Utah’s Deivon Smith signing up with Pitino, St
Point guard Deivon Smith is transferring to St. John’s from Utah, offering Hall of Popularity coach Rick Pitino an experienced replacement for Daniss Jenkins next season.A fifth-year senior, Smith ranked sixth in the nation with 7.1 helps per game last season. He balanced 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Utes, assembling 5 triple-doubles– second most during a single season in NCAA history and the most by any Pac-12 player.In a St. John’s news release Monday, Pitino said the 6-foot Smith
reminds him of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, a standout player for Pitino at Louisville.”Super thrilled to have Deivon Smith joining the Johnnies, “Pitino said.
“Total canine who rebounds, develops and ratings.”Editor’s Picks 1 Related Smith, from Decatur, Georgia, played his freshman season at Mississippi State and then spent two years with Georgia Tech. He
shot a career-high 46.7%from the field in 28 games during his only season at Utah.Two of his triple-doubles came during Utah’s go to the NIT semifinals, and he scored a career-best 28 points against tournament runner-up Indiana State on April 2. Smith ends up being the 3rd noteworthy transfer the Red Storm have landed this offseason, joining 7-foot-1 center Vincent Iwuchukwu from USC and 6-foot-7 forward Aaron Scott from North Texas. They both committed last month.At point guard, St. John’s also returns sophomore Simeon Wilcher, a promoted hire who started to show marked enhancement late last season in his limited role as a freshman. Wilcher balanced 2.8 points and 9.1
minutes in 28 games as Jenkins’ understudy.Jenkins followed Pitino from Iona to St. John’s for his senior season and moved the Red Storm to a 20-13 record, consisting of 11-9 in conference play for their most Huge East wins in 14 years. They reached the Big East competition semifinals for
the first time because 2000, losing 95-90 to ultimate NCAA champ UConn.Jenkins led the team in scoring(14.9 points per game), assists(5.4), steals(1.6 )and minutes(30.7), making second-team All-Big East honors.