Hall of Fame
Ralph Richardson played two seasons (1960-62) of varsity basketball for coach Paul McBrayer after playing one year of freshman basketball at Eastern. In his two varsity years at Eastern, Richardson led the team in rebounding as a sophomore with 9.3 boards per game while averaging 11.0 points per contest. His junior year, he scored 7.0 points per outing and pulled down 7.4 rebounds per contest. He was drafted after his junior season by the New York Knickerbockers of the NBA. In his fourth pre-season contest for the Knicks before the 1962-63 NBA season, Richardson broke his hip, ending his professional basketball career. Richardson came to Eastern after a stellar high school career at Russell County High School where he played for EKU Athletics Hall of Fame member and former Eastern Maroon Chuck Mrazovich. He played five seasons of basketball for Russell County, finishing his career with more than 2,000 points, including averages of 27 and 35 points per game his junior and senior year, respectively. He was co-Mr. Basketball in the state in 1958 after being selected the Kentucky State Tournament MVP as a junior. He was inducted into the KHSAA Hall of Fame and the Kentucky All-Star Hall of Fame in 2007. He is also a member of the 12th Region High School Hall of Fame. A 1965 graduate of EKU, Richardson taught industrial arts in high school for 39 years.
