Kadary Richmond slowly but surely showing he can be ‘one of one’ for St. John’s

NASSAU, Bahamas — It’s coming, slowly but methodically. 

Kadary Richmond is getting there.

He’s showing glimpses of the dominant figure he was at Seton Hall.

There was the more aggressive performance in a win over New Mexico, his clutch play to force multiple overtimes in the loss to No. 13 Baylor before cramps shut him down for the second extra session, and his efficient effort in the blowout of Virginia. 

“Starting to get comfortable picking my spots,” the 6-foot-6 lead guard said on Saturday, as St. John’s prepared to face Georgia on Sunday to end this challenging trip to The Bahamas. “I’m playing with a lot of talented guys who also have the ball in their hands, so just adjusting to that.” 

Over the last three games, Richmond is averaging 13.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 steals, numbers more along the lines of how he performed a year ago.

He’s been more assertive at both ends of the floor, not as passive as he was out of the gate, finding the right balance between getting his teammates involved and taking charge himself. 

“He’s one of one,” teammate Aaron Scott said. “He’s an All-American for a reason. Nobody can really guard him one-on-one. He makes everybody around him better. That’s what a point guard is supposed to do. 

“That’s Kadary — he’s going to step it up when it’s time to step it up.” 

This is obviously still new for the All-American — new teammates, new coaching staff, new school.

He’s never been surrounded by so much talent at this level.

Everything ran through him at Seton Hall.

That doesn’t have to be the case for No. 22 St. John’s to be successful.

He’s sharing ballhandling duties with another point guard, Deivon Smith, and sometimes is playing off the ball. 

“It was rough because we really didn’t get much practice reps together because we were switching teams and stuff,” Richmond said. “But once we kept it consistent and started playing with each other more, I feel it’s helping for all of us.” 

It remains an adjustment, along with his jump shot.

Richmond is still working to get the hitch out of his shot. In practice, you don’t see it, but in games it has been there at times.

He has attempted nine 3s so far, making three. 

“I’m about 40-50 percent with my mechanics, changing it,” he said. “I feel good about it though, it’s going well. I just have to get more attempts up. … I try not to [revert back to my old form], but at times it happens. With more reps and more attempts, I think I’ll feel much more comfortable and [get] a lot more attempts and a lot more makes.” 

Overall, Richmond is pleased with St. John’s 5-1 start.

They are further along at this point than he expected.

The response to the Baylor loss was impressive, a sign of this group’s toughness when facing adversity.

It has a chance to head home feeling really good about itself by beating Georgia on Sunday before a six-day break. 

“It’s a lot of fun, a lot of talented, high-flying guys, a lot of dunking going on, a lot of sharing the ball,” Richmond said. “We’re just showing we’re getting more comfortable playing together and we handled adversity well the other day with that tough loss to Baylor. We’re showing that we’re resilient and that we’re a pretty good team and we can play with anybody.”