HOUSTON — Before he was the man who nearly single-handedly engineered Syracuse’s epic come-from-behind win over Virginia on Sunday in the Elite Eight, Malachi Richardson was a sharpshooter on the New Jersey high school basketball scene.
And before he was a steady inside presence for the Orange as they made their improbable Final Four run, Tyler Roberson was a dominant paint performer who badly out-played eventual No. 1 NBA Draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns.
Yes, three years ago, Roberson and Richardson teamed to lead Roselle Catholic to its first New Jersey Tournament of Champions title with a 65-49 victory over a St. Joe’s-Metuchen team that included Towns, Vanderbilt’s Wade Baldwin and Fairleigh Dickinson’s Marques Townes.
Now the New Jersey duo is one win from the NCAA championship game and two from cutting down the nets here at NRG Stadium on Monday night. The Orange (23-13) meet North Carolina (32-6) in one national semifinal on Saturday after Villanova (33-5) faces Oklahoma (29-7) in the other.
“It would be cool if we were able to win it in college as well as doing it in high school,” the 6-foot-6 Richardson told SNY.tv. “I don’t know if there’s too many people who can say they went to college together and won a national championship after winning one in high school.”
Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff echoed that thought.
“I’m sure there’s been high school teammates that played in the Final Four together, but two kids to start together in high school, win a state championship and then be starters on a Final Four team, that can’t happen too often,” Boff said.
In that 2013 TOC final at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, Richardson carried the Lions in the first half, scoring 14 of his game-best 22 points. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the arc on the night. The 6-8 Roberson, meantime, scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and finished with 10 rebounds.
Richardson’s performance came in his hometown of Trenton, making it all the more special.
“He’s a pro,” one high-major coach who attended the game told SNY.tv that night.
Because Roberson had committed to Syracuse in the fall of 2012, the Syracuse coaches came to the school that year for both Roberson and Richardson.
“They were recruiting me a lot,” Richardson said. “Whenever they were around, it was always good vibes from them.”
In August 2013, Richardson transferred out of Roselle Catholic back to his hometown Trenton Catholic — “I wanted to be back home and I ended up moving back” — paving the way for Isaiah Briscoe to transfer into Roselle Catholic from St. Benedict’s Prep. After committing to Kentucky in the fall of 2014, Briscoe would lead the Lions to their second TOC title in 2015.
“[Roberson and Richardson] helped put our school on the map because of the success we had that year,” Boff said. “And they both were outstanding.”
Richardson committed to Syracuse while at Trenton Catholic in December 2013, and said that Roberson had been helpful in his decision.
“I had talked to him before I committed and just asked him about the program,” Richardson said.
On Sunday, Richardson had the biggest game of his life when he scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half as the Orange outscored Virginia 25-4 to take control of the game. The Orange won it, 68-62.
“I probably got over 100 texts and social media kind of blew up a little bit,” Richardson said. “My phone has been going off a lot.” He added that he’s spoken to former Syracuse and current pros Rakeem Christmas, Tyler Ennis and Chris McCullough.
“He basically just took over the game,” Roberson said of his current and former teammate. “We wouldn’t have won the game without him doing that.”
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Entering the TOC final, the Roberson-Towns matchup was a huge storyline, but Roberson ended up outscoring the 7-foot Towns Jr. 19-7 as Towns shot just 3-for-12.
On a night when his future school, Kentucky, lost at Robert Morris, 59-57, in the first round of the NIT, Towns also came up short. (A year later, as a senior in 2014, Towns would lead St. Joe’s to the TOC championship.)
In one of the biggest plays of the night, Roberson blocked a Towns jumper (as shown in the above picture).
“That game was amazing,” Richardson recalled. “[Roberson] did such a good job defensively on Karl it was an amazing win for us.”
“That was a while ago, I don’t recall that,” Roberson said.
Roberson initially transferred to Roselle Catholic in 2011 to play alongside Jameel Warney, who later ended up at Stony Brook and led the Seawolves to their first NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
“I knew Jameel was a really good player and I thought playing with him would be a lot of fun and it was,” Roberson said. “We had a real good year together. We didn’t win the TOC but we still won a lot of games.”
Fast forward to his own college career and Roberson has taken his lumps this year.
Eight games after Roberson went for 14 points and 20 rebounds against Duke, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim ripped the junior pretty good.
“If I had anyone else he wouldn’t play a minute,” Boeheim said in February after a 66-52 loss to Pitt. “Not a minute. You watched the game. I’m not going to describe what he did out there to you.”
Roberson said he used the comments as fuel.
“I know what to expect out of coach,” Roberson said. “I take the positive out of it and use it as motivation.”
He added: “Just gotta keep working hard and practice and do the things I normally do. And I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of that. We’re in the Final Four and have a chance to win a national championship.”
Said Boff: “I think Tyler has taken all of the things that Coach Boeheim has said and used it as motivation and I think he’s turned it into fuel to go out and play the way that he’s played since that stuff happened.”
Boff, meantime, has been watching Syracuse’s run from his home in New Jersey.
“It’s been absolutely unreal,” he said. “It’s something that I almost could never imagine watching the success that our kids have had in the NCAA Tournament…To have two kids that played at Roselle Catholic have that big an impact on that big of a stage was something you never really could imagine.”
Now Roberson and Richardson are one game away from playing for a national championship to bookend their New Jersey state title. Both expect family and friends to make the trip to Houston for the game.
“It would be amazing if we could win and get a chance to play in the national championship game,” Richardson said. “It would be fun.”
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Before he was the man who nearly single-handedly engineered Syracuse’s epic come-from-behind win over Virginia on Sunday in the Elite Eight, Malachi Richardson was a sharpshooter on the New Jersey high school basketball scene.Three Years After Winning New Jersey State Title, Syracuse’s Roberson, Richardson Seeking NCAA Championship
