Hoop Dreams NYC

Words like First place and nationally ranked are something we haven’t heard when it comes to the St. Johns Red Storm in the past couple of years but in 2024-25 they have become the norm. It speaks to the growth of the program since the hiring of Rick Pitino two seasons ago. 

On Saturday, January 18th, we were live in Newark NJ. Where the Red Storm played Seton Hall. 

After the dominant win over the Pirates, RJ Luis Spoke to the press about reaching first place after the win against St. John’s he was excited but remained focused on the goal. “It feels nice to be in first place but the job is not done,” said Luis who scored an efficient 24 points and grabbed eight boards in the 79-51 win. 

The 19-3 overall record and 10-1 Big East record is one of their best starts in 20-plus years. During the month of January I got to cover them three times in person and there are so many takeaways I have about this team. 

They got an answer for anything their opponent threw at them. 

The St. John’s Red Storm at their full strength will shut down just about anything their opponent has. Shooting hot from three? They will shut that down in the second half with perimeter defense. Win the battle on the offensive boards in the first half? Not anymore they will make the adjustments to dominate in the second. Their depth along with their fortitude makes them very hard to beat. 

This was also proven on January 22nd when they beat Xavier in OT. The win puts St. John’s at 17-3 overall this season and at 8-1 in conference play. The 8-1 start in conference play put them in sole possession of 1st place and put them back in the national rankings standing at 15th in the Associated Press Poll and 14th in the USA Today Coaches poll. 

RJ Luis is On An Absolute Tear And There’s No Stopping. 

While averaging 21.5 ppg. While shooting 50% from 3pt range and from the field RJ Luis Jr. should be in everyone’s mix for Big East Player of the Year honors. 

Surviving without Smith 

St. Johns has been able to win some of the last two games with little to no contributions from their glue player Deivon Smith. The 6-1 guard who is still dealing with a shoulder injury will be out against Georgetown tomorrow night but the Red Storm has found ways to win without him. As this team continues to rise in the rankings the schedule will get tougher, Deivon Smith’s absence was missed at times but the Red Storm held things down plus he’s slowly returning to the lineup as they will be going through their most challenging stretch this week beginning with 11th ranked Marquette tonight

Kadary Richmond Making things happen 

The South Shore HS and Brewster Academy alum earned weekly honor roll honors with averages of 19 points 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Kadary’s production has shown and came up big during this stretch. There’s no question that Kooks will continue to show out to keep the team ahead of the rest of the conference. Against Providence on Saturday Kadary put up a monster statline of 24 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.

The Attendance is skyrocketing and St. John’s has made NYC a College Basketball town. 

Against Villanova on January 11th, St. John’s had 18,171 fans in attendance a record number of fans at Madison Square Garden. Against Providence on Saturday it was a sell out of 19,000. The fact that this team is 14-0 at home this season at Carnesecca and MSG combined, the numbers will grow even more as the season progresses St. John’s Red Storm Basketball is the hottest ticket in the town along with the Knicks who are a top 5 team in the NBA Eastern conference.