Rashaad Richardson is entering his first season at Arkansas State, joining Ryan Pannone's staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Richardson joins the Red Wolves after spending the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., where he helped guide the program to its third-highest win total in a single season and a SWAC regular-season title. During the 2024-25 campaign, the Jaguars led the nation in bench production and finished inside the top 20 for steals en route to a 20-12 (15-3 SWAC) record.
Southern recorded notable victories over UNLV, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech and secured the second highest ranked victory in program history in a 60-59 decision at No. 21 Mississippi State. During Richardson's tenure, Jaguars head coach Kevin Johnson earned SWAC Coach of the Year honors and Andre Nully was named SWAC Defensive Player of the Year while Michael Jacobs earned First Team All-SWAC recognition.
The Charleston, S.C., native rejoins Pannone, who was his high school coach as a senior at Oldsmar Christian School in Tampa, Fla.
"Rashaad Richardson is an assistant coach who is coming to us from Southern University," Pannone said. "Previously, he also spent time at Middle Tennessee and Tulane after playing at Georgia State and playing for me when I was a high school coach. Rashaad has the unique ability to relate to players but also understand who I am as a person and as a coach, to be able to help create buy-in for our program on what is expected, what is needed, and then how I truly feel for them since he got to play for me. Rashaad's recruiting ability, coaching ability and on-court player development will bring a lot of value to this program."
Prior to his time at Southern, Richardson spent the 2023-24 campaign as Director of Operations at Middle Tennessee, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the program in addition to assisting with travel, meals and camps.
Richardson also spent time at Tulane as a graduate assistant under head coach Ron Hunter, overseeing video responsibilities as well as assisting with daily and gameday operations.
Before joining Tulane, Richardson spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach at Clarendon College under head coach Isaac Amedee, helping the team finish 29-4 and win the Region 5 regular-season and tournament championships. The Bulldogs earned a No. 2 seed in the NJCAA Tournament but were unable to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before leaving Clarendon, he helped six players sign Division I scholarships.
Richardson began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Ga. He worked under head coach Dewayne McKinney and helped guide the program to two region crowns in his three seasons with the program.
Prior to beginning his coaching career, Richardson played collegiately at Georgia State, helping the Panthers to 74 wins and a pair of postseason tournament appearances. Named a captain during his final two seasons, his 117 games played ranked in the top 10 in school history at the end of his playing career.
