There have been a lot of changes in St. John’s over the last three weeks. A tighter rotation from coach Steve Lavin. Marked progress out of previously struggling center Chris Obekpa. Non-stop pressure that has resulted in the Johnnies playing fast, using their superior athleticism in the open court to create easy baskets, reminding why they were seen as a Big East sleeper and March contender.
The most glaring change — what has the Red Storm (14-9, 4-6 Big East) believing they can turn this 5-1 stretch in their last six games into an NCAA Tournament berth after a sluggish start — is the consistently improving play of Rysheed Jordan, the prized freshman point guard from Philadelphia.
Jordan came to Queens as the highest rated recruit of the Lavin era, a period full of highly rated prospects. Jordan came to New York ranked third among all point guards in the country by ESPN, 17th overall, billed as an immediate difference-maker.
His transition wasn’t seamless, though, with back spasms costing him the team’s three exhibition games in Europe. He was suspended one game by Lavin for breaking undisclosed team rules. The oldest of seven children, Jordan missed another game to go home and be with his ill mother, Amina Robinson. He has had to earn his stripes, coming off the bench six times. Nothing has been handed to him like most blue chip freshmen elsewhere.
Until recently, there had only been flashes, snippets of his immense potential, fragments of impressive play. Lately, the gifted 6-foot-4 Jordan — the Big East preseason Rookie of the Year — has put it all together, showing why he was called “The Prince of North Philly,” why Lavin said he would be “central” to everything St. John’s would do this year. He has made life easier for his more experienced teammates, easing playmaking duties on JaKarr Sampson, D’Angelo Harrison and Phil Greene IV.
“For this stage of a player’s career, he’s the best I’ve coached,” Lavin said in December after a loss at Xavier, a bold statement considering Lavin counts Matt Barnes, Baron Davis and Moe Harkless among his former players.
This is, after all, a player who got the better of Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis — arguably the best freshman in the country — for portions of the Orange’s narrow victory on Dec. 15. Jordan enjoyed a coming-out party in the Red Storm’s last win, Tuesday’s 86-76 victory over Providence, scoring a career-high 18 points, adding six assists, contributing four rebounds and three steals, a performance highlighted by soaring slams, feathery jumpshots and sweet dishes to teammates.
He has reached double figures in three of St. John’s last four games, and in the one in which he failed to do much scoring — the 74-59 win over Marquette at the Garden last Saturday — Jordan tallied a season-high seven assists.
He has displayed a better perimeter jump shot than advertised. He’s a blur getting into the lane, an adept finisher, a top rebounder for a point guard and a slick defender, a thief in red shorts. The game seems to be slowing down for Jordan, as Sampson noted after the win over Providence, as he speeds past the opposition. He has begun to find a balance between running the team and picking his spots to attack.
“It’s seeing the game at a rate where you can make good judgments,” Lavin said after the Providence game. “You can see by taking just a fraction of a second longer, it’s … making a difference.”
St. John’s still has a lot of work to do to get into the NCAA Tournament, starting Sunday night against No. 12 Creighton at the Garden. Eight Big East games remain, and many NCAA Tournament experts believe they need to win seven of them.
A few weeks ago, such a proposition seemed out of the question. Now, behind the increasingly stellar play of Jordan and the new up-tempo pace that has St. John’s thriving, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched.