Dylan Darling was hardly the headliner of the touted St. John’s transfer class.
Fellow offseason additions Bryce Hopkins, Ian Jackson and Joson Sanon all generated more fanfare when they decided to transfer to St. John’s from notable NCAA programs.
But Darling, a 6-1 point guard who came from Idaho State, has quickly made himself indispensable for Rick Pitino’s Red Storm.
“[With] this basketball team, I think the key is keeping Dylan Darling healthy,” Pitino said ahead of Saturday night’s game against Ole Miss at Madison Square Garden.
That’s because Darling, a redshirt junior, is the only true point guard on the St. John’s roster.
Pitino opened the season with Oziyah Sellers, a sharpshooting wing by trade, as his starting point guard. The idea was for Sellers to bring the ball up the court but for the Johnnies to rely on ball movement to create shots in what Pitino described as “positionless basketball.”
But after Darling dazzled in a season-opening win over Quinnipiac before missing the next game — a 103-96 loss to Alabama — with a calf strain, Pitino inserted Darling into the starting lineup.
Entering Saturday, Darling had started each of the Red Storm’s last five games.
“All the players on our team are really talented, but their motives are not to make other people better,” Pitino said. “When [Darling] steps on the court, he’s trying to make everybody better. That’s something we need. … Oziyah, all the guys that are starting, Bryce, they’re focused on scoring. They’re not focused on making players better.”
Darling went into Saturday’s meeting with Ole Miss averaging 4.5 points per game, but his 3.0 assists to 0.7 turnovers represented the best ratio on the team — by far.
His addition to the starting lineup allowed Sellers to move back to his customary off-ball role, which has paid dividends.
Sellers shot 0-of-3 on 3-pointers over the season’s first two games, compared to 14-of-26 (53.6%) over the next five games with Darling as the starting point guard.
Jackson, a high-scoring combo guard from the Bronx, came off the bench in all five of those games.
“When I transferred here, whatever Coach P. needed me to do in order to win and stay on the floor, I would do,” said Darling, who was the Big Sky Player of the Year last season. “It just turns out that he wants me in a starting role now.”
Darling’s smaller stature limits him defensively, while injuries have hampered him so far this season.
In addition to missing the Johnnies’ Nov. 8 loss to Alabama, Darling played only seven minutes in a Nov. 26 loss to Auburn due to spasms near the back of his knee.
In the Johnnies’ other loss — an 83-82 defeat by Iowa State on Nov. 24 — Darling fouled out with 5:09 left in regulation.
“I’m off to a little bit of a slower start than I would’ve liked, but I don’t feel like I’m playing horrible basketball. I just feel like I’ve either been hurt or I’ve been in foul trouble,” Darling said.
“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.”
Entering Saturday, St. John’s was 4-0 in games in which Darling was healthy and did not foul out.
“He’s just a gritty guard,” St. John’s senior forward/center Zuby Ejiofor said. “As the point guard, he’s able to settle us down and create for himself, create for others as well. It’s his natural position, so he does a really great job doing that.”
DECLINING DUBAI
A trip to Dubai is not in the Red Storm’s future.
Pitino said St. John’s declined the chance to compete in an upcoming college basketball tournament in Dubai, which CBS Sports reported is called the Royal Palm Invitational and is set to debut next November.
“It’s a long, long trip and we have no interest in that,” Pitino said.
St. John’s is set to return to Las Vegas for the Players Era Championship next season, but Pitino said he wants a better explanation of how the consolation round is decided after coming away “a little disturbed by what happened” in the tournament last month.
“[With] all the metrics, based on what they said and the format, we prepared for Houston,” Pitino said. “And we got Auburn. Something didn’t mesh there.”
