Ailing Richmond leads St

Jeff BorzelloFeb 23, 2025, 04:50 PM ET

Close

• Basketball recruiting expert.
• Joined ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.NEW YORK– On an afternoon

when the St. John’s guys’s basketball group finished a regular-season sweep of UConn for the very first time in 25 years and inched one step better to its first straight-out Big East regular-season title in 40 years, coach Rick Pitino prompted care about the team’s star guard, Kadary Richmond.Richmond missed out on practice time this past week but dressed for the No. 10 Red Storm in Sunday’s 89-75 win over the Huskies at Madison Square Garden. He ended up with 18 points, three rebounds and 4 assists however invested long stretches on the bench. “Kadary Richmond is more injured than any player I’ve coached, today, and he hammers out it

,”Pitino stated.”He’s got double groin pulls, he’s got problems all over his anatomy. And he played the game and played hard. He eliminated it. He requires time off, as much as we can provide him right now, because he’s truly harming. But he showed up tonight and gave it to us. He was fantastic.”St. John’s has a two-game lead in the loss column at the top of the Big East standings with three games staying, and Pitino later included that Richmond might need to remain a game at some point to assist his healing.”He must not have actually played tonight. And we got some issues. Due to the fact that he’s hurting, big-time,”he stated. “I’m not embellishing this at all.

“Editor’s Picks 2 Related Richmond, a 6-foot-6 senior from Brooklyn, was the No. 1 player in the transfer website last spring after leaving Seton Hall. After

an up-and-down first couple of months this season, Richmond has actually emerged as a Big East Gamer of the Year candidate down the stretch. Over his past nine games, he’s averaging 17.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.6 helps and 2.3 steals.”Richmond is a completely mature player now,” UConn coach Dan Hurley stated. “He’s in his fifth year, plus he prepped at Brewster [Academy]

. He’s a grown guy out there. They’re getting the most out of him in a year that is make or break for him to make a relocation to get to the NBA. His maturity level has actually altered a lot. He’s a much different type of male on the court.”In spite of the injuries, Richmond led the way for St. John’s on Sunday in what Pitino called the team’s “finest game of the season.

“The Red Storm struck 8 3s in the first half, scoring 50 points before halftime and getting in the break with an 18-point lead. The margin grew as wide as 22 points early in the 2nd half before UConn stormed back. The Huskies had the ball down simply nine, however turned it over, and Richmond responded with back-to-back baskets. UConn didn’t get within single digits again.St. John’s had 5 players in double figures, with Zuby Ejiofor(18 points, 9 rebounds, six assists) and Deivon Smith(12 points, 7 rebounds, 8 helps)the headliners alongside Richmond.”I believe we can win every game,”Smith said.”It’s an extremely special team. We’re making history nearly every game.”The Red Storm’s identity all season has been their defense and offensive rebounding, which held true once again against UConn. They had 24 points off 18 UConn turnovers and scored 23 second-chance points

. However it was the first-half 3-point shooting that gave St. John’s its early lead.St. John’s entered Sunday as the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big East, ranking near the bottom of Department I in 3-point portion. But the Red Storm went 8-for-16 from behind the arc in the first half.

“If they shoot the ball like that from the perimeter, they’re going to be a problem for anybody,”Hurley said. “They have a championship-level defense. I believe they have championship-level offensive rebounding,” he included.

“How their season goes from here is going to, in big part, boil down to making adequate shots from

the perimeter.”