LSU signs Jada Richard, top player in Louisiana
BATON ROUGE – Coach Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers landed Jada Richard on Wednesday, the top high school prospect from Louisiana, to kick off the signing period.
This early signing period lasts until November 15 and the Tigers could potentially sign others over the coming week. Since Coach Mulkey’s arrival at LSU the Tigers have been dominant in bringing in top-tier talent across the board.
Richard is staying home as the top player out of Louisiana and a four-star, top-100 prospect by ESPNW. The 5-6 guard out of Lafayette Christian Academy has won three straight state championships across three divisions. In this year’s championship game, she scored 32 points with six rebounds, five assists and five steals, being named the game’s Most Outstanding Player.
“Jada’s scoring ability from the perimeter and midrange is outstanding, but what’s equally impressive is her knack for creating opportunities for others,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “She’s a selfless player with a high basketball IQ. I have no doubt she will continue to excel and elevate the play of her teammates. I’m excited that Jada is staying home to be a Tiger!”
Richard, who was the District 4-4A MVP, averaged 28.2 points, five assists, four steals and five rebounds per game en route to leading the Knights to the Division II select state title. Through three seasons of high school basketball, Richard has accumulated 2,021 points.
*Press release
More from Jada Richard
Richard committed to LSU in early April of 2023, then took her official visit in late October and now, she’s ready to join the Tigers after her senior season at LCA. Here’s everything she had to say from her visit and looking ahread.
“It was a great visit. I love coach Mulkey. I love the team. They’ve welcomed me like i’m there already and they treat me like family. I already knew Mikaylah and I knew Angelica Velez, but getting to know the other players like [Last-Tear] Poa and Kateri Poole was nice. They treat me like I play there already.”
“I knew the offense they ran because I went to a few games last year, but just being inside of a practice and it’s very high energy, just constant motion,” Richard said. “There’s a lot of leadership out there and they go hard at all times. Coach Mulkey and coach Starkey preach effort and say you can have bad practices on offense, but you can’t be lacking on defense.”
“The summer was great,” Richard said. “With it being my last AAU season I left it all on the table. Getting ready for the next level, I did a lot of treatments and recovery to take care of my body. Then it was just perfecting my craft and working more as a point guard because at the next level that’s where I’ll be, so I wanted to bring more leadership traits to the court.”
