A legend comes home: Boyd Anderson High honors basketball star Mitch Richmond

It’s always a special day when a legend comes home.

Mitch Richmond went from Boyd Anderson High School to junior college, then Kansas State, the NBA, the United States Olympic team, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and now, in a full circle moment, he goes back to his alma mater to be inducted into the school’s hall of fame and to see the court named after him.

The gym was packed with students, the band was in high gear, and it had the feel of a pep rally.

“Hard work pays off,” Richmond said to the crowd.

What is this honor like for a man who’s been to the highest level of athletics?

“Oh, it’s really unbelievable, man, this is where it all started, I just remember running up and down this court,” Richmond told me in an interview. “This is where I learned to play, I think you got some stats we can talk about, you outscored me as a sophomore, I can’t believe that.”

Does anyone think I would be crass enough to bring up outscoring a gold medal winner, an NBA All-Star, a member of the vaunted “Run DMC” trio with Chris Mullen and Tim Hardaway at Golden State?

Of course I would!

I showed Richmond the box score from the Fort Lauderdale News of a game in 1982, Deerfield Beach High School versus Boyd Anderson. I played for Deerfield and I was the quintessential mediocre high school baller but in that game, I had 10 points, and the future hall-of-famer had 9.

Of course, he was a sophomore and I was a senior, but I usually leave that part out of the story.

Before transferring to Boyd Anderson, Richmond’s path to greatness actually started at Deerfield, where he started his high school career. We would’ve been teammates in his freshman year, but he was one of a group of kids booted off the team for having bad grades.

I witnessed that moment of supreme irony, and described what I remembered to Richmond.

“And the coach gave a lecture to everybody in the room that nobody in this room is going to be an NBA star, your education comes first, and one of guys who got kicked out was you!”

“I can remember that day,” Richmond said. “But that day, I think that I was made, that motivated me, I was determined.”

Taking selfies and signing autographs for the students who mobbed him at the gym, none of whom were born yet when he played in the NBA, Richmond had a message for the kids, telling them to enjoy the journey, surround yourself with achievers, and dedicate yourself to a goal.

That formula worked for him. Richmond worked insanely hard to transform himself from a high school big man to a college and pro guard, and by the way, he’s still got it. The principal asked him to take a few shots, and Richmond started hitting threes without warming up, while wearing dress clothes.

Maybe Golden State should give him a call.