Simeon Wilcher leads St. John's in season-opening win over Fordham
Simeon Wilcher of St. John's, right, gets pressured by Will Richardson of Fordham during the second half an NCAA Division I men's basketball game at Carnesecca Arena on Monday. Credit: James Escher
For the better part of the last month, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino has said sophomore Simeon Wilcher has been the team’s best player since the team started workouts in the summer.
Seeing is believing.
The 6-4 guard committed to the Red Storm before last season, becoming the highest-profile high school recruit to join the program in a decade. With star Daniss Jenkins in front of him, he averaged only 9.1 minutes as a freshman, though. There were only glimpses of his considerable potential.
That potential was on full display Monday night as Wilcher helped St. John’s christen a new season. He turned in his best collegiate game to date in a 92-60 win over Fordham in a non-conference matchup before a sellout crowd of 5,602 at Carnesecca Arena.
Wilcher scored 17 points, shot 7-for-9 and added three rebounds and two steals.
Wilcher was asked if the game has slowed down for him this year and replied, “One thousand percent.”
He added that he was adjusting to the college game’s speed and physicality last season, but “with a year under my belt and having the team [we] had last year just so I can grow and become a better player . . . It just feels like I’m just playing [now] . . . going with the game and not really thinking too much.”
Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond fulfilled all expectations in his first game in a Red Storm uniform with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The two other high-profile transfers, Aaron Scott from North Texas and Deivon Smith from Utah, were solid. Scott had 12 points and five rebounds and was a cog in a strong defensive performance. Smith had five points and six assists and sophomore Brady Dunlap contributed nine points.
Jackie Johnson III, Fordham’s transfer from UNLV, had 23 points.
Pitino went with a starting lineup of returnees Wilcher, RJ Luis Jr., Zuby Ejiofor, Richmond and Scott. It was immediately apparent that this Red Storm team is far more athletic than last season’s, is capable of playing the fast pace the Hall of Fame coach embraces and has bought into his defense-first philosophy.
The Red Storm are spending 80% of practices working on their defense because, Pitino said, “I wanted to get off to a great start . . . We knew we had to be ready early in the season because of Quinnipiac, New Mexico and then the Bahamas.”
St. John’s held Fordham without a field goal for stretches of 7:52 and 5:11 in the first half. For the game, the Red Storm held the Rams to 36% shooting and forced 19 turnovers.
Wilcher had six points and both of his steals in an 18-5 burst that broke the game open en route to a 40-26 halftime lead. Fordham trailed by double digits the entire second half and by at least 20 for the final 11:49.
Aside from expected first-game miscues, Pitino had issues with Luis (12 points). He was limited to 13 minutes by foul trouble and, after picking up his fifth with 5:16 to play, was tagged with a technical foul for drop-kicking the ball into the stands behind the baseline on the other side of the court.
“You know, I’ve been coaching a long time. That was probably the biggest shock I’ve had . . . one of the biggest shocks,” Pitino said. “That is so not RJ, not indicative of him as a person. I was kind of shocked at that. Unfortunately, he’s going to pay the consequences.”
Asked if the transgression will keep him out of the starting lineup for Saturday’s home game against Quinnipiac, Pitino replied, “Not starting will be the easiest thing he’ll go through.”
The game may have been instructive about how Pitino will deploy backcourt talents Wilcher, Richmond and Smith. Early on, he gave each one a break while the other two worked together, but in the back half of the first 20 minutes, he played all three of them together. “They all can play,” Pitino said. “They’re all very good, and they’re all going to get a lot of minutes.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.