Veronica Johns-Richardson

Position:
Guard
Height:
5-9
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Fullerton, Calif.
High School:
Troy

Barry on Johns-Richardson: “The biggest thing we are looking for from Veronica is for her to be more of a consistent scorer. She’s good at cutting to the basket and we’d like her to focus on being able to hit some of the close in shots. We’re also expecting her to be a consistent leader on the floor.”

This Season: Johns-Richardson will be one of the key players to watch for CU as she is the only returning starter from the 2003-04 season. One of CU’s quickest players, she has the ability to penetrate the lane and help create shots for her teammates. As a senior she will be looked to contribute even more as a scorer.

2003-04 (Junior): Johns-Richardson had a solid third year for the Buffaloes, starting 22 of 28 games played. She averaged 7.5 points per game, fourth-best on the team. Johns-Richardson posted 10 double-digit scoring efforts on the season. She opened the campaign in top form, scoring 12 points in 21 minutes against Old Dominion in the WBCA Classic. She followed that up with what would be one of the biggest baskets of the year, a game-tying three pointer with 0.8 left in the second half against Notre Dame. CU went on to win the game in overtime. VJ had two solid efforts in the Coors Classic, including 16 points in game one vs. Idaho State. She also played a big role in CU’s win over in-state rival CSU with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Johns-Richardson would develop a stress-reaction in the month of December, limiting her action in the game vs. Washington and forcing her to sit contest at USC and at home against Wyoming. She came back for the Syracuse game on Dec. 30 with six points, followed up by an eight-point effort against Buffalo. She fought back into the starting lineup at Baylor and responded with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting to help CU to its first win in Waco. Johns-Richardson started the next two games vs. Kansas State and at Kansas, with quiet efforts in both. She would explode in Ames vs. Iowa State with a career-high tying 16 points, including 8-of-10 from inside the arc and eight assists to lead CU to a big win. She followed that up with 10 points at Missouri followed by another 10 at Kansas State. Her final two double-digit efforts came at home vs. Oklahoma State (3-of-3 from three point range) with 12 points and 10 at Nebraska in the regular season finale. Johns-Richardson was named Second Team Academic All-Big 12 following the season.

2002-03 (Sophomore): Johns-Richardson was one of Colorado’s first performers off the bench during the 2002-03 season for her ability to play point guard, two guard and even small forward. She played in 30 games and averaged four points per game in 12.4 minutes per outing. She showed what she was capable of against Buffalo on Jan. 2 when she came in the game for a career high 24 minutes, while scoring 10 points and setting career highs in steals (four) and assists (four). She got 20 minutes of playing time at Nebraska where she scored six points and grabbed two boards. Johns-Richardson hit two big threes against No. 3 seeded North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament, adding to Colorado’s total of nine three-pointers during the game. She scored in double figures in five games and was fourth on the team in three-point percentage hitting .378 of her shots from downtown. Johns-Richardson was named a First Team Academic All-Big 12 selection.

2001-02 (Freshman): Saw the most minutes (7.1) and averaged the most points (2.3) of all the Colorado freshmen. Johns-Richardson took advantage of playing a career high 19 minutes against Bowling Green during the Coors Classic by scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and also pulled down eight boards?tying Mandy Nightingale for the most rebounds by a guard during the season. At No. 14 Kansas State she had perhaps the most productive seven minutes a player could have scoring six points, seizing five rebounds?three off the offensive glass?and also dished out an assist. She had a 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio and averaged less than one foul a game. Johns-Richardson took care of things off the court as well earning a 3.785 GPA in her first semester at CU, good enough for second-best on the team behind Linda Lappe.

High School: Johns-Richardson was the No. 14 point guard in the country, according to the All-Star Girls Report, and was the No. 41 senior in the nation according to the Blue Star Index. She had a remarkable senior season, as she earned first team all-state honors, and was named the player of the year for the CIF Division IAA, was the Orange County player of the year for the Los Angeles Times and Orange Country Register and was also named the Freeway League MVP. Her Troy squad went 29-5 on the season, with Johns-Richardson averaging 17.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 7.9 apg. She was selected as the Freeway League Athlete of the Year for all sports, the Troy High School athlete of the year, the Register Student of the Year from Troy, as well as serving as team captain and running varsity cross country. As a junior at Troy, the Warriors were 27-4, falling in the first round of the CIF Finals to eventual USA Today National Champion Narbonne. She averaged 18.0 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game to lead the Warriors. Johns-Richardson was named the Freeway League Most Valuable Player, first team all-Orange County by both the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register, was a first team all-California Interscholastic Federation selection, as well as second team all-state selection. She also served as the team captain her junior year, and was named team MVP in a vote of peers. Her sophomore campaign, Troy won the Freeway League championship and qualified for the CIF Finals, falling in the second round that season. She was named Freeway League MVP, as well as earning second team All-Orange County and second team All-CIF honors in addition to first-team all-league distinction. She was team captain and team MVP for the 1998-99 season, leading the Warriors to a 27-1 record. As a freshman, Johns-Richardson ran the Warrior offense from the forward spot as a first year starter, leading Troy to the Freeway League title en route to a 28-3 record and earning first-team All-CIF honors. She holds the Troy High School record for points in a single game (35 against Buena Park in 1999-2000) and rebounds in a single game (23 against Sonora in 1999-2000). She was invited to the Nike All-America Camp in July of 2000, and was also a participant in the USA Junior National Team trials in Colorado Springs in June of 2000. On the club side, Johns-Richardson played for Swish under coach Russ Davis. Her team reached the finals of the End of The Oregon Trail tournament in the summer of 2000, falling in the championship game to Yakima. She participated in the Junior National Team Trials again in June 2001 in Colorado Springs.

Off The court: The daughter of Vanessa Johns and Gerald Richardson, Veronica earned her bachelor’s of science degree in business with an emphasis in marketing from CU last May and is currently pursuing a second degree in sociology. Johns-Richardson was a member of Troy Tech, a distinguished international baccalaureate program, in which she carried a 3.9 grade point average. She was a four-time member of the Troy honor roll as well a member of the California Scholastic Federation and the Honors Society. Following her senior year she was named the Troy High School Student of the Year. She was also recruited by Stanford, Oregon, Pepperdine, UCSB, Oregon State, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Denver and Cal-Berkeley. She was the vice president of SAAC for 2003-04.

Overall	GP-S	Min	Avg	FG	FGA	Pct	3FG	3FGA	Pct	FT	FTA	Pct
2001-02	23-0	158	6.9	21	40	.525	3	6	.500	6	12	.500
2002-03	30-0	372	12.4	43	109	.394	17	45	.378	16	28	.571
2003-04	28-22	553	19.8	84	221	.380	10	58	.172	32	43	.744
2004-05	28-28	889	31.8	103	228	.452	35	90	.389	38	61	.623
Totals	109-50	1972	18.1	251	598	.420	65	199	.327	92	144	.639

Overall	OReb	DReb	TOT	Avg	PF	FP	A	TO	BK	S	Pts	Avg
2001-02	17	20	37	1.6	12	0	14	11	2	7	51	2.2
2002-03	7	37	44	1.5	29	0	34	27	2	24	119	4.0
2003-04	40	36	76	2.7	42	0	67	59	2	39	210	7.5
2004-05	32	72	104	3.7	58	1	85	77	3	59	279	10.0
Totals	96	165	261	2.4	141	1	200	174	9	129	659	6.0