Kadary Richmond and St. John’s are closing in on the program’s first outright Big East regular-season title in 40 years -- and the big day could come Saturday against Richmond’s former team at Madison Square Garden.
But Richmond would rather the milestone did not come against Seton Hall, where he spent three years before transferring.
“It’s just another game, but I wish it was anybody else,” Richmond, the reigning Big East Player of the Week, said Tuesday on a Zoom call. “We did a lot of good things over there. I got a lot of good relationships with some of the players still. So celebrating in front of them and all that stuff wouldn’t probably be in my to do list. but it will be done.”
St. John’s (24-4, 15-2 Big East) can clinch a tie for the Big East title with a win at Butler (13-14, 6-10) on Wednesday, and despite coach Rick Pitino’s contention that Richmond needed some time off due to “double groin pulls,” the point guard plans to play.
“I’ll be ready,” said Richmond, who went for 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in Sunday’s 89-75 win over UConn. “We’re managing it as it goes on. It was not much I could do, but just go out there and do what I can to get a win.”
He added: “We started this all as one, so we’re going to finish it all as one. If it’s not to the point where I feel like I have to sit out or miss anything, I’ll be out there.”
Richmond admits he’s banged up, but said he’s trying to manage the injuries.
“While playing, it’s not much of an issue, but once it cools down and adrenaline is gone and stuff, it begins to tighten back up,” he said.
Pitino defended Richmond after Sunday’s win over UConn at the Garden.
“I don’t know what they were yelling at Seton Hall about general soreness,” Pitino said of Richmond, who left The Hall for St. John’s for a high-six-figure NIL deal. “Kadary Richmond is more injured than any player I’ve ever coached, and he fights through it. He played the game, and he played hard. He killed it.”
Richmond, 23, missed time last season at Seton Hall with what head coach Shaheen Holloway referred to as “general soreness.” Since then, some Seton Hall fans have taken to referring to Richmond himself as “General Soreness.”
Richmond appreciates Pitino having his back.
“It just shows you the type of person he is, because I try to block all that stuff out,” he said. “I could have spoken on that at my time there, and at any media availability I had, I could have spoke on that, but I chose not to. And that just goes to show the type of person he is and how much he cares about his players.”
Does it bother him when Seton Hall fans call him “General Soreness”?
“No, it was fun when I returned, it was funny, you know, the posters and all that,” he said.
Richmond also addressed a report that he considered reuniting with Syracuse -- where he spent his freshman season -- after leaving Seton Hall.
“We spoke,” he said. “That’s all it was, though.”
Asked if he had any interest in returning to Syracuse, he said, “I’m fine.”
Richmond isn’t the only Red Storm star banged up.
RJ Luis, who along with Richmond is a candidate for Big East Player of the Year, was questionable for the UConn game with what he said imaging revealed was a “muscle strain” in his groin but said he’s managing the injury.
He said seeing Richmond play through his own injury was motivating.
“He’s definitely hurting,” Luis said. “He’s in pain. So just try to...play through. It means I got to do the same thing. ...It comes and goes with sports, you know, The main thing is like athletes, your body is your temple, so just trying to keep it healthy... because you need your body so much.”
Luis, like Richmond, is looking forward to clinching the Big East title, but knows it’s one game at a time.
“The job’s not finished,” Luis said. “So, I mean we gonna continue to do what we’ve been doing, to continue to prepare, no matter who we play, we’re going to take it as you know, it’s a big game to us.
“And we feel like like we deserve it. We worked very hard for it before the season started. Those are kind of the goals we had planned as a team, and the whole coaching staff is putting in the effort, we’re putting in the effort, so it just feels great to be in arms reach, but anything can happen.”
RED STORM UP TO A 3 SEED
St. John’s is up to a 3 seed in the East Region (Newark), per Mike DeCourcy of FOX Sports.
DeCourcy has the Red Storm set for a potential Sweet 16 matchup with No. 2 Tennessee and then a possible Elite Eight matchup with Cooper Flagg and No. 1 Duke at Prudential Center.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.