 Ten years ago while working on a documentary about Will Chamberlain I decided to fly to Los Angeles, California to interview Philadelphia's own Jerome poo Richardson when I get there There is no poo Richardson to be found. I'm calling him day one day two day three texting day four day five No poo Richardson to be found I have about four or five hours left before my flight leaves back to Philadelphia and About two hours before it was time for me to leave. I get a call poo Richardson Where'd you go playing basketball? I grew up playing basketball in Philadelphia quite naturally in South Philadelphia. That's where I'm originally from So which which neighborhood was there a certain? It was it was actually the project in South Philadelphia passion projects When I first learned how to play basketball, you know in football because football was basically my number one sport So how'd you end up becoming a student at Benjamin Franklin? long story As a kid I watched a lot of Basketball basketball is my life, you know, I just watched basketball stayed on top of the game and one day I was watching In a high school game. It was overbrook playing against Ben Franklin and What dates must been have to be was it early 80 or maybe late 70s or something I I saw Brooke and Brooke defeated Franklin at the time and a Kid by the name of Reggie Faizan was playing who happened to live about four doors down from my my grandmother and I've known him before He went to high school and we used to play me and him one-on-one on a little milk crates outside on Fontaine Street so which was only a stone throw away from uh The park the reservoir in the park out there in Diamond Street so um we played and and uh Used to challenge each other and he used to do some phenomenal things and and and then when I had opportunity to see him play on tv and saw Franklin play Brooke, you know, I've always wanted to go to Franklin that was since then There's been some things uh spoken of you in terms of being a prototypical Philadelphia guard A sense of cockiness aggressiveness confidence speak to how you obtain Of the character talk to me about Philadelphia's South Guard well I guess they labeled on Philadelphia having a certain style guard And it's just um, it's just the makeup that we have. I think What what it is. It's uh, you're always challenged Uh, no one ever believes that you're good So you you constantly proving yourself and I think you take on those characteristics as you go on in life and one thing about when you when you play uh and Philly a guy who can play He always can play He can be a older guy He can be on the street corner. He can be a guy who haven't been in a gym for 15 years But he gets talking crazy about playing against you and this and that You better be careful because he's probably good You know, I've learned that a couple times, you know, um, where I'm hearing a guy talking about how he can shoot and he can do this. He can do this Older man out of North Philly So I didn't believe him took him out there on the court Uh, we were um at Francisville, I think And I think this old guy, I don't even know his name I think this old guy may have made 25 shots man in a row And He wasn't gonna play me for free. I think he was playing me for like three dollars Like a buck a dollar like a game. He beat me like every game We um, you have a unique nickname. How'd you get the nickname of poo? Um, I was named that by my grandmother um It's really a long story It's um What I try to do I try to keep it I try to keep it clean and say poo because of Winnie the Pooh, but and and I was a heavy set kid early on when I was a little baby But that's not what she named me that, uh It's a saying that we used to have and and and feeling when you're growing up, uh poo tang That's what she that's what she got that from that's the that's the truth right there So, so what do you think about you you know Jerome Allen? Yes, and he Nicknamed himself poo after you what do you think about that and the irony of him going on to become a professional Because he we played together when we were 12 being on a national proud team. He was poo when he was 12 Right, right. Um, and I've known him since then also, uh I like I like Jerome. I think he's uh, he's a great example of uh, of um, Philadelphia great example of basketball a guy who uh Spent some time in BA spent some time overseas where he played predominantly his career Come back home become a coach at a great university Uh academic university at that and where where basketball is used as a tool To get a great education And have a great life and he's a prime example of that. I couldn't be any any prouder of an individual whose uh Nickname is the same as mine for him to be the kind of person that he's turned out to be So take me back to 1984 85 all public names like Lionel Simmons, Brian Shorter, Bo Kimble, Hank Gabbins, Howie Evans, Doug Overton Take me back to your high school experiences. What was that like you played with several guys Went on to be pros. That's that's not common Well, you know, no, not at all, but that's because we we we pushed each other so much and You know, it's a lot of guys who didn't go to that next level who had the potential And the talent to do do so Uh, one of the things that I I thought that was a little unique at that time in Philly is that All your best talent was in that one city So we didn't have to go outside the city to play no one or any Play any games and and it would be just a phone call or two to get everybody in the gym And to play up and down a little bit on saturday or you know, on a thursday night or whatever whenever we you know, call each other and You know, I will call Hank sometimes and Hank would say hey, we're down at the kink center We doing this we doing that and I was like man, it's a ride for me to get down there. I got to get on the bus. I got to do this If I come down and man, y'all better be playing And he's like, uh Planned it's gonna be we're gonna we're gonna get bus too We got something's us gonna be here in this and that and Mike Anderson gonna be here and he gonna be there So we it just it was just so much it was just it was really so much of a competition Against each other and I think a large part of that was the the fact that the sunny hill league was so strong At the time the future league In the high school league was was so strong at the time. It was just filly was just reeking with talent at that time Speaking of sunny hill, they say that sunny hill wanted you to go to temple And the u2 has some type of disagreement because you wanted to go to UCLA talking about that. Well, you know what honestly Probably deep down in his heart. He probably wanted me to go to temple, but he never He never demonstrated that out And flat out said that Uh, he he hinted around a couple of them But I think because he certainly played such an important part in my life as a youth That if he would have told me to go to temple And set it flat out I probably would have went to temple because that's how Our relationship was when I was when I was young. Um, that's how I would have that's how, you know, I responded Pretty much still because I know out a lot of people it's it's been a lot of people who's had their at their hands in me being successful And he's definitely one of the major people who've had their hands And me to even get