College Basketball

Red Storm suspend prized freshman Jordan indefinitely

At the moment, Rysheed Jordan isn’t a member of the St. John’s basketball team.

The prized freshman point guard from Philadelphia was suspended for violating team rules Friday night, missing the Red Storm’s 64-54 victory over Monmouth. Head coach Steve Lavin declined to say when he will be back — or if Jordan will return at all.

Jordan, the highest-rated recruit of the Lavin era, wasn’t on the bench with his teammates against Monmouth and didn’t practice with the team on Thursday, though Lavin wouldn’t say whether that was part of the suspension or the result of it.

“He knows there are certain responsibilities,” the coach said.

Lavin also told reporters not to read into Jordan’s absence at the game. When he previously has suspended players — center Chris Obekpa during the preseason and guard D’Angelo Harrison at the end of last year — they haven’t been on the bench either. It is believed Jordan hasn’t left campus, said Lavin, who thinks Jordan “absolutely” will be part of the program moving forward, whether that is Tuesday’s game against Longwood or down the road.

Vague throughout his lengthy postgame press conference and careful with his words, Lavin repeatedly and in a variety of ways said Jordan “can join the team if he takes care of his team responsibilities.” Lavin said he made a decision shortly after getting to Carnesecca Arena late Friday afternoon and meeting with his staff.

The gifted and lightning-quick 6-foot-4 Jordan struggled in his first three games, averaging 4.3 points and 2.3 assists in 18.3 minutes and seeing little action in the second half of the previous two games. Lavin said there were no problems with Jordan related to playing time or his behavior during the games.

“If he takes care of business, he’ll be on the team,” Lavin said. “If he doesn’t, he wont. … It’s a basic responsibility that our team members must adhere to, and if they take care of that aspect, they’re allowed to participate as student-athletes and if they don’t, they won’t. It’s real basic.”

“We want him back on the team.”

Losing Jordan for a substantial period of time could be harmful, for his development and the team’s success in general. Lavin has said Jordan will be “central to everything we do.”

“As of right now, we’re trying to win another game. We won tonight,” Lavin said. “This is what I feel is the right thing to do at this intersection.”

Lavin initially said Jordan “right now” isn’t practicing with the team, but later said it is premature to make a blanket statement like that.

The coach, in his fourth year at St. John’s, said he doesn’t believe there is a maturity problem with his team, despite needing to resort to multiple suspension dating back to the end of last year. It’s the way he always has coached, Lavin said.

“It’s like I’ve always done: If I feel it’s out of bounds, kid’s suspended; if it’s not out of bounds, it’s inbounds, kid’s not suspended,” he said. “It’s just like parenting. … You hope they learn from it, move forward with the maturation of a young person.”

“I don’t know any other way. It’s tough love. … We got to hold kids accountable.”