Despite an untimely ending to the season with a loss to Kimball in the area final, senior Zion Richardson’s accolades are just starting to rack up, as he has earned the title of District MVP for the second year in a row and was featured Sunday night on NBC 5 as the DFW Unsung Basketball Player of the Year.

“I’ve recently been under the radar a lot to a lot of people that are coming in now that see ‘Oh, wow this kid is for real. How come I haven’t heard of him sooner’,” senior Zion Richardson. “And then no because, and then because some people that know me [know]  I’ve been doing this for a while now, and if it’s just like, I’m just doing me now so the Unsung Athlete is a good award, but it could have been better.”

Although the award highlights a player whose efforts have gone unrealized, Richardson’s impact on the court is clear to many people.

“Recently, I’ve been doing a bunch of shooting workouts with some coaches coming in that want to see me,” Richardson said. “I have a bunch of film going out. I have a lot of good people behind me Coach Friar, my cousin, and other people [have helped] me [and] some different media outlets that are coming in now. I recently got accepted into the DFW All-Star Game, which should help a lot with my recruiting. And it’s just, everything will be fine.”

With the team now in off season, Richardson is still hard at work to pave the way towards his college career.

Richardson may be transitioning to the next step of his career, but his legacy in the Liberty program will not be forgotten soon.

“I believe that he’s made me a better coach honestly,” basketball coach Stephen Friar said. “He’s made me more intentional about my communication with everybody, more intentional about gameplay and stuff like that just because of the fact that he’s so obsessive with basketball, and so I think that just having him has been a huge light for us because we’ve been able to think outside the box a little bit, communicate effectively with everybody, and also try to build the team up as a whole.”