Richardson makes UA wait

Arizona Daily Wildcat Photo courtesy of Carroll High School Arizona recruit Chris Richardson goes hard towards the basket in a game last season. Richardson, who is 6-foot-7 and now weighs 200 pounds, visited Arizona last weekend, but plans to make more trips before making a verbal commitment.

The forward from Corpus Christi, Texas said that he enjoyed his recent visit to Arizona but he wants to give other schools an opportunity to make a case.

"Arizona was fun," said Richardson, who happened to visit Tucson on one of the coldest weekends in the last month. "Yeah, they told me about the weather, but it was still fun."

As for his future travel plans, nothing official has been set, but some regional schools are in the running. He said he will unofficially visit Memphis for its Midnight Madness practice this weekend.

"I'm not going anywhere (officially)," he said. "I'll probably also go to UNLV and (Houston)."

The 6-foot-7, 200 pound Richardson has already made a trip to Texas.

The timing of Richardson's visit may have hurt the Wildcats' chances in landing him. He and his mother Brenda stepped off the plane on Friday only to read the headlines about UA guard Miles Simon and his grade troubles. However, both of them said it should have no bearing on the commitment.

"That's Miles' business," Brenda Richardson said. "I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about my son's business."

"I don't think it will matter," the younger Richardson said.

Richardson actually rescheduled his visit to last weekend so his mother could make the trip with him.

Much was made of Virginia Bibby's role in her son Mike's decision to come to Arizona last year, but Brenda said she will leave most of the decision making up to her son, who averaged 23 points and 10.7 rebounds during his junior season for coach Bobby Taylor at Carroll High School.

Making UA play the waiting game, though, may not be in Richardson's best interest. Ricky Anderson of Long Beach Polytechnic in California did not commit to UA immediately after his visit a few weeks ago and when he finally was ready to commit, he was told that UA did not have a scholarship for him.

Sources had said that the scholarship Anderson was expecting was being held for Richardson. Should Richardson not commit, the scholarship could again be offered to Anderson, who made an official visit to UCLA over the weekend.

Hoop Scoop Magazine is reporting that Anderson did not commit to the Bruins, which most likely means he was not offered a scholarship while he was on campus. Just one other school - Utah - is in the running for Anderson, who said that Arizona is still his number one choice.