Jereme Richmond's father and uncle provide a glimpse into his decision-making process

Crawford Richmond seems like he is just a bit off his rocker.

The uncle of Jereme Richmond, who left Illinois after one lackluster season in Champaign, made the ill-advised decision to pop-off to Chicago Tribune reporter Chris Hine over the weekend. In the process, he blamed seemingly everyone except Jereme for his nephew going undrafted on Thursday night.

"NBA executives have to be a fool not to consider him," the self-described 'passionate basketball uncle' told Hine. "They have to be fools and they are fools, but what they're going to do is they're going to get him for cheap. He's going to play in the NBA."

"He's way better than (No. 1 overall selection) Kyrie Irving. He's right there with (North Carolina's) Harrison Barnes. I can't tell the difference. Jereme is soft spoken and he's different, but that doesn't make him a bad person."


Crawford went a step further than that. After stating that Jereme's off-the-court issues didn't involve the police -- like Klay Thompson of Washington State, who went 11th to Golden State -- Crawford proceeded to rip Illinois assistant coach Jerrance Howard:

Crawford Richmond blames undue influence on his nephew from a young age, a mantra telling him he was a "one-and-done" prospect.

He says it was a constant chorus from friends, agents, the media and, in particular, Illinois assistant coach Jerrance Howard. Howard handled Richmond's recruitment at Illinois after former assistant Tracy Webster left for an assistant's job at Kentucky.

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"I have a lot of other kids I'm coaching right now and Jerrance Howard can't talk to them," Richmond said, not elaborating on who those players are.

For good measure, he added: "I would never want to talk to Jerrance Howard again in my life. (That is) on the record."

It was bad enough that Jereme's father, Bill, called Hine on Sunday to try and perform some damage control.

"Jereme doesn't feel that way about the process, Illinois or Jerrance Howard," Crawford's brother said. "We love Jerrance. He's like a friend to me, he really is. He's a good guy and he's never done anything but try and help our kid get to where he wanted to go."

"[Jereme] doesn't have any character issues. He might have some sense of entitlement, based on being put in this position for so many years. … It has to go into your head at some point. He's been humbled by this process, believe me."

When you hear Crawford Richmond spouting off about how Jereme is better than Kyrie Irving, this year's No. 1 pick, or Harrison Barnes, who may very well be next year's No. 1 pick, its easy to write off what he is saying. But if you dig a little bit, what Crawford is saying actually makes sense.

Jereme Richmond was a top 25 recruit in the country. He was a McDonald's all-american. He was talented enough that, as a freshman, he was able to commit to play at Illinois. Think about that. He was 14 years old when he gave his collegiate commitment. And you don't expect him to have a sense of entitlement? If he had been hearing how great he was since he was in middle school, you don't think that is eventually going to go to his head?

To a point, Crawford is right. When you are an elite recruit like Jereme was, its important to keep the people around you grounded and level-headed.

But the fact that Crawford is the one saying all this is a bit ironic. Because based on how he sees Jereme in comparison to Barnes and Irving, I don't think it is a stretch to say that he's at least partly responsible for the player's inflated sense of his ability.

If anything, the Jereme Richmond saga should serve as a cautionary tale.

Don't buy the hype. Understand that any ranking you receive is based as much on your potential as your talent. IF you don't continue to work on your game, you will end up being the same player as a college freshman that you were as a high school sophomore. That's not a good thing, and that's not the way to fast track yourself to NBA stardom.