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鈥淟ove you, man. Love you man,鈥� Phelps told Richardson. 鈥淚 told you when we first got together, how talented you are, how good at your job you are. What a great heart you have. None of that鈥檚 changed."

Richardson immediately put his head in his hands and started crying. Both he and Phelps have been removed from the UA staff in recent years:聽Richardson was fired as an assistant coach in 2018 and later imprisoned after admitting to accepting $20,000 in bribes, while Phelps was taken off the bench in February 2019 and later had his聽contract expire聽as associate head coach聽after he was involving a recruit's transcript.

Phelps continued.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e a big time person,鈥� Phelps told Richardson. 鈥淵ou care the right way. . 鈥� You're talented. People love to say you're a good guy. You know what they don't say and they should say most often? How talented you are. You're the only guy I know that can work a room like you can work. You know the game, you teach the game. You connect with players.

鈥淟ook, I've been doing training here in Tucson for the last six months. And just like you, I'm dealing with younger players. 鈥� there's no better eighth grade coach in America right now than Book Richardson. And the best is yet to come.鈥�

Ryan Silver, who runs Silver Waves Media and the West Coast Elite club team that has a strong recruiting tie to the Wildcats, said he hopes to help Richardson get an NBA job within a year or two. Silver said on the podcast that Richardson鈥檚 imprisonment was 鈥渃omplete and total (expletive)鈥� and said afterward he wanted to help Richardson by hiring him to do weekly Silver Waves podcasts that are mostly intended to guide other coaches.

Phelps, who is expected to move soon to Northern California as the new coach at Prolific Prep, joined Richardson and more than 30 other coaches on Zoom as Richardson spoke from New York, where he has been working with the New York Gauchos club program.

One of the coaches asked Richardson if he wanted to return to college coaching. He expressed both enthusiasm and significant doubt.

鈥淜nowing what I know now, I think I'd be a huge asset,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淚 have an even bigger message now and I鈥檇 unequivocally love it but unfortunately that鈥檚 not gonna happen.鈥�

While Richardson received overwhelming support from the coaches asking questions on the video podcast, he fielded two questions asking him whether he received any support or contact from UA coach Sean Miller since leaving the staff in 2017.

鈥淚 would have wanted a lot more support but I also understood Arizona wasn鈥檛 my ally at the time, they were fighting the case, and I understand that now,鈥� Richardson said, later adding 鈥淚鈥檇 be lying to you all if I said it didn't hurt. You know, I also understood that this is very unique - this is the first time that this happened in the history of college basketball.

鈥淪o everything that happened was very new, very fresh for everyone and I'm at a point in my life now where I now see that. I wanted to talk to him. And as I go forward now, man, I wish the university nothing but the best. I鈥檝e got love for the university. I want Sean to have the best success, because with me harboring on that, I can't move forward.鈥