Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith Earn Preseason BIG EAST Honors; St. John’s Picked Fifth in Coaches’ Poll

Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith Earn Preseason BIG EAST Honors; St. John’s Picked Fifth in Coaches’ Poll

10/23/2024 8:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Richmond named to Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team; Smith landed on conference’s Second Team

NEW YORK – With the 2024-25 season less than three weeks away, St. John's guard Kadary Richmond was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team while fellow playmaker Deivon Smith earned Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team honors, as announced by the conference on Wednesday. The Red Storm was also picked fifth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll for the second-straight season.

Richmond, who spent the previous three seasons at Seton Hall, was named to the 2024 All-BIG EAST First Team and helped lead the Pirates to a NIT Championship. Richmond posted career-bests with 15.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals, starting 34 of 35 appearances for the Pirates in 2023-24.

For the third time in as many seasons, the Brooklyn product averaged four or more assists with 5.1 per contest last year. Richmond also recorded 31 double-digit scoring performances, including 12 20-point outings. He ranked second in Division I with nine performances where he recorded at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Among several standout performances last season, Richmond registered 23 points and matched a program-record with eight steals in the Pirates' 75-60 victory over eventual NCAA Champion UConn on Dec. 20. The graduate student also became just the second Seton Hall player to register a triple-double with 21 points, 11 boards and 11 assists in the team's triple-overtime thriller against No. 18 Creighton on Jan. 20.

Richmond was one of only two BIG EAST players to finish in the top 11 in scoring (17.1 ppg, 10th), rebounding (6.9 rpg, 11th), assists (5.1 apg, 5th) and steals (2.2 spg, 2nd).

Smith, a Decatur, Ga., native averaged a career-high 13.3 points on 46.7 percent shooting from the field last season at Utah. He also registered a personal-best 7.1 assists and 6.3 rebounds per contest for the Utes last year.

Smith shined in his lone season at Utah with five triple-doubles, registering the second-most in a single season in NCAA history and the most by any player in the Pac-12. Smith recorded two of his triple-doubles during Utah's run to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament, becoming the first player in the last two decades to register multiple triple-doubles in the same postseason competition.

A former four-star recruit, Smith racked up double-digit assists in 10 games last season en route to 7.1 helpers per game. Smith also ranked 32^nd in NCAA Division I with a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio and 33^rd with 13 double-doubles. He scored double figures 20 times last season with three 20-point performances, including a career-high 28 points against NIT runner-up Indiana State on April 2.

Richmond and Smith became the first pair of Johnnies to earned preseason recognition by the conference since the 2021-22 campaign when Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander secured first and second team honors, respectively, prior to the start of the season.

Tickets for the 2024-25 St. John's basketball season are on sale now. Call the St. John's Ticket Office at 1-888-GO-STORM or visit RedStormTix.com to reserve your seats today.