One of the knocks on Brad Brownell over the years is the fact that he’s not known as an elite recruiter.
One of Brownell’s top assistants and best recruiters, Anthony Goins, recently left to join Earl Grant’s staff at Boston College, and in his place the Tigers have hired Kareem Richardson.
Richardson has been in the sport for well over two decades and brings a wealth of experience with him. He even served as a head coach for six seasons at UMKC.
“I’ve known Kareem for a long time and have always been impressed by his work ethic, knowledge of the game and competitive spirit,” said Brownell in a statement. “Kareem brings a wealth of experience to the position having worked for many outstanding coaches over the years as well as serving as the head coach at UMKC. Our players will enjoy working with him and I think his experience in different regions of the country will serve us well in recruiting.”
Where Richardson’s hiring can really help Brownell and the Tigers is out on the recruiting trail. He has spent time at schools like Louisville (under Rick Pitino), Xavier and Drake and over the years has built the reputation of being one of the better assistants in the country.
Where he’s really made his reputation is in recruiting circles. He served as recruiting coordinator at Drake and in two of his three seasons in that role brought in the top recruiting classes in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Taking another step forward in recruiting will go along ways towards deciding the ceiling for the Clemson program under Brownell. Whether Richardson can duplicate some of that success on the recruiting trail at the ACC level remains to be seen, but at the very least, his reputation at least gives one hope.
