By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: Bill Kostroun
Kadary Richmond didn’t let the boos affect his game. He contributed to St Johns Red Storm’s victory over Seton Hall Pirates, 79-51 on Saturday night. The Red Storm improves to (16-3, 7-1) in the season. It’s their best start since 1985.
Richmond was a former Seton Hall Pirates family member for three years. Many fans look at him as a traitor. The Red Storm and Pirates are conference rivals.
“It feels good to come back and get a win,” Richmond said. “Despite all the boos, I think I carved out a very good career here, so I appreciate them.”
Richmond took the high road and could only control what he could control. He finished the game with 12 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
The Johnnies picked up away the Pirates. All game long, the Red Storm played with tenacity. The Red Storm’s defense was electric. They played remarkable defense. The team allowed the Pirates to just 13 percent from the field and 12 from the three-point line. Red Storm forced 19 turnovers.
After the game, coach Rick Pitino spoke with the media about how proud he was of how his team performed against the Pirates.
“Real proud of our guys,” Pitino said. “Kadari had a beautiful homecoming. RJ was brilliant as well. We’re very excited.”
RJ Luis led the Red Storm with 24 points. He came very close to completing a double-double. He had eight rebounds.
“We came out with the same fire, the same intensity, the same defensive principles we came out with, and we are just glad we got a win,” Luis said. “We got to focus on Xavier next week. It’s nice to be in first place, but the job is not finished.”
The last part brings back memories of when the late great Kobe Bryant told the media, “The job is not done.” We see Luis channeling a bit of that mamba mentality in him.
Luis wants to win big with the Red Storm and loves being part of this team. This group is hungry for some big-time success.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
