 Andy Katz of ESPN called Richardson and Paul "the best freshman backcourt not at Kentucky John Wall and Eric Bledsoe".Richardson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the coaches and was unanimously selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.Richardson finished his career ranked 13th on Illini all-time scoring list (1,477 points, third in made 3-pointers (278), and tied for third in games played (138).