Rivals four-star point guard Jase Richardson cut his list of schools to eight on Tuesday.

One of the top point guards in the 2024 class, Richardson has interest from top schools across the country. With the beginning of the EYBL sessions, he felt it was time to narrow his options. The son of former NBA star Jason Richardson, Jase spoke of each school individually in an exclusive interview with HawgBeat's Jackson Collier.

Just last year, Richardson was a five-star recruit and ranked in the top 15 on Rivals. The Bishop Gorman product was playing at a high level and earning high-major offers early on in his recruitment, all while playing with an underlying issue that sidelined him for the better part of a year.

"I had a hole in my femur," Richardson said. "That required a bone graft, so I had to be non-weight bearing on my leg for six weeks, and in an unloader brace for another twelve weeks. There were times where I couldn’t physically use my leg or do everyday things."

It was a slow path back for Richardson. After discovering that he had been playing on an OCD Lesion (essentially a chipped femur) for the past 18 months, he underwent surgery, rehab and the pain and turmoil that accompanied it all.

"I just felt like I lost all the progress I made throughout high school," Richardson said. "It was a lot of mental ups and downs coming back from injury. I missed Team USA training, I missed all of AAU last year. It was really tough for me.

"(The rehab process) was pretty difficult. Going to therapy, getting my leg worked on, strength, stability, getting the range of motion back."

By the time Richardson was able to come back, his high school season had already started. Initially, he was doing non-contact workouts and ball-handling drills in late October 2022, but finally was able to participate in mid-November. Even coming back, though, he wasn't full strength. In fact, he had to play with a minutes restriction at first, something Richardson was not accustomed to.

"It was super frustrating because I felt like I could play more than I thought I could, but my leg probably couldn’t handle it," Richardson said. "It was just tough to see my team struggling some games and feeling like I could help, but I can’t go out there."

This past weekend at Nike EYBL Session II was just the second weekend where Richardson has been fully cleared to play without any restrictions.

"I just feel blessed to be back out there with my team, blessed to be back playing the sport I love," Richardson said. "It really has just been such a blessing to come back from such a tough injury."

In that second session, he averaged 13.3 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 steals. He was efficient from the field, shooting 51.2% from the field, 35.7% from three and 75.0% from the free throw line.

While Richardson is putting up good stats already, he's still working at getting back to full health.

"I think the biggest adjustment is just the conditioning and the rhythm, just getting back into the flow of things," Richardson said. "I'm just working out as much as possible. I’m trying to get in the gym as much as I can. The speed of the game has been fine. I felt like I haven’t lost that as much, I just felt like getting the pace and rhythm back for it is a big deal."

Now that he's back and playing, Richardson's recruitment has picked up again, as he's earned offers from Alabama and Cincinnati in recent weeks. Now that he is cutting his list, Richardson has a clear vision of what he is looking for in a school.

"I’m looking for a place where I can see myself, where I can fit into the system and I can make an impact as a freshman," Richardson said. "What's going into my decision-making process is the culture of the school, the coaching staff, if they see me coming in and helping them win games, and that they're committed to my development."

Here is what Richardson had to say about each of the schools in his top eight:

"I’ve been talking to Coach (Nate) Oats as of late. I feel like we have a pretty good relationship and I just like the pace they play and that they trust their freshmen."

"After taking a visit, I could see it's a great atmosphere and I have a really strong relationship with the coaching staff. They did a great job developing their freshmen"

"I hear from Coach Wes (Miller) and Coach (Andre) Morgan basically every day. Coach Morgan and I built a great relationship while I was working to get back on the court. I like their energy and how invested they are in their players."

"I felt as if they made me feel like family. I hear from basically the entire coaching staff sometime throughout the week, all the time. I was really impressed with their tournament play and could see myself fitting into their offense."

"After watching them in the tournament and talking to Coach JayDee (Luster), San Diego State is a place where I feel I can see myself because their guards are two-way players. Building a relationship with the coaching staff is really key."

"They just did a home visit with me a couple days ago. Talking to Coach (Jerod) Haase, Coach (Jesse) Pruitt, Coach (Brandon) Dunson, and Coach (Rob) Ehsan I felt like we built a really good relationship. They added two top players in the 2023 class and I'm excited to see how they do next year."

"After taking an unofficial visit and talking to Coach Jay (Morris) and Coach (Andy) Enfield, I feel like it’s a place where I could also see myself. I felt like they believed in the work I was doing to get back on the court."

"They have such a great history of sending guys to the (NBA) and making deep runs in the tournament. Talking to the coaches there, like Coach (Jason) Williford I fell like they can see me at their program because I'm a two-way player."

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