Kyle Richardson fell in love with basketball at the age of five.

In fact basketball is the only team sport Richardson has ever played.      

"I like that basketball is a team sport.  Individuals have to come together to win…and, I've always been good at it," said the 6'7" forward, a graduate student playing out his fourth year of eligibility as a Viking after three years playing at Long Beach State.      

From Mayfair High in Lakewood, CA, Richardson chose Long Beach State during the summer before his senior year in high school because it was close to home and his family could come watch him play.  In fact, except for UC Davis and the University of the Pacific, all his games were within driving distance.  He had relatives in San Francisco, who substituted when he played the two furthest away games.     

Richardson's family is close.  "None of this would have been possible without my mom and dad (Marque and Teresa Richardson).  They always supported me and when I needed a gym, they made it possible."  His brother, an actor, had an academic scholarship to USC.      

"Long Beach was a program on the rise.  They had good players," he recalled.         

And that, it turned out, was both a blessing (for the team) and a curse (for him), because he spent his first two years playing behind some very talented players.        

Richardson decided to redshirt his junior year, working hard on weights and fundamentals.  He lost some weight and got stronger.  And, it paid off…at least for a little while.      

He started the first five games after his redshirt year, but a pair of transfers became eligible and it was back to sitting on the bench.  The problem with that was the he's always had a dream to play in the NBA or overseas.  That meant he needed a year to showcase his skills.      

He informed his Long Beach coaches that he wouldn't be back and finished his degree in communications. Finishing the degree freed him to play immediately for another Division I program, rather than sitting out a year had he been an undergraduate.     

Out went the word that Kyle Richardson was leaving the Long Beach program with a year of eligibility left.       

"I told Long Beach I wouldn't be returning and a couple days later I heard from PSU. I took a visit here and talked to Tim Douglas," he recalled.      

The Douglas connection was important both for Richardson and for Viking Head Coach Tyler Geving.       

"He's one of those guys who played with Charles Odum and Tim at Mayfair High and that's a great basketball program," said Geving.      

It's good enough to have given PSU Odum, PSU' leading scorer during his senior year, and Douglas, who was this team's leading scorer in mid-February.  Odum was a senior and Douglas a sophomore when Richardson was a high school junior.       

Although he had a couple of Division II officers and one from Alcorn State, he wanted to continue at the Division I level and stay on the west coast.  PSU was a good fit, he decided.  Besides, Portland State has a communications graduate program…a perfect fit, perhaps.      

And it's worked out well for both Richardson and the Vikings.      

On the court, he's carrying a .545 field goal percentage and is the team's leading rebounder.  Recently against Montana (an 82-76 overtime loss), he had a break out game with 25 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.      

That game is a highlight so far as a Viking.  But his main highlight has been helping the team win more games by February (11) than it won all last year (8). Richardson is a very team-oriented player and his highlight at Long Beach State was the team's trip to the NCAA tournament, the year he redshirted ("it was really fun to see my teammates and friends make it during their senior year.")      

"Since he hadn't played much, it's taken him half the season to get to where he wanted. But, he's established himself as a good low post player. Over the last four or five games, he's proven he can score and rebound. He does a lot of things. He's a smart player and understands a lot of what we're trying to do," said Geving.

Richardson has been particularly valuable to the Vikings this season as the bulk of the team's talent is at guard. That has had Coach Geving resort to a four-guard, one big-man lineup. Being the lone post in the game the majority of the time has given the sturdy Richardson a lot of duty handling a host of big men on the other teams.       

His graduate degree in communications is the first of two advanced degrees Richardson sees in his future. You see, his ultimate goal is to be a chef.      

"I know I have to go to culinary school and there are some good university-based schools," he said. Ultimately, he'd like to own his own restaurant and has taken some business courses with his communications major to help prepare for that. "Once I'm financially stable, I'd like to open a restaurant. That's something I've been interested in since I was young."       

In the meantime, he tries to recreate recipes he's seen on the Food Channel or ones he's picked of the internet. His favorite dish is chicken parmesan.      

It hasn't been easy to work on recipes since coming to PSU. He lives in a dorm with communal dining, but does what he can while hanging out with his girlfriend Jazmarae, also a Long Beach graduate. She played soccer for a Long Beach State team that made it to the Elite Eight. "Cooking is expensive and we don't have much money now to buy the ingredients," he said.      

For now, Richardson spends his spare time hanging out with Jazmarae and playing with their White Maltese.  

"Jazmarae wanted a dog for company while I was playing out of town, so I got her Brooklyn (for some reason she likes the Brooklyn Nets) last Valentine's Day (2013)," said Richardson…"oh, I like to play video games, too," he added as an afterthought.       

Basketball mentors along the way have been an AAU coach, "AC..that's it just AC", who has followed his career even through its relatively inactive years at Long Beach State, and Brian Seaton, a trainer he credits with helping him his redshirt year and last summer.       

Regardless of where his early love affair with basketball takes him, it's been quite an adventure. And, Richardson doesn't sound as if he'd change much…well, maybe a little more playing time before this year. But then, he wouldn't be a Viking.