Micheal “Sugar” Ray Richardson (1955 - Present)
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Former NBA basketball player Micheal “Sugar” Ray Richardson was born in Texas and attended the University of Montana. Richardson came to the university during the 1974-1975 academic year where––as a freshman––he helped lead the Montana Grizzlies to the Big Sky Conference Championship where they lost to UCLA. In his following season he broke the Adams Field House scoring record with a 40-point game against Montana State.
In 1978, Richardson was the 4th overall draft pick for the NBA. He went on to play for the New York Nicks, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets. In 1986 Richardson was banned from the NBA following his third drug offense. After receiving team sponsored treatment from the Nets, Richardson was unable to remain sober. Despite his struggles with substance abuse, he never lost sight of his goals and love for basketball. Richardson would go on to play in Europe for several different teams, until turning to coaching in 2004. He made his way back to the U.S. for a time to educate youth about drug and alcohol abuse. In 1985, Micheal “Sugar” Ray Richardson was inducted into the Montana Grizzly Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2001 he was inducted into Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame. Finally, in 2013, he was named as one of the Big Sky Conferences “50 Greatest Male Athletes.” For more information on Richardson visit the Big Sky Conference, The New York Times, University of Montana Sports Hall of Fame, and ScholarWorks for the Black Student Union Watani 1974-1975 and 1975-1976 issues. |