard Jah’da Swann, a native of East New York, Brooklyn that was arguably one of the best in the city, but definitely the best player in the PSAL. Last season, he helped lead Thomas Jefferson Campus to their first city championship since 2016 and the No. 2 ranking in New York State. He is a walking highlight-reel that is known for his athletic ability and had many spectators on the edge of their seat game after game. His athleticism is superb and definitely exciting. This fall, he was initially committed to play at Hofstra, but following his transfer to the St. James this past December, he decomitted from the CAA school, and is in search of his new collegiate destination.
With an assortment of talent like that, there is definitely a chance for them to grow as a unit. Despite some wins coming few and far between in league play, they have had some good wins in the non-league portion of their schedule, such as during The Battle on Dec. 21st against a tough College Achieve Charter School out of Asbury Park, New Jersey and then just a week ago at the “A Very Melo Classic,” event at Hill Field House on the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore, when they beat Bishop McNamara, a WCAC powerhouse out of Forestville, Maryland.
However, this is only year one of this program. Next year will be even better with the returning players on the squad and maybe even some newcomers. But the program is making a statement now. Very soon, the program and the facility will be a go-to. It’s just a matter of time before The St. James will be a household name. But for right now, they’re getting their work in inside the lab. For right now, school is in session.
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