Richmond cleared to play vs. Z-B

Jereme Richmond, Waukegan, 6-7, junior forward.
(Brett Nadal/News-Sun)

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Illinois High School Association Executive Director Marty Hickman ruled on Monday that Waukegan junior Jereme Richmond will be allowed to play Wednesday in the sectional semifinal against Zion-Benton.

"In my review I determined that the second technical was not an unsportsmanlike act," Hickman said. "I thought it was somewhat inadvertent."

I do believe the officials made the right call, but it does not warrant a suspension if it's determined that it was not unsportsmanlike."

Richmond, the Sun-Times Player of the Year and an Illinois recruit, received two technical fouls in the Bulldogs win over Fremd on Friday and was ejected from the game. IHSA rules state that if a player is ejected from a game for unsportsmanlike conduct, he cannot play in the next game.

The second technical was assessed after Richmond missed an alley-oop dunk that Mike Springs tossed to him off the backboard.

Richmond’s father, Bill, may have played a major role in getting his son cleared to play. He posted video of the play on YouTube, which led to outraged Illinois fans starting up an e-mail campaign to the IHSA office in support of Richmond.

“I did what any normal father would do,” Richmond said. “Hypothetically, I’d like to think that any university’s fans would support their recruit like that. But I knew Illini Nation would. Illini Nation is great, YouTube is great. It just shows that strength is in numbers.”

Jereme Richmond was at practice when the news was announced.

“[Coach Ron Ashlaw] was trying to be funny and all of a sudden told us we were going to practice 'the play to run for Jereme,'” Jereme Richmond said. “It took us a second to figure it out, but then we rejoiced for a second.”

Zion-Benton stars Lenzelle Smith and Ronald Steward texted Richmond as soon as they heard the news.

“They said it was good news and that Wednesday was going to be a lot of fun,” Richmond said.

“We’re just so pleased with the decision,”  Bill Richmond said. “This isn’t just about Jereme, it’s about the Waukegan community that has been supporting this team for years and years.”

Contributing: Steve Tucker