Kadary Richmond is rolling for the Red Storm. (Noah K. Murray-NY Post)
This week, JT Toppin — one of the top Red Raiders — got kicked out of the game but it didn’t stop Texas Tech from soaring into the top 15; former All-American at Notre Dome John Shumate died at age 72; and Iowa’s leading scorer and rebounder Owen Freeman (finger) needs season-ending surgery. Some other college basketball stories we’re tracking include…
St. John’s Seizes Conference Lead
Since scuffling through a meh season in 2021-22 (17-15), the St. John’s Red Storm has been a team on the rise. They increased their win total to 18 the following season and then reached 20 in 2023-24. This season – the second under Coach Rick Pitino — St. John’s has taken its game to a whole new level and looks like a slam dunk to make it into the NCAA Tourney for the first time since 2018-19.
This was never more clear than on Tuesday when the Red Storm downed 11th-ranked Marquette 70-64 in a battle for Big East supremacy that put the winner in great position to take home the regular season title.
With its ninth straight win, 12th-ranked St. John’s has already matched its win total from all of last season and, at 11-1, has opened up a 1.5-game lead in the conference.
Senior guard Kadary Richmond continued his recent run of great play, flirting with a triple double (18 points, 11 boards, eight assists) while adding two steals and a block. He’s posted four straight games of 13 or more points and six or more boards and 10 straight games with at least two steals, and Pitino couldn’t be more proud.
The fifth year senior is in his first season with the Storm since transferring from Seton Hall. Richmond is not playing quite as much as he did last season and his touches are down, but he’s never shot better, and now that he’s putting up a block per contest, his game is even more well rounded.
He took a while to get going this season, but now that he’s rolling he looks like a future NBA backup capable of helping in a variety of ways. Richmond could sneak into the second round given his ability to create his own offense.
Rare Stat-Stuffing Game for Ty-Laur Johnson
Over in the ACC, another team on the rise over the last couple of years is the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. They’ve gone from 19 wins in 2022-23 to 21 last season to a 16-6 mark so far this season. While Wake Forest hasn’t made the tourney since 2016-17, it is very much a bubble team this season, especially given its share of fourth place in the conference with a stellar 8-3 record.
However, coming off Saturday’s 76-74 win over Pittsburgh, the Demon Deacons have a tough one on Wednesday in Stanford in which they are 2.5 point dogs as per FanDuel.
The hero on Saturday for Wake Forest was sophomore guard Ty-Laur Johnson. Since transferring from Louisville, it’s been a bit of a tough season for him, but he’s really picking up the pace now. He nailed six straight free throws over the final 22 seconds to seal the win and cap a stat stuffing 16-point, five-assist, two-trey, two-rebound, two-block, two-steal performance.
Not a big scorer, Johnson has posted at least seven points in six straight games while racking up 16 assists and seven steals over the last three. He’s upped his steals and is sinking slightly more three pointers this season, but that’s not a very big part of his game. Unfortunately, Johnson’s shooting touch, while slightly better on Saturday (3-for-8), leaves much to be desired.
He’s a promising pass-first type of guard but remains raw, so almost assuredly will be passed over in the draft unless he dramatically improves his shot over the next couple of years.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
American guitarist Ted Nugent has been at it since 1963. In 1977, he released his third album, Cat Scratch Fever, and the title track was ranked No. 32 all-time on VH1’s 2009 list of hard rock tunes.