Wall Hires Former State Champion to Lead Girl's Basketball, Cross Country Programs

WALL, TX -- After an extensive search, Wall High School has hired their new head girl's basketball and cross country coach.

Athletic Director Jeremy Williams told San Angelo LIVE! the school has hired former Canadian girl's basketball and cross country coach Kevin Richardson to the same role. Richardson has spent the last 18 years at Canadian.

After narrowing an "extensive" list of candidates from across the state down to five finalists, Richardson's work at Canadian stood out above the rest to Williams. Richardson won the 2017 state title with Canadian, beating regional rival Wall in the regional final.

"He's been at Canadian for 18 years and he's a proven winner," Williams said. "He's taken two teams to the state tournament and won a state title in 2017. He's been a great cross country coach since he's been there. The thing that stood out to me about Kevin is, Canadian is similar to Wall in that they want their kids to be good at everything they do, they're successful at everything they do. So, he's been in that culture the last 18 years."

Williams and Wall have seen their fair share of Richardson over the years. Most recently, during Wall's run to the state tournament in 2019, they knocked Canadian out of the playoffs with a 53-41 win in the area round of playoffs.

"I like the way his team's have always conducted themselves on the court," Williams said. "They play hard, they play hard, they're very well-coached. ... They're just a program that year in and year out you know in region one they're a handful. 

But Williams' drive to continue their excellence extended beyond the hardwood and Richardson's prowess as a top-notch cross country coach served as another motivating factor to the hire. Wall finished second at the UIL Class 3A state meet in the fall.

"They've got all but one of those kids coming back and we've got some great freshmen coming in too," Williams said. "So, we wanted to make sure we got the right person for that job too. So, yes, that was of high consideration that we got the right guy for both of those jobs."

Longtime assistant coach Chris Schlicke was hopeful for the job and interviewed for the post, but knows Wall will be in good hands under Richardson's leadership.

"They made the correct decision. Kevin is gonna be amazing," Schlicke said in a text message on Thursday.

The post was left vacant after longtime head coach Tate Lombard departed the Concho Valley to join forces with his father, Joe, at Canyon High School in the Panhandle. Richardson is a graduate of Canyon and his wife played for the elder Lombard during her high school days.

Wall finished the year 32-2 as state semifinalists in 2019.