Seton Hall basketball fans bracing for Kadary Richmond return with St. John’s

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For three years at the Prudential Center, Jack Fortin rooted like crazy from his baseline courtside seat for Kadary Richmond.

Fortin is a leader of the Blue Beard Army, the student section at Seton Hall basketball games, and Richmond gave them plenty to cheer about. The dynamic point guard helped the Pirates average 21 wins a season, reach an NCAA Tournament and capture an NIT title.

Then he transferred out for his final year of eligibility, and not to just any school – to Big East archrival St. John’s, whose billionaire booster publicly boasted about poaching him.

On Saturday Richmond returns to Newark for the most anticipated game on the Hall’s schedule (8 p.m. tip, Fox Sports 1). Fortin and his cohorts, who sit just a few feet away from the Johnnies’ bench, will be ready.

Kadary Richmond flipped from Seton Hall (right) to St. John’s for his postgrad year

“We’re out for blood at courtside,” the senior said. “He had options to go other places and make money, but he had to pick St. John’s and the evil Rick Pitino. It’s like going from the Sox to the Yankees. So the Blue Beard Army, we’re ready. We’re going to give him a nice welcome.”

The students in the front row plan on spelling out a special written message for Richmond. They’ll offer a classic verbal greeting, too.

“He’s going to hear the boos,” Fortin said. “It’s a slap in the face, what he did.”

Welcome to college basketball in 2025, where players change schools like socks – and sometimes flip to a rival. Richmond is the first Pirate ever to transfer within the Big East, a maneuver made possible by the onset of free agency.

Apr 5, 2024; South Orange, NJ, United States; Pirates fans gather at Seton Hall University to welcome home the basketball team after they won the NIT championship. Kadary Richmond holds up the trophy as the team applauds.

The Hall did get a St. John’s transfer in 2023 – guard Dylan Addae-Wusu – but there was no outcry from the Johnnies’ faithful about it…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/seton-hall-basketball-fans-bracing-101331695.html

Author : App.com | Asbury Park Press

Publish date : 2025-01-16 10:13:00

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