Nick Richards is a liability for the Kentucky basketball team

Nick Richards is currently a liability for the Kentucky basketball team.

Nick Richards is a talented young man. The New York native was a 5-star recruit according to 247Sports.com. He was the No. 18 player in the 2017 recruiting class, and was second only at the center position to Mitchell Robinson of Western Kentucky. Unfortunately for Richards, he has yet to live up to the hype and is currently a liability for the Kentucky basketball team.

Nick Richards was slow out of the starting gate. He was constantly in foul trouble and struggled to put points on the board. Through the Wildcats’ first five games of the season, Richards averaged only 4.8 points against sub-par teams. No offense to Utah Valley and Troy, but those aren’t names you’ll see on the marquee.

Richards finally had what everyone thought was going to be his breakthrough performance when Kentucky crushed Fort Wayne by 19 points. Richards finished that game with 25 points, 15 rebounds and missed only one shot.

That was it. That was going to be the game that transformed Richards into Kentucky’s go-to option in the post. And while Richards performed well against Harvard and Monmouth, Richards still did not dominate the way most fans were hoping.

Now, after two fair performances against Virginia Tech and UCLA, Nick Richards has fallen off the map. Last Sunday against the Georgia Bulldogs Richards played a grand total of 3 minutes and finished with no points or rebounds. The only statistic Richards notched in that game was a turnover.

I’m not here to throw a college player under the bus. I’m not even going to say that he’s overrated. However, Richards does not fit what this team is doing currently, both on offense and defense. As he continues to mature as a player, he may become a valuable member of this Wildcats  team. At this juncture, though, Nick Richards is a liability for the Kentucky basketball team.