St. John's basketball lands Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond to complete backcourt

In case you thought the rivalry between the St. John's basketball program and Seton Hall Pirates didn't have enough spice, try adding Kadary Richmond to the Johnnies.

Richmond announced his commitment to the Red Storm on Tuesday afternoon after spending just under two weeks in the transfer portal.

The Red Storm were considered the favorites since the First Team All-Big East selection announced his intentions to transfer from the Pirates, but that hasn't amounted to much this offseason with players like Cliff Omoruyi (Alabama) and Norchad Omier (Baylor) being heavily linked to the Johnnies before landing elsewhere.

Illinois and Oklahoma were also involved with Richmond since entering the portal.

Kadary Richmond immediately gets paired with Utah guard Deivon Smith, who committed to St. John's on Monday, to create one of the most talented backcourts in the Big East next season.

Simeon Wilcher, who is entering his sophomore, is also a major piece in Rick Pitino's plans.

Richmond is coming off a career best season in which he averaged 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, helping lead Seton Hall to an NIT Championship. He did, however, take a major step backwards as a 3-point shooter, only hitting 27-percent of his attempts (17-of-63).

He's averaged 12.8 points 7.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks in seven career games against St. John's -- all of which came with the Pirates.

Richmond started his career by playing one season at Syracuse prior to his last three years in South Orange, New Jersey.

He was ranked as a 4-star recruit, No. 90 in the country by 247Sports, coming out of high school and was considered the top ranked player in the transfer by the recruiting rankings platform.

Now, Kadary Richmond will play his final season of college basketball in Queens and look to lead the Johnnies back to the NCAA Tournament.

St. John's has one scholarship available after the additions of North Texas' Aaron Scott and USC's Vince Iwuchukwu alongwith Richmond and Smith.