It’s not a secret how important Dylan Darling has become to the St. John’s basketball team, and now the Red Storm need its point guard to be on the floor with more consistency.
Darling is set to return on Saturday night when the No. 23 Johnnies host Ole Miss at Madison Square Garden after he was limited in the finale of the Players Era Championship with an injury.
The Idaho State transfer only played seven minutes against Auburn, but it was probably three minutes too many after he could barely move when taking the court midway through the second half.
Darling explained on Thursday that the injury occurred during pregame warmups while he was stretching with an IT band and recalled it was like a spasm on the back of his leg where the knee and hamstring meet.
“It’s just been an unfortunate kind of a start,” he said of the injuries.
Darling thinks it was somewhat related to the calf injury he suffered in the season opening victory over Quinnipiac that forced him to miss St. John’s loss against Alabama. However, he has practiced every day since the Red Storm returned from Las Vegas.
“When he steps on the court, he’s trying to make everybody better,” Rick Pitino said. “I think the key [to the team’s success] is keeping Dylan Darling healthy.”
Entering the matchup against Auburn, Darling had a +/- rating of +100 in 111 minutes on the court, including a combined +27 in 31 minutes against Iowa State and Baylor.
While the team plays better with its point guard on the floor the individual success hasn’t been there, shooting 36-percent from the floor and 1-for-13 from 3-point range resulting in 4.5 points per game, although he has a 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is tied for 18th best in the country.
“I’m off to a little bit of a slower start than I would have liked, but I don’t feel like I’m playing horrible basketball,” Darling said on Thursday.
“I just feel like I’ve either been hurt or I’ve been in foul trouble. I feel like I was in foul trouble in Vegas the whole time and I haven’t been able to shoot the ball great to start the season, but that’s something I’m confident will flip because every day in practice I feel like I’m getting better and more confident.”
St. John’s still has huge hopes for its season despite suffering three losses in the first month of the year but if the Johnnies want to achieve its goals it will need Dylan Darling healthy and available throughout the season.