Richard Midgley

Richard Midgley (born 7 July 1983 in Burgess Hill, England) is a retired British professional basketball player who finished his career at the age of 26. His final club was Everton Tigers of the British Basketball League. The Great Britain international previous played for Newcastle Eagles after graduating from the University of California.^[1] He subsequently became a high-school basketball coach.

Early career

The 6'3" Point Guard's career began in his home country of England, where he played for his local club team Haywards Heath Eagles, as well as the junior teams of powerhouse club London Towers and served as captain of the England Youth National team.

Midgley moved to Modesto, California in 1999 and played two seasons at Modesto Christian High School. He did not play his senior season after his high school league ruled him ineligible to compete due to his age.

College career

In 2002 Richard gained entry to the University of California, where he starred for the Cal Bears and was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team and set a Cal freshman record by connecting on 44.9 percent of his three-point attempts (44–98) as he started the Bears' final 22 games of the season. His best moment of the season came in the first round game of the NCAA Tournament against North Carolina State, when he sank a game-winning three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in the overtime to give the eight-seeded Cal Bears a dramatic 76–74 win. He was known as a senior leader. After getting off to a slow start to the 2004–05 season, Richard came on much stronger during the Pac-10 season to average 12.9 points in 26 games, with a field-goal percentage of 38.6%.

Midgley played his senior year at Cal averaging 8.6 points in 30 games, in a season where the team advanced to the championship game of the 2006 Pac-10 Conference Tournament, where the Bears eventually fell 72–51 to the eventual national runner-up UCLA. Midgley played alongside Leon Powe,^[1] tournament MVP and draftee to NBA franchise Boston Celtics.

Professional career

In 2006 Richard was recruited out of Cal to Spanish LEB1 side Tenerife, but suffered from tendonitis of the knee which hampered his progress at the club. He was eventually released before even playing a game.

After a season of rehab Richard joined the Great Britain squad in July 2007. The following month, upon the recommendation of GB team mate Andrew Sullivan, Midgley signed for Newcastle Eagles. He was officially released from his contract on 13 December 2007 amid rumours of several heated conversations with coach Fabulous Flournoy, and signed for league rivals Everton Tigers a couple of days later. He led the team to the BBL Trophy but retired after the 2008–9 season and returned to the United States.

Coaching

In 2010 Midgley became an assistant coach at Modesto Christian; in 2014 he became head basketball coach.^[2]

References