Seton Hall star Richmond joins St

• Jonathan Givony Jeff Borzello Close Jeff Borzello ESPN Staff Author Basketball recruiting expert. Joined ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.May 7, 2024, 01:42 PM ET Previous Seton Hall guard Kadary Richmond, the No. 1 player in the transfer portal

• , has committed to St. John’s and coach Rick Pitino,

he informed ESPN on Tuesday. “They were big on life after basketball and player advancement, “Richmond said. “That stood out to me, the method they kept it real from

day one. They are going to enable me to display my capability and end up being a better basketball player and individual. I wish to make a long term deep into the NCAA competition and eventually win a championship game. I’m ready to get to work and see what Coach Pitino has in shop. “Richmond checked out Oklahoma over the weekend and said he likewise considered Syracuse, Miami and USC, however a possibility for the Brooklyn native to stay near to home

and play for Pitino was excessive to pass up.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated”Seeing what [Knicks star] Jalen Brunson is providing for New york city City right now, winning in New york city is a huge thing,”Richmond stated.

“I wish to belong of that.”A 6-foot-6 point player, Richmond immediately relocated to No. 1 in ESPN’s transfer rankings upon his entrance into the portal in late April. He earned first-team All-Big East honors after averaging 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists and leading Seton Hall to an NIT champion. He had 20-plus points 9 times in Big East play, consisting of a triple-double versus Creighton, when he ended up with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. In 3 games versus Pitino and St. John’s this past season, Richmond balanced 14.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists.Richmond was great in the postseason, posting 21 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists in the NIT title game against Indiana State. He balanced 13.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 6.4 helps in five NIT games.After spending one season at Syracuse in 2020-21, Richmond moved to Seton Hall. He started 85 games over 3 years, but his real breakout campaign didn’t come until this previous season. Richmond revealed flashes of this level of production down the stretch of his 2022-23 season with the Pirates, averaging 12.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists in his final eight healthy games before suffering a back injury.” I’ll constantly appreciate the training personnel at Seton Hall for giving me the liberty to put myself in this position,”Richmond said.”I wish them the very best.”Richmond is St. John’s second vital portal addition in as lots of days, after Utah transfer Deivon Smith devoted on Monday. Smith, a 6-foot point player, averaged 13.3 points

, 6.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists this previous season, ranking sixth nationally in the latter category. He likewise shot almost 41%from 3-point range.A backcourt of Richmond and Smith should be

amongst the very best in the nation, integrating two elite playmakers who can score in contrasting methods. It could be Pitino’s finest guard duo considering that Peyton Siva and Russ Smith led Louisville to the national championship in 2013.” I like the additions we’ve put together,”Richmond stated.” Deivon Smith is also all about winning and making winning plays. RJ Luis is someone I have actually bet, he’s a rival. Very Same with Vincent Iwuchukwu. The pieces are aligning. I like the vision that was put together. “Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft professional and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and international groups.