On Monday night, St. John’s opened the 2024-25 college basketball season at Carnesecca Arena with a stout defensive performance against Fordham to secure a 92-60 win.
While it was just the third time since 2016 that these two local-rivals met, it was a matchup that provided the trademark physicality which New York City basketball is known for.
Though, as the scoreline would suggest, it was all St. John’s from the initial tip with that defensive effort holding Fordahm to just 26 points in the first half while forcing 19 turnovers.
After a 2023-24 season filled with defensive struggles, that’s been a major point of emphasis for the growth of this program under second-year Johnnies head coach Rick Pitino.
“Normally we work 60/40 on defense but this year it’s been 80/20, all we’ve been doing is working on defense,” Pitino said following the win. “We knew [our defense] had to be ready early in the season because of [Fordham], Quinnipiac, New Mexico, [our trip to] the Bahamas. Long way to go but we’re getting better.”
On the forefront of that development is a St. John’s transfer class that’s ranked eighth nationally according to TPR’s Team Rankings.
Though returning sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher led with a career-high 17 points, North Texas transfer Aaron Scott managed 12 points, five boards and two steals amidst late foul trouble.
All the while Inter-conference addition Kadary Richmond made his St. John’s debut with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double, adding five assists, a steal and a blocked shot in the process.
Scott in particular was a standout on the defensive end, showcasing the versatility and grit that only comes from playing for a program like North Texas.
“Defense wins championships,” Scott said. “At any college the coaches like defensive players so me fitting in [at St. John’s] is excellent. I’m a good piece for this team, a defensive minded team; I just fit in.”
While it’s still very early in the season, a stubborn Pitino projects we’ll see even more from the 6-foot-7 senior wing throughout the year.
“I thought he was good tonight,” Pitino said. “But I want to see greatness [from Scott].”
Utah transfer guard Devion Smith was the first man off the bench for St. John’s, only improving on the defensive stand with five points, six assists and three steals.
In the frontcourt, former five-star prospect and USC recruit Vincent Iwuchukwu filled out the statsheet with six points, four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
According to Wilcher, mixing in such a defensive minded transfer class with the returning core Pitino maintained has brought a completely different feel to that end of the floor this season.
“Last year we had 14 new guys, so getting a whole defensive scheme was a little rough for us in the beginning but we started to get it as the season went on,” Wilcher said. “Now, with us having returners and people who knew the system from last year, it’s kind of easy to get into our defensive stuff. We have guys like [Scott], [Richmond] and [Smith] coming from places where they were very defensive. It’s just a completely different year.”
Of course though, it was the 2023-24 All-Big East First Team selection in Richmond who stole the show with his double-double effort on 7-for-12 shooting.
For somebody like Pitino with a long coaching resume, Richmond’s abilities seemingly leave the normally talkative head coach at a loss for words.
“I don’t know what [Richmond] can’t do,” Pitino said. “He does it all.”
On the Fordham side, UNLV transfer Jackie Johnson III paced the scoring effort with a team-leading 23 points while shooting 8-for-19 from the floor.
After a strong preseason from the Wichita, KS native, it’s clear he’ll be the focal point of head coach Keith Urgo’s offensive gameplan if he can clean up the turnovers moving forward.
While the Rams will have to bounce back against another Big East opponent – traveling to Seton Hall on Saturday – the Red Storm will welcome Quinnipiac down to Queens, NY.
Selected just fifth in the conference’s preseason poll this offseason, St. John’s has the potential to be one of the top defensive teams in the country behind this transfer class.
