Simeon Wilcher leads St. John's in season-opening win over Fordham
Simeon Wilcher of St. John's, left, looks to pass away from Fordham's Will Richardson, center, and Zach Riley during the first 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 been saying that 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 just 9.1 minutes as a freshman and showed only brief glimpses of his considerable potential.
On Monday night, Wilcher helped St. John’s christen a new season by turning 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 had three assists and two steals.
St. John’s has now won 11 straight season openers.
Wilcher was the best player on the floor for most of the game. He was the catalyst when the Storm broke it open late in the first half and his ball-handling in the second half was instrumental in keeping the margin big.
A pair of veteran players donning the St. John’s uniform for the first time also had big games. Kadary Richmond, the Seton Hall transfer, finished with 16 points, hitting 7 of 12 shots, and added 10 rebounds and five assists. Aaron Scott, the North Texas transfer, had 12 points (5-for-8 shooting) and five rebounds. Deivon Smith, the Utah transfer, was the first player off the bench and finished with five points and six assists.
The biggest downside for St. John’s was that RJ Luis Jr. was limited to 13 minutes by foul troubles and acted out when he picked up his fifth with 5:16 to play. The junior forward responded by kicking the ball toward the stands. He drew a technical foul and a brief talking to from Pitino on the bench. The Storm also committed 11 turnovers and allowed the Rams to pull down 11 offensive rebounds.
Jackie Johnson III, Fordham’s transfer from UNLV, had 23 points.
This first game also may have been instructive about how Pitino will deploy his team’s considerable talents.
One of the biggest questions was how the three guards — Wilcher, Richmond and Smith — would be used. Initially, Pitino gave each one a break while the other two worked together in the backcourt. But then in the back half of the first 20 minutes, the coach played all three of them together.
There were also questions dogging the Storm about shooting. It made 55% from the floor and 35% on three-pointers. Scott and Luis each had two of the team’s nine treys.
Pitino went with a starting lineup of returners Wilcher, Luis and Zuby Ejiofor and transfers Richmond and Scott. Immediately, it was clear that this Storm team is far more athletic than last season’s squad and more capable of sustaining the frenzied pace that the Hall of Fame coach embraces.
The Storm also looked to have bought in to Pitino’s defense-first philosophy. They held Fordham without a field goal for stretches of 7:52 and 5:11 during the first half en route to a 40-26 lead at the break.
Scott looked to be a key element of St. John’s strong stretches of defense. When he went to the bench, Fordham assembled its only charge in the first 20 minutes, cutting an early nine-point deficit to 19-17 with 7:54 to halftime.
St. John’s hadn’t shot the ball particularly well early in the first half, but went 8-for-8 from the floor in the last 5:25 of the first half. In the final stretch before halftime, Wilcher was 3-for-3 shooting and made both of his steals.
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.