to that next level. What about coach ham? Talk to me about your relationship with coach ham. Wow My relation with ham Is phenomenal, um ham was more like, uh Notice we call him brother, he he was more he was more like He was a coach He demanded respect, but at the same time you could talk to him about anything. It was like a brother So he was he was more or less like He would be like a player's dream if if I could carve out Uh, a guy you would you would love to play for it would be him because He just he he lets you be yourself And he understand a lot of things that uh, the younger inner city, uh basketball players go through So he kind of he relates extremely well So you you find yourself in you see at UCLA they say It's about seven to ten games before you became a starter as a freshman Then um You have competition in in in guys like uh, david rivers No, there was a tell me tell me about That experience you're a freshman and now you're on a big scene at at UCLA well, um That was one of the best experiences in my life. The the fact that I'm not even going to UCLA um I'm sure you know if I would have went to other schools I probably could have been successful But you know at the time UCLA was a great fit for me um David rivers as everyone knowing college was a great talent, you know, um jersey city guy you could play, you know, hey Handled a ball like like no other But I've seen it before You know, I grew up in philadelphia man where where we had some guards So I've seen it before, you know, you you're not going to tell me that As as great as at greatest of a college player david river was and greatest of a high school player david river was You know, I would I was more Worried about, you know When I was coming up dealing with a guy like mike anderson You know who don't know anything else but driving to the basket and getting 40 on you So, you know growing growing up with that and it's it's so unique because I'm gonna tell you I had a cousin Uh who lived on mike anderson's block And me and mike when I come down on the weekend on dover street I used to come in a weekend and I used to and people didn't know didn't know that, you know I was I was about 12 13 and me and mike used to go To the little school and I'm I'm I'm off. I think the school was kelly I'm not I'm not for sure The name of the school but it was I think mike went to elementary school there We used to go out and on the uh the the schoolyard and me him would play one-on-one for hours He was he was a little bit older than me But I was you know, I was young and so was he I was about maybe 12 13 He was about 14 maybe, you know, and we used to go at it. So When I had to face mike in high school I wasn't I've already seen it before You know, you know and and then Having relatives in north philly and me being from south philly It was a it was a whole different. It was a whole different dynamic because There's the saying is if you can survive north philly You can survive any place you um You you get to ucla There's a history there was filled up the guards andre mccard walk has Did you meet any of those guys while you were there at ucla? Did they How how would you recruit at the ucla did they have anything to do with it? Well, uh Um, coach hazard was the head coach and andre mccard was assistant um Andre came out of moon the history of andre mccard have seen him play a few times but in in the bakery and uh He's actually from south philly And they used to talk about when they were talking about south philly It was talking about south philly me andre blah, you know bought back and forth and a lot of people Didn't know I was actually from south philadelphia because I went to school in north philly And I played in the sunny hill league for west philly and then later on as a as a as a young uh Teenager we moved to the logan area. So you pretty much germantown area. So You know, you wasn't I'll just say I was philly, you know what i'm saying because I played it in every spot In in every area. I didn't stay in one area. So i'm just philly. Give me a top fill of your top five fill of your guards wow In no particular order because it's hard for me to say in any particular order Being from south philly, you know originally Nate blackwell, I will I will have to say nape day day Then i'ma bring it down from areas, you know, then uh Playing a lot of my my basketball in north philly. Um, I want to say, uh Reggie phase on would be would be one strict because he was like my hero, right? Yeah, um rich and mike anderson um quite naturally i'm talking about guys that i played against Or a scene play like over and over again uh west philly I uh, I loved uh quite naturally. I loved uh ron johnson um Who I thought was was was real good And I I uh love howard evans Who I had the opportunity to play with and and against And one of my favorites quite naturally was bruiser flint because he's the actually was the one Who brought me to the sunny hill whole experience? You know and taught me how to play and taught me to mentor the uh The uh the mentality of being a point guard and now I learned that from him Now I've learned a lot of stuff from sunny As far as my skill and and understanding the game But but bruiser was kind of like the guy who hand fed me and walked me through Every stage of basketball that I had to learn as a guard um magic johnson Yes, it became a people say you you know new magic became pretty good buddies. That's a pretty good point guard to be buddies Talking to me about magic johnson and full riches That's a that's a little different what what happened was that my relationship in uh Pretty much Mentored towards me uh having magic johnson around me when I was in college uh Great experience. He was at the pretty much the height of his game Uh always had time to spend with me just just talking to me about the little nuances of the game and And we just talked basketball and then one one day he said I I want you to meet a real good friend of mine, man um Because I I think you'd be able to relate to him You know about basketball and stuff like that and that's when he introduced me to isaiah thomas you know and uh You know getting all this as a as a as a freshman in college uh You know can be overwhelming But they were just so much like older brothers and Going to the gym and and working out in the summer uh at ucla Because that's where most of the players will come in the summer to work out they pick up all at ucla And I had I had the opportunity to play against that kind of competition every day And talk to those guys and get to know How you supposed to play what is expected of you? Uh Now everyone has their own abilities. Everyone's has Um, they're great qualities. You talk about two hall of fame guys quite naturally I wasn't as talented as they were, you know, but to get something from them and to learn something from them Uh, and the fact that they was willing to teach me the stuff You know, but I had a great foundation anyway because you know, I had bruising flints, sunny hills I played against all the guys that I've went through high school with Bull hang, you know, I I I've seen it all by that time And you know just getting polished was pretty much what ucla have done for me Is uh with coach hazard and and andre was just polishing me a little bit The um, have you ever had an opportunity to meet will change? Yes Yes