It is standing room only at Gersh Park in Brooklyn, New York, for the opening round of the 2019 Nike New York vs. New York Tournament. Team Gersh and Team Watson are tied at 65 with three seconds remaining. Gersh star Kadary Richmond races upcourt, crosses over, takes two long strides and releases a running floater from the three-point line.
“I’ma tell you right now … too much room, game time, God bless, goodnight,” says legendary MC Cha-Ching as the ball sails toward the basket. The second it drops through the net, Pop Smoke’s “Welcome to the Party” booms through the speakers. And the scene at Gersh Park is just that — a party.
When Richmond, a 6-foot-6 senior guard now playing for St. John’s, reminisces on his pre-college days, that moment stands out. The shot went viral on social media and helped the tournament and the late Pop Smoke ascend in popularity. T-shirts were made with Cha-Ching’s famous call printed on the back. Six years later, people in Flatbush, the Brooklyn neighborhood where Richmond grew up, still talk about that night.
It was clear to New Yorkers then what the rest of the world has slowly discovered over the past several months: Richmond is built for the big stage. The lights will only grow brighter as March rolls along, but Richmond, 23, is accustomed to playing in high-pressure environments. He opened the Big East Tournament on Thursday with 15 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds in the Johnnies’ 78-57 win over Butler. “Never being rattled is a big thing for me,” Richmond tells Hoops HQ. “I (attribute) that all to just growing up and playing where I’m from and being around the people I’ve been around.”
Richmond transferred from Seton Hall to St. John’s this past offseason and has proven to be the missing piece the program needed. Under coach Rick Pitino, the Red Storm (27-3 overall, 18-2 in the Big East) won the Big East regular-season title outright for the first time since 1985. They were ranked No. 6 in the final AP poll and are projected to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament by Hoops HQ bracketologist Brad Wachtel.
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“There definitely is nothing like winning in New York,” Richmond says. Shortly after speaking with Hoops HQ, Richmond and St. John’s took a trip from Queens to Manhattan to tape a segment for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I told my guys, ‘I’ve been to seven Final Fours, we won two national championships and I was never invited to go on Jimmy Fallon,” Pitino says with a laugh.
Richmond has been at the center of the Johnnies’ resurgence, averaging 12.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals. He was named second-team All-Big East, while teammates RJ Luis Jr, a 6-foot-7 junior wing, and Zuby Ejiofor, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, received first-team honors. Luis also was named the conference’s player of the year.
Richmond might not possess the speed and flair of a prototypical New York City guard, but he possesses the toughness of one. Pitino likens him to Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier because of his size, the way he effortlessly glides to the basket and that he never gets overly emotional on the floor. Richmond’s calm demeanor has been critical for a team that constantly finds itself in close games. “RJ is the MVP of the league. Zuby is the heart and soul of the team. But (Kadary) is ‘Mr. Clutch,’” Pitino says. “The big block, the big rebound, the big drive, the big pass, the big steal — he can do all that for you.”
On Feb. 1, Richmond nailed a mid-range jumper with three seconds left to give St. John’s a 68-66 win over Providence. He finished with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. A few days later, in a narrow 70-64 victory over then-No. 11 Marquette, Richmond posted 18 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. He was held scoreless in the first half at UConn on Feb. 7, then dropped 12 points in the final 17 minutes to help the Red Storm seal a 68-62 win.
Last Saturday, in another tense matchup with Marquette, it was Ejio
for who played the role of hero, burying a game-winning floater in overtime. But Richmond made the steal that led to the shot and also notched the program’s first triple-double (10 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) since Ron Artest in 1999. Richmond celebrated Ejiofor’s buzzer-beater in typical nonchalant fashion, with a simple first pump that happened to perfectly mirror the response of his coach. Pitino later texted Richmond a clip of their in-sync fist pumps along with the message, “Don’t be stealing my moves!”
“I think (Richmond) is very misunderstood at times because he looks like he’s just very calm,” says college basketball reporter John Fanta, who has been covering Richmond closely since 2021. “People translate the calmness factor with the idea that he doesn’t care. I’m here to tell you that he is a killer. He is New York resilient. You don’t have a Brooklyn background and not care. You want to win like hell.”
Back in Flatbush, Richmond first picked up a basketball at the age of 6. By 12, he was competing in the local parks and had earned the nickname “Kooks,” as in “cooking.” He was inspired by city standouts such as Isaiah Whitehead, Leroy “Truck” Fludd and JayVaughn Pinkston, all of whom he watched on MSG Varsity.
As he grew older, Kooks spent his summers bouncing to different T-shirt tournaments and leagues across the city, playing everywhere from Gersh in East New York to Dyckman in Inwood and Rucker in Washington Heights. “Going up against those guys, I feel like it prepared me for the way I play now and who I am now,” Richmond says. “Because even when I was 16 or 17, I used to play in leagues with older people that used to come from overseas in the summer and play in the park. So I think that helped shape my game.”
