St. John’s star guard Kadary Richmond, who is currently dealing with double groin pulls, was named Big East Player of the Week on Monday, the conference announced.
Richmond averaged 17.5 points and six rebounds last week during dominant wins over DePaul on Wednesday and the two-time defending national champions UConn on Sunday.
He was a stabilizing presence on Sunday at Madison Square Garden to help see St. John’s through to a second win over UConn in the last 16 days. Leading by as many as 22 points, the Huskies cut the Red Storm’s lead to just nine mid-way through the second half. Richmond scored seven points in four minutes to stymie UConn’s comeback.
Richmond finished the game with 18 points in the 89-75 win, further earning the respect of his head coach, Rick Pitino.
“[He] is more injured than any player I’ve coached right now and he fights through it,” Pitino said on Sunday. “He has double groin pulls, problems all over his anatomy, and he played the game and played hard. He needs time off, as much as we can give him because he’s really hurting.”
Richmond becomes the second St. John’s player this season to win Big East Player of the Week honors, joining RJ Luis, who earned such accolades twice on Jan. 13 and Feb. 10. It is the first time multiple members of the Red Storm have won conference player of the week honors in the same season since Shamorie Ponds and Mustapha Heron in 2018-19.
