ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (March 21, 2024) - In a press conference held in the Marion D. Thorpe Administration Building, the Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Department of Athletics announced, on Thursday, March 21, that John Richardson III has been named the Men’s Basketball Head Coach.
Native to Aulander, N.C., Richardson has over 20 years of Division I collegiate coaching experience and has served as an assistant coach at Old Dominion University (ODU) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT). He has been a successful coach at every stage of his career, which also includes multiple high school state championships in the state of Virginia.
His achievements include clinching the regular season and tournament championship as well as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament berth in 2019, and a conference championship in 2010.
Richardson has already demonstrated his winning pedigree, by winning his first ECSU game as interim coach. He also led the team to victory in their first-round competition in his first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) tournament appearance.
“We are elated to have Coach Richardson join our team and we look forward to partnering with him to reach higher levels of academic and athletic success in our men's basketball program,” said ECSU Athletics Director James DuBose, Jr.
Richardson is a 1995 ECSU graduate, where he was a two-year letter student-athlete and a part of the men’s basketball program under the leadership of CIAA Hall of Famer coach Claudie Mackey.