Along the way, Richmond developed a reputation as a winner. He led Brooklyn’s South Shore High to back-to-back Public School Athletic League Class AA titles. In the 2019 championship game — held at The World’s Most Famous Arena — Richmond had 23 points and 8 rebounds to lift his team to a 71-70 win over rival Jefferson. He was named MVP of the playoffs and crowned the 2019 New York Public School Player of the Year.
That summer, Richmond added another MVP award to his résumé in the two-month-long New York vs. New York Tournament, which brings together the top teams from summer leagues across the five boroughs. In addition to his unforgettable game-winner at Gersh, he dropped a tournament-record 51 points in a 90-64 win against Team Tri-State at Riverbank in Upper Manhattan.
“If there was a New York vs. New York ‘Mr. Clutch,’ it would be Kadary,” says Andre Ambrose, a Flatbush native who helped develop the concept for the annual competition. Ambrose is heavily involved in youth basketball camps and programs in the city. and has known Richmond for almost a decade. “When a kid succeeds in New York vs. New York, there’s no question that they can sustain the pressure of any level. They’ve already played under the microscope. They’ve already played under the bright lights. They’re not going to be fazed by any of that because they’ve already experienced it.”
Richmond’s name constantly comes up when Ambrose talks to young players in New York about their biggest inspirations. Richmond is “truly a homegrown kid,” as Ambrose puts it, who dominated on the playgrounds and in the PSAL before going to college. Plus, he now plays for New York’s team and Pitino, a Long Island native and the coach of the Knicks from 1987-89.
Of course, there was a chance that Richmond’s highly anticipated return to the Big Apple wouldn’t be so storybook. Just by joining St. John’s, he was inviting quite a bit of pressure. It is hard to be the hometown kid, especially on a team that, because of Pitino, always is under scrutiny. Richmond was one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal, so he arrived in Queens with a tremendous amount of hype. While he wasn’t necessarily touted as a program savior, his presence raised expectations dramatically.
At the same time, Seton Hall fans were furious with Richmond for leaving, even though St. John’s could offer significantly more NIL money. When the Johnnies visited the Prudential Center in mid-January, fans held signs with images of dollar signs and snakes and showered Richmond with boos.
The season started a bit rocky for Richmond. It took time for him to adjust to Pitino’s system, which is more up-tempo than he is accustomed to. Through the first few weeks, Richmond had multiple games with just one field goal. He scored three points on 1-of-8 shooting in a brutal 66-63 loss to Georgia at the Maui Invitational in late November. “I always knew I could play better,” Richmond says.
By the time conference play started in December, Richmond was up to speed. He was in much better shape and felt far more comfortable running the system. Unfortunately, he has spent the back half of the season battling various ailments, including double groin pulls and an injured left thumb. After Richmond put up 18 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in the Red Storm’s 89-75 victory over UConn on Feb. 23, Pitino said that 99 percent of players in Richmond’s condition would have sat out.
Injuries got in the way of the work Richmond was doing to refine his shot, which never has been one of his strengths. He is shooting a career-low 19.4 percent from three-point range, but his overall field goal percentage (48.7) ranks first among guards in the Big East. Any production from Richmond outside of his comfort area — the paint and the mid-range — would have been a bonus for St. John’s. Pitino didn’t sign him to spread the floor; he recruited Richmond because of his defense, versatility and propensity to step up in big moments. A year ago, Richmond led Seton Hall to an NIT title, recording 21 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists in the championship game against Indiana State. “I just thought he was a winner,” Pitino says.
And he has proven to be just that. With Richmond as their floor general, the Red Storm are in the midst of their winningest season in 40 years and have a chance to claim their first Big East Tournament title since 2000. The turnaround started last season when Pitino was hired, but Mr. Clutch has helped to accelerate it in a way that very few people envisioned was possible.
“For the last quarter-century, St. John’s fans have been looking for the other shoe to drop late in the game. They’ve been planning for the worst and hoping for the best, and more times than not, they’ve ended up with the worst,” Fanta says. “Richmond gives St. John’s what they didn’t possess last year and that is an elite, multifaceted finisher, playmaker and bucket, who can handle any and all spotlights. Because when you are a New Yorker, you know what it means to be a New Yorker, and that means you step on Broadway and deliver. Pitino said he wanted to put the program back on Broadway. He relied on a guy who knows it all too well to get them there.”
This week’s Big East Tournament is clear evidence that the program is “back on Broadway.” The buzz in the city surrounding the Johnnies is palpable. MSG will be rocking Friday for the semifinals, which is just the way Kooks likes it. “Seeing it come to life is a special, special thing,” Richmond says. “I wouldn’t ask to play anywhere else.”
