Former Illini D.J. Richardson giving Groce a helping hand

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Illinois’ D.J Richardson looks for an open teammate during the Fighting Illini’s win over Indiana at Assembly Hall, on Thurs., Feb. 7.

A familiar face has been hanging around the Illinois basketball practice facilities.

Former Illini guard D.J. Richardson was all set to begin his season with Toros de Aragua, a professional team in Venezuela, in late January. He arrived in South America on Jan. 21 and the very next day, his first day of practice, he hurt his ankle.

Richardson tried to play through the injury, but the team dropped him, primarily because they wanted a healthy guard.

“The GM talked to me and said it wasn’t about my talent or my performance, they just wanted a healthy player going into the season,” he said.

Not long after leaving, Richardson was back in the states. And back in Champaign.

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Richardson has been helping John Groce’s team in practice and also has been using the opportunity to get his ankle back to full health. He helped the Illini through scouting drills last week. He also found time to get some extra work in with some of the Illinois freshmen.

“He’s been helping us develop one-on-one skills and get better,” freshman Malcolm Hill said. “Being more physical on defense and communicating. He’s been through it.”

Hill is right, Richardson has been through it. He went through Illinois’ dismal finish in 2011-12, and he was also a part of the team that nearly knocked off Miami for a trip to the Sweet 16 a year ago.

Richardson said he thinks the Illini freshmen can contribute more. Nunn has had a couple of breakout performances, scoring 19 against Penn State and Minnesota in recent games. Hill has also performed well of late.

“Kendrick showed what he’s capable of doing, he deserves the time he’s been getting,” Richardson said. “Being here with them in the summer time when I was finishing classes, a lot of guys, they play hard, shots just aren’t falling for them.”

Nunn was the high scorer against Minnesota, Illinois’ fourth Big Ten win of the season. But Groce said before the game that he doesn’t think any of his freshmen are as physically strong as they need to be to compete in the Big Ten. That is something that a summer in the weight room would fix more than anything.

The Illini are in the midst of an extended period of time off — a span of seven days between games — before they face Nebraska on Wednesday. After Nebraska, Illinois has a trio of difficult games against Michigan State, Michigan and Iowa to round out the Big Ten regular season.

As for Richardson, his hope is that he will get his ankle fully healthy and head to either New Zealand or Mexico if Toros de Aragua doesn’t want him back in Venezuela.

For now, he’s enjoying his time in Champaign.

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @sean_hammond.