Kadary Richmond was going to have a tough time convincing an NBA organization to select him in the 2025 NBA Draft and now that challenge has become harder.
Richmond underwent surgery on his left thumb immediately after the Red Storm’s season came to an end against Arkansas following the Round of 32 and the idea that he needed to have his injury surgically repaired was a surprise to him.
It started in the regular season finale. He battled for a loose ball with Marquette’s Stevie Mitchell in Milwaukee and came out of the scrum holding his thumb. He didn’t think much of it, only believing he jammed it, and continued to play for the rest of the season.
However, after further examination he was told that a ligament was torn, and it needed to be fixed.
He told reporters at Citi Field on Wednesday as St. John’s was honored by the New York Mets for winning the Big East regular season and tournament championships that the surgery will sideline him for six weeks.
He has not gotten deep into the process of hiring an NBA agent yet but will be completing those meetings soon and finding dates when he can work out for teams. The hope is he can start catching passes and dribbling within the next week.
Richmond’s college career ended on a controversial note, fouling out against the Razorbacks after just playing 16 minutes and his fifth foul was a borderline call at best.
Rick Pitino even recalled in the VICE TV series finale of Pitino: Red Storm Rising that it was a bad call made by the referee.
“It was tough,” Richmond said of seeing his year at St. John’s end in the hands of the officials. “I didn’t get a chance to sweat but it’s alright, my guys played a good game.”
The Red Storm are currently in the process of finding a replacement for Richmond, hosting several top transfer portal players on official visits.
“Met a lot of great people, a lot of hardworking guys,” Kadary Richmond recalled of what he will remember most about his time in Queens.
“Guys who were dedicated and just wanted to win regardless of how they played personally, so I’ll always be thankful for that.”