Bryce Hopkins came to the St. John’s basketball program with a hope of playing well enough to make the NBA. His prior injuries limited his explosiveness early in the season, but he’s found the recipe at the right time for the Johnnies.
In the last five games, Hopkins is averaging 13.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 60.9-percent from the floor and 5-for-9 from 3-point range during the stretch.
On Friday in the Round of 64 against Northern Iowa, he went for 13 points and six rebounds.
“I feel it's just being comfortable,” Hopkins said after the game about his improved play. “We're playing some really good basketball. We're playing together as a team. And we're not thinking out there on offense.”
“Coach gives us all the confidence and freedom in the world to play, which makes it easy for us to play.”
What he has shown in the last two weeks has elevated the ceiling of the Red Storm in the NCAA Tournament and will be needed against Kansas in the Round of 32 on Sunday as the Johnnies look to punch its ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
“I think he's a little quicker, he's jumping a little higher and he's playing with confidence,” Rick Pitino said on Friday. “I think he's been [rising] the whole season. It's tough coming off an injury, a very serious one, and he's working his way. He's very confident.”
Hopkins was in the arena last season in Providence when the Red Storm lost to Arkansas in the Round of 32, ending one of the most successful seasons in program history, and knows he was brought in to help get the Johnnies over the hump this season.
“Seeing the roster, when I was coming in, that Coach Pitino was trying to put together made me much more excited to be a part of the team,” he said in the locker room on Saturday afternoon in San Diego.
“This is definitely what we envisioned. We have another chance to go out there, leave our mark, and get to the Sweet 16.”