There will be no love inside the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Valentine’s Day when the St. John’s basketball team meets Providnce for the second time this season.
In fact, it’ll be the exact opposite of love. There will be feelings of hate, anger, and betrayal in the air when Bryce Hopkins and the Johnnies take the floor.
Hopkins, the former Friar, will make his return to the arena after opting to enter the transfer portal and join the Red Storm in the spring, a move that enraged the spiteful Providence fans who hold a grudge with the best of them in the sport.
It was only a few years ago when Ed Cooley left Friartown for Georgetown and was greeted with vociferous boos and vulgar chants when he returned. It could be the same atmosphere for Hopkins, who was on the Providence roster, when his former coach came back to town.
“It’ll be similar,” Hopkins said of the reaction he will get. “It was sad to see how they treated [Ed Cooley] when he went back, but it’s basketball and it’s a part of the game right now.”
Hopkins got a taste of what the crowd will be like towards him when Providence upset St. John’s inside Madsion Square Garden during its first matchup in early January. He was booed by the visiting fans every time he touched the ball and after the game Friar freshman Jamier Jones made headlines by saying he should start over Hopkins even if he was still at Providence.
“He’s a great player; he’s playing some good basketball right now. I have respect for him,” Hopkins said, who first met Jones during his recruiting visit to Providence. “He’s a competitor, I’m a competitor, too. He should say that, and he should believe like he should be able to play over me, but that’s his opinion I have my own opinion, and that’s that.”
However, St. John’s has not lost since that game – winning ten straight – and Bryce Hopkins has been at the forefront of the turnaround. He’s averaging 14.8 points, 6.4 rebound, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game during the winning streak.
“There’s going to be a chip on my shoulder, that’s probably the only thing I’m going to say about it,” Hopkins continued about his return.
“Not looking to go in there and prove something and force the issue because that’s when things don’t go well. Just playing through my teammates, whatever is open I’m going to take, and just play good basketball. That’s something I pride myself on.”
While it might seem like Bryce Hopkins will be battling the Providence fans by himself, St. John’s captain Zuby Ejiofor assured him that the entire team will be battling with him.
“Everybody really has to have his back,” Ejiofor explained. “It’s going to be a tough environment. It’s always a tough place to play and win at. The biggest thing is to get him involved early on and seeing him get some early baskets and deter all those fans and the noise and stuff like that.”
“I’m not going to go in there forcing the issue and try to make the game about me. It’s about me and my teammates and we’re all playing for one goal, to win the Big East championship,” Hopkins added.
St. John’s has experience with its players competing against their former teams after Kadary Richmond returned to Seton Hall last season, but Rick Pitino said that this situation is nothing like Richmond’s.
Pitino explained how Richmond was an emotionless player and nothing fazed him. He even mentioned that the former Pirate standout was laughing when he had to play his former squad.
Pitino said that he met with Hopkins about playing again in Providence and his experience in the environment during Cooley’s return will help him get acclimated quickly.
No. 17 St. John’s (19-5, 12-1 Big East), sitting in second place in the Big East standings by a half game, will look to keep pace with No. 6 UConn ahead of its highly anticipated rematch in two weeks but its focus must be on the upset minded Friars (11-14, 4-10 Big East) when things get under way on Saturday afternoon (1:00 p.m. ET, TNT).