Tennessee guard Josh Richardson (1) celebrates after an NCAA college basketball game in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament against Vanderbilt, Thursday, March 12, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee won 67-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)KNOXVILLE - The whirlwind of pre-draft workouts, airports and cross-country travel for Josh Richardson came to its close Wednesday.
And it's all been in preparation for tonight's NBA draft.
After working out for 16 teams in the weeks leading up to tonight, the former University of Tennessee star is hoping he'll become the 46th draft pick in program history.
If Richardson is one of the 60 players selected, it will be because he played his way from a fringe draft pick, a prospect who wasn't one of the 50 players invited to the NBA combine in May, into an appealing option.
"He improved his outside shooting, but because of his size and the fact that he has always hung his hat on being a very good defensive player in the backcourt, that's where you're going to see Josh," ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said Tuesday during a conference call.
"That's going to be his best opportunity to make a team, is going to be as a wing defender who can play some point and has the potential to become a good NBA 3point shooter. It's not there yet, but when you look at this draft and you're looking at a guy like him who's been productive over his career, he's a safe, midsecond round pick.
"He's got the things you're looking for: size, athleticism, and one discernible NBA skill, which I think will come on the defensive end."
When the draft process began, Richardson's name was hard to find on most mock drafts, but he's now solidly in the middle of the second round of multiple projections.
The 6-foot-6 All-Southeastern Conference guard took his versatile skill set as an excellent perimeter defender and reliable jump shooter around the country to individual and group workouts and caught the attention of NBA personnel and draft analysts.
ESPN's Chad Ford moved Richardson up to No. 47 on his big board last week and noted the "significant buzz" the former Volunteer generated in workouts.
"I do think he'll be drafted," Ford said, "and I think he can go anywhere between 40 to 60."
Memphis, San Antonio and Oklahoma City had Richardson work out for them twice. According to Richardson's agent, Erik Kabe of BDA Sports Management, Boston also wanted to bring him back for a second workout. Richardson's busy schedule prohibited it, though.
The Grizzlies, Spurs and Celtics have three of the last six picks of the first round.
Since the end of his Tennessee career, Richardson has trained for the draft in California. He's tweaked the form on his shot by moving his elbow closer to his body and straightening his head. Richardson was a 35 percent 3-point shooter his junior and senior seasons with the Vols.
Whatever the reasons why Richardson wasn't invited to the NBA's draft combine, the omission likely provided plenty of motivation for the Oklahoma native.
"I was upset," he recently told DraftExpress.com, which has him going 44th to Phoenix. "But I prayed about it and talked to my mom about it, and she just said, 'Use it as fuel.' Even before that I was working incredibly hard, but since that happened I've been playing with more of a chip on my shoulder.
"In workouts and stuff like that, other guys that got invited to the combine, I'm just going at them every day."
It appears to have paid off.
"One of the things that helps a guy like Josh," Fraschilla said, "is when he goes in and works out against players who are perceived to be picked higher in the draft. For example, if he's gone into a workout and worked out against a guy that a team is thinking about taking in the lottery, it's a perfect opportunity for him to make his mark, especially defensively.
"Having a junkyard dog mentality, which he did have at Tennessee throughout his career, I wouldn't be surprised if he's had good workouts and impressed teams on the defensive end because of that size and athleticism."
According to Ford, analytics models favor Richardson. The NBA is moving to more of a pace-and-space game, as evidenced by Golden State's success in winning 67 regular-season games and the NBA title this year. Richardson's ability to fill a role as a so-called "three-and-D" player fits that movement.
"The unbiased numbers," Ford said, "have identified him as a sleeper, identified him as someone that may have been overlooked by scouting and caused people to go back, once he ranked so high on some of these analytics boards, to go back and re-watch tape and pay closer attention to him.
"I think if the predraft camp, the combine, was held today, and the invites went out, he would have been invited. I just think that (analytics) process hadn't fully happened yet, and I think he's worked out well. He's gone into these workouts and passed the eye test there."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.