Hall of Fame
The Golden Dome gym never shined more brilliantly than the day Michael Richards led his Rutgers-Newark volleyball team to a win over Penn State in a special tournament in 1988.
A great achievement made even greater by the fact that at the time Penn State was ranked as the best in the country. That was the first time Rutgers copped the tournament title and stamped them as a future power in the sport.
For four years Richards starred, and was named all tournament player in three of the four years. He was an All American as both a middle blocker and setter, and was also selected for third team and honorable mention.
The secret of his success was that he was an intelligent, hard-working young man who also was a leader, serving as captain of the team from 1985 through 1988.
As his coach in the final two seasons of his career, Bob Bertucci pointed out, “Mike was an outstanding athlete who showed it all as a volleyball player. His versatility was unbelievable. It gave us the ability and flexibility to use him in many roles. He was our most powerful attacker, our setter and ran the offense when a situation dictated. The best way to describe this all around key contributor is to equate him with old fashioned football greats who played various positions on both sides of the ball.”
Richards, from Holland, PA, is now PNC Bank Senior Vice President and Managing Director.
His wife, Vickey, and two boys, Ben, 10, and Sam, 9, will help him share his well deserved Hall of Fame honors that put Rutgers Volleyball on the sports map.
